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New York Yankees Editorial: Why Can’t the Yankees Celebrate the Wild Card?

By Michael Cambria

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From the moment the Yankees clinched a wild card birth last night after defeating the Boston Red Sox and celebrating in their locker room they’ve been under fire from the media and baseball fans across the country.

Sure they’ve yet to lock up home field advantage and sure it’s only a one-game playoff, but why in the world should the Yankees not be able to celebrate?

For starters, this team is a complete underdog. Before the season even started people were predicting the Yankees to miss the post-season for a third straight year. Alex Rodriguez wasn’t even supposed to make the team out of spring training and guys like Masahiro Tanaka and CC Sabathia weren’t even supposed to finish the year healthy.. right insiders?

On top of all that, this Yankees team under achieved more than any other team in baseball. They lost their best hitter in Mark Teixeira who had logged 31 home runs and 79 RBI before being shut down for the remainder of the season. They lost their potential playoff number three starter in Nathan Eovaldi in the heat of a playoff run and the team has been carried by 22-year old Gregory Bird and 21-year old Luis Severino.

This is a team who made playoffs when everyone doubted them. This is a team who battled through adversity, and after 159 games they finally proved all the naysayers wrong.

Some fans called into sports talk radio all morning and argued that the Yankees shouldn’t be celebrating just yet because they didn’t make playoffs…

News flash ya’ll – the wild card – though it’s a one game elimination, is still round one of the playoffs. There’s a distinct difference between the wild card game and a play-in game.

Also, for those fans who are saying that this celebration wouldn’t fly if George Steinbrenner was still around – it’s time to get out from under the rock.

Every team in baseball who clinched a wild card birth celebrates the same way the Yankees did – and rightfully so. Just because they’re the New York Yankees and have 27 World Series Titles doesn’t mean they should be held more accountable than the 29 other teams in baseball.

For those saying the Yankees should be embarrassed to have a payroll over $200 MM and not win the American League East – please wake up.

This is a new era of baseball. Time’s are different from when ‘The Boss’ was around and teams can no longer buy their way to a championship. Regional sports networks are popping up everywhere, meaning every team in baseball has money to spend. Big name free-agent signings are on a downward trend and are much harder to come by in this day and age.

The Yankees have a new business model, which is why they elected to hang onto their youth with guys like Bird, Severino and Rob Refsnyder instead of trading them at the deadline, and that decision looks to be paying huge dividends.

The Yankees are going to the playoffs for the first time since 2012. The Yankees celebrated their wild card birth the same way every team in baseball has.

Get over it.

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