The Yankees lost the heart and soul of their team when Derek Jeter, The Captain, fractured his ankle and will be out for the remainder of the postseason. Go ahead, watch the video at your own risk, I can't watch it without feeling nauseous.
What could possibly be said except that this is probably the most devastating injury the Yankees have suffered all season. Sure, they lost Alex Rodriguez for a few weeks to a broken hand and Andy Pettitte to a fractured leg of his own, but neither are Jeter.
Jeter has played in 158 postseason games and has 200 hits - an entire regular season's worth of statistics. This will be the first time since 1981 that neither Jeter nor Rivera are on the playoff roster for the Bronx Bombers.
So what does this mean?
Well according to manager Joe Girardi, the Yankees aren't about to give up.
“I think some people left us for dead when Mo went down, and here we are in the ALCS,” Girardi said. “And Jeet is going to tell us, ‘Let’s go.’ That’s what he’s going to tell us. I’m sad for him because I know how much he loves to play and play in these type of situation, but he would tell us, ‘Let’s go.’”
Well, what else was Girardi going to say? Of course the team will (try) to rally around Jeter's injury. The pitching staff could certainly do that, but how about the anemic offense? Outside of Ichiro, Raul Ibanez and Russell Martin, nobody is swinging the bat well.
No offense to Jayson Nix, Jeter's replacement, but seeing Nix up at the plate with two outs in the ninth inning isn't the most comforting feeling in the world.
The way I see it is, the Yankees are done. There's no possible way to recover from this.
Farewell 2012 Yankees, it was a good, but heartbreaking year.
Baseball can sure be cruel, can't it?
* Image courtesy of the Yankees' Facebook page
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