Yankees actually have a rich history of coming back from 0-2 playoff deficits

After the highs of ousting the Boston Red Sox in the ALWCS, the New York Yankees are reeling, and their shellshocked fans are grasping on to any sort of hope that the club can come back despite being down 0-2 against the Toronto Blue Jays and thoroughly on the ropes.

Max Fried getting shelled on the heels of a dominant performance (one in which he clearly thought he had more to give) was the worst possible outcome for New York, and a few runs in garbage time from the slumbering offense isn't enough to keep the fire of faith burning.

But maybe a trip down memory lane on the off day can put the team back on track as they travel back to the Bronx.

As bleak as the 0-2 deficit seems, the Yankees actually have a rich history of making improbable comebacks after dropping the first two in a postseason series.

The question is whether or not you should have any faith that this iteration of the team can mount the epic comeback.

The Yankees have more than their fair share of 0-2 postseason comebacks, but can you count on this version of the team to get the job done?

The first point to note is that none of these comebacks have been mounted under Aaron Boone. Boone took the reins from Joe Girardi in December of 2017, after the Yankees had been eliminated in Game 7 of the ALCS at the hands of the sign-stealing Houston Astros. One has to wonder if, without the aid of a trash can, that series (and ultimately the postseason and subsequent managerial change) would have been very different.

One thing you can say for sure, though, is that Yankees club, featuring fiery competitors like CC Sabathia and Brett Gardner, not to mention Girardi, was much less cottony-soft than more recent iterations of the club.

The same can be said for the 1978 version (Thurman Munson and Reggie Jackson, anyone?), and the 1996 and 2001 variants, as well. The 1956 and 1958 clubs were smack dab in one of the most dominant stretches of Yankees history when the team won six World Series in the decade and seven in Casey Stengel's 12-year tenure at the helm. Those teams were chock full of inner circle Hall of Famers to boot.

Perhaps nothing is as disheartening as the 1996 club's key difference compared to the 2025 Yankees. While this version of the club has a bullpen with more holes than Swiss cheese, that team ran out a bullpen that was anchored by the American League saves leader, John Wetteland, who finished the year with 43.

His setup man was a then-little-known 26-year-old failed starter by the name of Mariano Rivera who logged a whopping 107.2 innings in 61 appearances with a 2.08 ERA, racking up 4.3 fWAR, an unfathomably high total for a reliever.

Simply put, the 1996 team made games six-inning affairs for the opposition, something today's club can't fathom even in its wildest fantasies. The '96ers did get summarily beaten in Games 1 and 2 (12-1, 4-0), proving that "staying in the first couple games" is far from a prerequisite for a comeback. Sadly, that's probably where the similarities end.

That being said, this year's club can't be counted out until the final lights go out. The team employs the best hitter in the league, even if his numbers in the postseason haven't come close to his regular-season standard. They also have a proven playoff performer in Giancarlo Stanton, a newly minted October sensation in Cam Schlittler, and talent up and down the roster.

Now, it's up to them to prove they're up to the challenge. In the meantime, all we can do is cross our fingers.