The final month of the regular season will be remembered for the Yankees surging past the Red Sox and winning the AL East.
It also will be known for the ALDS the Yankees were expected to win, but lost to the Tigers.
Here’s a look at a Yankees season that produced an AL East title, the most wins (97) in the AL, Derek Jeter’s 3,000th hit, Mariano Rivera becoming the all-time saves leader and the disappointment of being bounced in the first round of the postseason.
Game of the year: Yankees 5, Rays 4, July 9
It’s hard to imagine any game this season being better than this, when under a brilliant sun and in front of a packed Yankee Stadium, Derek Jeter went 5-for-5 and reached 3,000 hits with a monster homer off Tampa Bay’s David Price in his second at-bat. Jeter’s eighth-inning single snapped a tie and propelled the Yankees to victory.
The runner-up was Sept. 19, when Mariano Rivera notched save No. 602 to pass Trevor Hoffman as the all-time saves leader.
MVP
If you don’t add the five games against the Tigers — and we are — then Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano tie for the award.
Cano was the Yankees’ best overall hitter against the Tigers, batting .318 with two homers and driving in nine RBIs.
Add those numbers to Cano’s .302 regular season average, 28 homers and 118 RBIs, and he’s the winner.
Granderson followed a career year in which he batted .262 with 41 homers, 119 RBIs and a league-leading 136 runs scored by batting .250 with a homer and three RBIs in the ALDS.
LVP
Injuries limited Alex Rodriguez to 99 games and Phil Hughes to 14 starts. A.J. Burnett flushed a strong start for the second straight season.
At least Burnett avoided injury, which removes him from the list.
That leaves Rodriguez and Hughes to share the award.
When it comes to dollar value, Rodriguez didn’t come close to producing in exchange for his $31 million salary.
The first 10 weeks were fine, but a knee injury suffered in mid-June at Wrigley Field doomed the remainder of the season that included knee surgery and a sprained left thumb in late August that bothered him the remainder of the season.
Those problems led to a .276 average, 16 homers and 62 RBIs. That’s the lowest homer total since he hit five in 48 games for the Mariners in 1995. It’s his fewest RBIs since that same year’s 19.
Coming off an 18-win 2010, Hughes reported to camp out of shape and heavy, and never developed arm speed. He suffered a shoulder problem in April, perhaps because he tried to manufacture arm strength, and was on the disabled list for almost three months.
He finished 5-5 with a 5.79 ERA and was not part of the rotation after Sept. 12.
LOOKING AHEAD
As usual, there will be changes. General manager Brian Cashman is expected to sign a new contract before his current one expires at the end of the month.
Jorge Posada’s days in The Bronx are over, but what about his career?
The Yankees were beaten by the Tigers because they didn’t hit in their three losses, but starting pitching remains the No. 1 focus during the off-season.
Will C.J. Wilson be the second Texas lefty in two years to turn down Yankees dollars?
Whether he opts out or not, CC Sabathia will return with a new contract. Next year he knows he has to keep off the weight he loses this winter in order to save the wear and tear on his knees.
Nick Swisher’s $10.25 million option likely will be picked up, but free agent-in-waiting Michael Cuddyer is well-liked by Yankees talent evaluators.
And don’t rule out Carlos Beltran if he can’t find a mega-deal elsewhere.
TIP OF THE CAP
Manager Joe Girardi has his detractors, but he and pitching coach Larry Rothschild deserve credit for getting results from a pitching staff that included Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia and an underachieving Hughes.
Girardi’s management of the bullpen was very good all year, as it has been throughout his four-year tenure.
Add in the development of Ivan Nova, who never should have been sent to Triple-A to make room for Hughes, as positives.
Now if only Girardi and Rothschild can unlock the mystery of Burnett.
GODSPEED, GENO
Gene Monahan, who has been the Yankees’ head trainer since 1973 and has spent nearly 50 years with the organization, has retired. Only the players, coaches and managers he has worked with realize how much the club is going to miss him.
4 key stats
2
Nine short of the number of wins needed to win a World Series
$33M
What’s owed to A.J. Burnett across the next two seasons.
$100M
What it might take to land free agent lefty C.J. Wilson
66 2/3, 40 and 100
David Robertson’s innings pitched, hits and strikeouts. He was the Yankees pitching MVP.