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Why the Yankees feel each step of their postseason journey is worth celebrating
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- Why the Yankees feel each step of their postseason journey is worth celebrating
MINNESOTA — As the second-place Yankees celebrated their ninth playoff berth in 10 years on Monday night, Michael Fulmer stood off to the side.
Far enough from the blast radius of champagne spritzes and exploding beers, the reliever, signed in late August , watched his new teammates let loose. With a Budweiser in his hand and protective goggles resting on his forehead, Fulmer soaked in not only the booze, but the first big league postseason party of his nine-year career.
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That he had contemplated retirement after undergoing his second Tommy John surgery in 2023 only made the moment sweeter.
"It's been a long road, especially the last few years," said Fulmer, the oft-injured 2016 American League Rookie of the Year. "A lot of surgeries, but I tried to just keep grinding away and wasn't ready to call it quits yet."
There's no guarantee that Fulmer, 33, will be on the Yankees' postseason roster in a couple of weeks. But his presence in Monday's festivities, held after an 8-3 win over the Twins at Target Field, illustrated why Aaron Judge was so insistent when asked if the championship-or-bust Bombers would celebrate a simple playoff berth.
"There's a lot of guys in this room that are going to wear this pinstripe jersey one time, and they might not have [another] opportunity to ever make it to a postseason," the captain said Sunday. "So you gotta celebrate that because, at the end of the day, you work your butt off in spring training and all season long to get an opportunity to go out there and win a World Series."
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To Judge's point, eight players in Monday's celebration have never played in the postseason. That group includes two rookies in George Lombard Jr. and Spencer Jones, but also the veteran Fulmer, trade acquisitions Heliot Ramos and Luis García Jr. , and bullpen breakout Brent Headrick .
A few members of the coaching staff also got their first taste of a playoff bash.
"We want to celebrate, even the little successes," said infield coach Dan Fiorito, who grew up a Yankees fan and played in their minor league system but didn't become a big leaguer until this year. "There's so much that goes into it, so much time and effort, sacrifices like being away from the family throughout the season. So to make the playoffs is something special."
There are certainly fans and pundits who feel that anything short of a title shouldn't be celebrated in sports, and some who think carousing over anything less is especially beneath the Yankees, who have won 27 World Series but zero since 2009.
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Even the Knicks, New York 's most recent champions, barely acknowledged their run of dominance in June before winning the NBA Finals and throwing a rager that was 53 years in the making . Heck, their owner, James Dolan, was so desperate for a ring that he suggested his team give up sex during the playoffs, all for the sake of staying locked in.
But as Judge and others explained, celebrating every step on the unpredictable path to and through the postseason has become a no-brainer for the Yankees, who last went to the World Series in 2024.
"Not everyone gets to do it," Jones noted when asked why he felt it was important to celebrate each playoff milestone before Monday's game. While he hopes that many more parties are in his short- and long-term future, he was eager to experience his first.
"You gotta celebrate, man, c'mon," the 25-year-old said. "It's such a long season. Any chance to celebrate with your team right after a game, you gotta take it. So I'm all for it. I'm down."
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Aaron Boone, who only made the postseason once as a player before becoming an October regular as the Yankees' manager, shared a similar sentiment.
"Look, it's such a grind, this season," the skipper said. "It's such a game of failure. You celebrate opportunities to play for all the marbles. That's how I look at it."
Some will scoff at the Yankees' decision to revel in a mere playoff berth, but it is not lost on them that there is more work to do.
Once they finish their road trip to Minnesota and Arizona , they will host four games against the division-leading Rays at Yankee Stadium from Sept. 22-24. Tampa Bay has a 3.5-game lead on the Yankees with 12 games left in the regular season. The Rays lead the season series, 6-3.
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The pinstripers also need to protect their five-game lead over the Red Sox for the top Wild Card spot. The Yankees, having already won the season series against Boston , hold a tiebreaker over their fiercest foes.
And once the postseason begins, there is only one acceptable outcome in the Bronx: a victory in the Fall Classic. That's when the party moves beyond the clubhouse, parading down the Canyon of Heroes and throughout the heart and soul of New York City.
"We're here for a World Series. We're here to win," Judge said. "[Celebrating is] about getting into the postseason and giving ourselves a chance. If you don't get in, you can't win a World Series, right?"
It's been a while since the Yankees have pulled that off, an eternity by their stated standards. They know this, and they hope to put an end to their drought in the coming weeks.
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In the meantime, however, they don't see any harm in celebrating Step 1 of that process, especially since some may not get to do it again.
"You gotta understand, this is a huge accomplishment," Fulmer said. "No matter who you are, no matter how long you've been around, this is a very big accomplishment that should be celebrated. But every hug I got today from everybody, the one phrase that's been said is, 'Job's not finished.'
"So we know what's at stake still. We want to keep climbing that ladder. Obviously, the ultimate goal is to bring a World Series back to the Yankees organization. We're going to continue to strive for that."
