Home had better be sweet or Yankees are in big trouble
Anthony Rizzo waves to the crowd as the Yankees celebrate the win In Game 5 of the ALDS at Yankee Stadium on Oct. 18, 2022 Credit: Newsday/William Perlman
The Yankees can’t tinker with the atmospheric conditions at their Bronx home. Mother Nature calls the shots for the Stadium.
So we can put an end (for now) to the debate over the impact of Minute Maid Park’s retractable roof in ALCS Game 2. On Thursday night, one of the very rare occasions that the roof was open, the wind apparently allowed for Alex Bregman’s three-run blast into the Crawford Boxes and rejected Aaron Judge’s potential go-ahead homer at the top of the rightfield wall.
The final result was 3-2 Astros, who have a 2-0 ALCS lead as the series shifts to the Bronx for at least the next two games (and a third, if necessary).
Afterward, when presented numerous questions about the Houston wind shear, the Yankees toed the line between excuse-making and simply responding to the media’s interrogation.
Bottom line, they were happy to be through with the building after scoring a total of four runs and striking out 30 times in the two losses. Now the Yankees get their home-field edge, with the short porch, the hostile crowd and, of course, the anticipated “[Bleep] Altuve!” chorus.
It’s the Astros, and not the ancient rival Red Sox, who conjure up a special degree of venom from the Bronx crowd these days, primarily because of their cheating past. But Altuve has his own special place among Houston’s rogues’ gallery, not only for his alleged buzzer-wearing antics (still unproven) but for stealing the 2017 MVP trophy — by illicit means — from Judge.
There’s two ways to look at what awaits Altuve in the Bronx on this visit, however. Raining boos down on him could have the undesired effect of reviving the eight-time All-Star, who is hitless (0-for-23, eight strikeouts) in these playoffs. There’s precedent for that. In 2021, Altuve rolled into the Stadium on his 31st birthday on a 2-for-28 (.071) slide, heard every bad word in the book, then belted the winning homer off Chad Green.
More recently, Altuve homered in two games of the Astros’ four-game split at the Stadium in June amid the avalanche of boos piling on top of him. Afterward, Houston manager Dusty Baker said with a wry smile, “Sooner or later, they’ll leave him alone.”
That ain’t happening. But despite his struggles this October, the unflappable Altuve seems immune to what’s going on in the stands — or with the fans. On Thursday night, as Astros closer Ryan Pressly warmed for the top of the ninth, a fan dressed in a Craig Biggio No. 7 jersey burst from the seats and not only reached Altuve but gave him a bear hug.
Altuve was shockingly unflustered by the event, and with ballpark security apparently finishing their hot dogs or something, the fan actually got his phone out to try for a photo.
“We were about to take a selfie,” Altuve said later.
Here’s a free tip, Jose. If a fan charges at you in the Bronx, he’s not looking for a hug. Or a selfie.
But the Yankees’ crowd has shouted their vitriol from a legal distance, and with the Yankees needing some help climbing off the mat in this ALCS, we could be getting some record decibel levels this weekend.
It’s worked before. The Yankees dropped the first two games in Houston in the 2017 ALCS, then reeled off three straight at home to force a return trip to Minute Maid Park (but scoring three runs in four games in Houston didn’t go a long way for them).
Aside from their supportive Bronx surroundings, the Yankees have Gerrit Cole and Nestor Cortes starting these next two, which couldn’t line up any better with their season on the brink.
“We’ve been in this spot before, we’ve been in this situation before,” said Judge, who could use a Bronx revival of his own after hitting .179 (5-for-28) with 12 strikeouts and two homers this postseason. “Every single guy in this room knows what they need to do to help us get to the next step. Just about us going out there and doing it.”
Judge was actually booed in the Bronx during the Division Series Game 2 loss to the Guardians. If that can happen to the likely MVP after crushing 62 homers, underperformers such as K-machine Josh Donaldson could receive an earful if the Yankees fail to give the crowd something to cheer about in a hurry.
Nothing riles up anxious fans like offensive ineptitude, and the Yankees are batting .169 during this postseason and striking out once every 2.6 at-bats. They haven’t sustained rallies, with 11 homers accounting for 75% of their 24 total runs.
As much as the Bronx always enjoys harassing Altuve, they won’t be distracted by the Astros’ mighty mite forever.
The Yankees will either resurrect their World Series pursuit on their home turf or have those hopes die on it. And if it’s the latter, there’ll be no roof to blame.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
