Mike Francesa Reacts: The Day After Yankees Elimination + Mailbag

Mike Francesa (0:01)

It's The Mike Francesa Podcast on The Bet Rivers Network. Hello again, everybody, and welcome to The Mike Francesa Podcast, part of The Bet Rivers Network on the day after. The day after, that seems like so many other Octobers, where the Yankees have fallen short of the mark. And as we told you last night after the game, you could, you knew already what the response was going to be for management. You knew already what the response was going to be. Now, just let me read you this from Cash. Look, if Bellinger's ball goes out in Tampa, or Boulpy's ball doesn't get interfered with, then we might be having a different conversation today. Well, if Boulpy's ball doesn't get interfered with, it bounces either off the wall or it goes into the guy's glove. It's not going to stay hands, really, right? Sometimes you need a little luck, and it's hard to win without Aaron Judge, which you knew you were going to hear and was going to be the theme. And that was set a long time ago. They had that built-in excuse going into the postseason this year. We love our rotation, and our bullpen was great, and the bullpen was great. Did a great job. You know what? And some of those relievers, hats off to them. They were terrific. Tampa never solved their bullpen. Never had to, but never solved their bullpen. On to 2027 That's the words from Brian Cashman. Now, so basically, folks, hey, has nothing to do with misplaying 42 different balls in the series. Has nothing to do with hitting basically under 100, if you take Rice out of the equation, maybe hitting under 100 for the series. I didn't do the math, but somewhere around there, okay? Never having a lead in three games, being beaten on your home field, being, having the other team celebrate twice in a week on your home field, and it's about Lady Luck won't. So the problem for the last 17 consecutive years has been that the Yankees can't hook up with Lady Luck. Who knows? Maybe they can sign Lady Luck as a free agent this year. Maybe it's possible. Maybe she is a free agent this winter. Who knows? Maybe they can sign her to a contract. I don't know what she looks like. I don't know if she throws left-handed or right-handed. I don't know what position she plays, but that's what's been missing. It's funny. She used to be a part of the Yankees. She's still living the dog out. Hey, she was there in 96 She must have been basically running a show in 98 when they won 125 games on their way to a championship with one of the greatest teams ever, and in 99, and in 2000, and when they won 14 World Series games in a row. Or maybe, maybe, it had something to do with guys like Jeter, and Bernie, and Paul O'Neill, and Tino Martinez, and Scott Brosius, et cetera, et cetera, and Andy Pettit, and El Duque. Remember El Duque? El Duque would go on the disabled list, spend 11 weeks in Tampa, and come back and pitch brilliantly in the postseason. They don't have guys like that anymore. They don't have gamers and performers and big game players like that anymore. They don't get big hits. They don't even look to the bench and have a Jimmy Larritz. They don't even have a Louis Solo. But it's about luck and excuses. This is now 17 years of futility. No one expects the Yankees to win every year. And they make the playoffs on a very solid basis, which you should when you have a payroll that is that big. Don't use the Mets as an example. The Mets had a payroll. Well, the Mets, you know what? They really royally screwed it up. They're an embarrassment. They're just coming off maybe one of the most embarrassing years ever, so don't use them in the equation. The Dodgers, somehow they're figuring out the postseason, OK? Why? Because they have guys who rise to the occasion, guys who do nothing in the regular season like Hernandez and then boom in the postseason. Freddie Freeman, last 60 games in the regular season, nothing happened, and then boom in the postseason, he's Lou Gehrig. Muncie, OK? Betts, go down the line, Yamamoto, et cetera, et cetera, and so on, up and down the roster. That's why they're looking for a third straight championship. Why the Yankees are looking for Lady Luck. They're looking for Bellinger's ball to go out of the ballpark. Why? Why does it have to go out of the ballpark? They're looking for Volpe's ball, which wasn't long enough to go out of the ballpark. To go out of the ballpark. How is that going to happen? The guy interfered with the ball that was in play. You're lucky if the left fielder had known how to play that position at Yankee Stadium and had gone and camped out at the wall, you might have had it out there instead of double. Because that ball was catchable.