New York Yankees' October Mystique Just Isn't a Thing Anymore

There was a time when you just expected the New York Yankees to win playoff series. Even their opponents knew the outcome was inevitable.

Those who were around to watch the Yankees in the late '90s and early 2000s know exactly what I am talking about. Remember those days?

Well at this point, the memory has become so fuzzy that you can barely even recognize them.

That's how it felt watching New York commit as many errors (four) as base hits in its 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 2 of the ALDS on Monday night, dropping the Yankees into a 2-0 hole in the series.

Throughout history, 92 teams have gone down 2-0 in a best-of-5 series. Only 10 clubs have rallied to win. The most recent example? The 2017 Yankees against the then-Cleveland Indians, and if we're being honest, that Yankees squad seemed to have a touch of that old October magic.

This team, though, doesn't seem to have any of it.

When New York thumped the Boston Red Sox by scores of 9-0 and 9-2 in its two-game Wild Card sweep last week, many felt this Yankees team was a bit different.

But all it took was two losses from the Rays — the Rays — to bring everyone back down to earth (the Yankees have scored as many runs through the first two games of this series as the Red Sox did).

And that's no disrespect to Tampa Bay, which won the AL East and has been the top team in the American League all year. But this is the same team that used to be called the Devil Rays and was finishing at the bottom of the division every season when the Yankees were busy contending for championships.

New York committed three errors in the first inning of Game 2. And outside of two home runs from Ben Rice, the offense was non-existent even though Freddy Peralta was on the mound for Tampa Bay.

Sure, the Yankees are without Aaron Judge, and sure, Giancarlo Stanton has been limited to one at-bat this postseason, but they were both healthy last October, and New York still bowed out in the Division Series.

Two years ago, the Yanks were in the World Series, but Judge was nearly invisible throughout the entire run — except when he dropped a fly ball in the deciding Game 5 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Yankees just don't seem to have that "it" factor anymore, and they haven't had it for a long time. Teams no longer fear New York in the playoffs. In fact, I'd bet that some clubs relish the opportunity to play the Bronx Bombers.

The days of the Yankees being the Yankees have been long gone, and the first two games of the ALDS have been a microcosm of just how far they have fallen.