Yankees fans have to be in their feels watching Dodgers replicate 90s dynasty vibes

About a week and a half ago, New York Yankees fans watched the Aaron Judge era flash before their very eyes. The Bombers got blown out 10-1 by the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 1 of the ALDS, and followed that up by losing 13-7 in Game 2 (after trailing 12-0). They eventually got eliminated from the postseason last Wednesday night after four ALDS games.

But the real dagger for those watching the other slate of games was the outcome in Game 1 of the NLDS between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies (and, of course, the eventual series outcome).

After completely neutralizing LA and pitching with a 3-0 lead through five innings of Game 1, Phillies ace Christopher Sanchez ran into trouble in the sixth. The Dodgers applied some pressure, and October legend Kiké Hernandez found himself in a situation to turn the tables. In predictable fashion, he did, slugging a two-run double down the line to chase Sanchez from the game.

Then, in the seventh, Teoscar Hernandez hit Philly with a haymaker. With two outs and two runners on, the slugger belted the go-ahead, game-winning three-run homer to silence the home crowd. The Dodgers took a 1-0 series lead and then piled on with another victory Monday night. The series went back to LA with the Dodgers holding a near insurmountable advantage. They just need to win one game at Dodger Stadium to advance to the NLCS, and they did in Game 4. And they watched their opponent fall apart as they kept the game within reach.

Thinking back on Yankees playoff games since 2018, we cannot think of one that stacks up against the Dodgers' effort in last Saturday's triumph, and we can't remember the last time they got as lucky as LA did in Thursday's Game 4. New York has not punched a superior or equal opponent in the mouth like that under Aaron Boone's tenure, nor have they had fortuitous bounces in their favor. Instead, they beat up on the Guardians, Royals and Twins before folding like a lawn chair against just about anybody else (the Red Sox, Astros, Rays, Red Sox, Astros, Dodgers and Blue Jays, to be exact).

And it's even more nauseating as they watch the Dodgers form their version of the 90s dynasty. LA is going to another NLCS — their eighth since 2013. They are the favorites against the MLB-best Brewers after dispatching the other best all-around team in the Phillies. Right now, it looks like it's their championship to lose with the Brew Crew, Blue Jays and Mariners making up the remaining field.

Should the Dodgers win another World Series, that will be their third since 2020, and any critique of their "shortened-season" triumph will be thrown out the window. That will no longer be an outlier as the Dodgers stack championships when its never been harder for a singular team to succeed at such a rate.

They've made it all happen with the strategy the Yankees pioneered, too — spending without caution. While New York has still spent aggressively, it's clear there has been a line of demarcation in how far they are willing to go. We're well aware this approach doesn't always work — just look at the Mets — but the Yankees have had a perennial MVP candidate in Aaron Judge to build around, and they've effectively wasted his prime if this continues the next few years. They've gotten beat at their own game, and they're witnessing the desired results unfold elsewhere.

Most Yankees fans are baseball fans, so there's no doubt they're still watching the playoffs and wondering what could have been. And that's been an all-too-depressing narrative for this fanbase, really, for the better part of the last 25 years. These last couple generations of Yankees fans are starting to know what downtrodden franchises feel like, and there doesn't seem to be a reprieve in sight.