The ball was in the air, soaring on a beautiful parabola toward the deepest part of the ballpark. Off the bat, it seemed Juan Soto wasn’t quite sure. He was taking a good, hard look. But
And then, you could see Thomas’ shoulders sag ever so slightly and his legs weaken a bit. The ball was over his head. He ran out of room, and the ball was still drifting farther. By the time the ball landed, so did the Yankees — right into the World Series for the first time in 15 years.The Yankees enjoy a champagne celebration after their AL pennant-clinching win over the Guardians in Game 5 of the ALCS on Oct. 19, 2024., and it was a 41st American League pennant for the Yanks.
And for a while, it seemed that might be costly. The Guardians took a 1-0 lead. They took a 2-0 lead. Their starter, Tanner Bibee, began to pick up confidence. He started to mow the Yankees down. The folks inside Progressive Field started to feel it. They started to believe.
Stanton, who has been the Yankees’ most consistently damaging bat in the playoffs. Stanton, who had made Progressive Field his personal playpen.And then saw the most remarkable thing: a slider from Bibee that wasn’t just a hanger, wasn’t just a spinner, it seemed to all but stop for a half a heartbeat as it reached the plate.