It's been a couple weeks at this point, but the Yankees' 2021 season is over. It lasted just one game longer than the rest of the American League playoff field, as the Red Sox clobbered them in the Wild Card Game at Fenway Park. It was a bummer, but of course not all that surprising given how the year had progressed. Kunj and Andrew didn't return to just talk about the Wild Card loss, though. The big news from yesterday was that Aaron Boone would be returning to the Yankees' managerial helm in 2022 on a new three-year contract, albeit without his hitting coaches and Phil Nevin. Regardless of how frustrating the Yankees looked in 2021, this always appeared to be the most likely conclusion. Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman seemed too fond of Boone to let him go. The hosts work through their thoughts on the non-move & coaching updates, roll eyes at some of Steinbrenner and Cashman's comments, discuss the injury updates (Aaron Hicks comeback szn?), and muse on some of the front office concerns. It does sound like the Yankees will be pursuing a shortstop in free agency, and though the field isn't great, Gary Sánchez's days behind the plate might be numbered. Finally, we wrap things up with a salute to the retiring announcer Ken Singleton and our Yankees & Mitres of the Season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pinstripe Alley: for New York Yankees fans

Pinstripe Alley Podcast Ep. 147: Electric Boonegaloo

Talent from all around SB Nation come together to preview the MLB AL Playoffs as John Stolnis, Ashley MacLennon and Andrew Mearns debate all the biggest topics and make their predictions! Presented by T-Mobile Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

SB Nation's MLB AL Playoff Preview - Presented by T-Mobile

The Yankees did not make it easy. Oh sure, they looked like they might wrap up a Wild Card spot in due time after taking five of six on the road from the division rival Red Sox and Blue Jays. Then, they ran into the Tampa Bay buzzsaw and narrowly avoided a tiebreaker by winning, 1-0, on the season's final day -- thanks in no small part to the pitching staff and Aaron Judge's timely infield single. Now, they'll head right back to Boston for one more game at Fenway Park. With Kunj away, Matt Provenzano filled in again and joined Andrew to both look back on the hectic final week and preview the Wild Card showdown. Gerrit Cole will stare down the Red Sox as the Yankees' offense does its best to mimic its most recent performance against Nathan Eovaldi (and not the previous domination). Will Cole's hamstring cause problems again? Will the offense show up after a tough final series while also being down DJ LeMahieu and Luke Voit? If there's anything that the 2021 Yankees have proved to be true, it's that anything can happen. All we can do is roll the dice and hope that the season's still alive on Thursday at Tropicana Field. (Oh, and we can also do the Yankee & Mitre of the Week. As always.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pinstripe Alley Podcast Ep. 146: Wild Card Showdown in Beantown

Leave it to the Yankees to wring every last bit of drama out of this wayward 2021 season. A week after looking so uninspiring against Baltimore and Cleveland that Andrew and Kunj were close to writing them off, they’ve roped 'em back in with consecutive sweeps of the Rangers at home (yawn) and the Red Sox at Fenway (wait, what?). Giancarlo Stanton went berserk in Boston and suddenly, the Yankees are in the driver’s seat of the AL Wild Card race. Of course, for as good as the offense and bullpen look right now, this final week won’t be easy. New York faces a tougher schedule than its Wild Card foes and will be tested by the Blue Jays and Rays as 2021 draws to a close. The days ahead are still daunting, but at least the Fenway sweep made the outlook brighter. Other topics beyond the zany pennant race include Gleyber Torres’ resurgence, Jameson Taillon and Jonathan Loáisiga’s pending returns, Aaron Judge’s gross pinky dislocation, and Luis Severino just bringing a damn smile to the co-hosts' faces. There’s all that and as always, the Yankee and Mitre of the Week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pinstripe Alley Podcast Ep. 145: Big G and the Frantic Finish

Last week, when we saw that the Yankees had Baltimore on Cleveland on deck, we said that with tougher opponents awaiting them at the end of 2021, the Bombers had to capitalize. Instead, they blew a golden opportunity to sweep the O's (dropping their eighth game of the season to the 102-loss team) and got pummeled by Cleveland at home on back-to-back afternoons. Yeah, this isn't going to be a very happy podcast. There's much to grumble about! The offense again made several pitchers look a lot better than they were, the defense was sloppy, and the pitching absolutely melted down over the weekend. This kind of play at this point in the season against these teams is unacceptable, and there are only so many ways that we can say that. It's an indictment on both Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman as well. Other topics include the majesty of Néstor Cortes Jr., the Wild Card competition, Luis Severino's return, Miguel Andújar's sudden appearance in Triple-A, and, of course, the Yankee and Mitre of the Week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pinstripe Alley Podcast Ep. 144: More Missed Opportunities

It's been a weird, rough stretch for the Yankees since their 13-game winning streak, but Kunj was fortunate enough to miss most of it while on vacation. He returned on Saturday though, and what do you know! It coincided with a Yankees victory to snap the seven-game losing streak. Maybe they were just sad without him. In all seriousness, the Wild Card race has grown much tighter and on Monday morning, the Yankees were out of a playoff spot for the first time in a month. They're back in it now, but remain neck-and-neck-and-neck with the Blue Jays and Red Sox as they trudge on through their run of 20 games in 20 days. The pitching staff still looks tired, Gleyber Torres isn't a shortstop anymore, and we're all just trying to hang in there. But hey, the Yankees have now won three of the last four games. Hope springs eternal! Other topics discussed aside from the playoff race include Jameson Taillon's injury, Domingo Germán and Luis Severino's possible returns (again), a possible farewell to Clint Fraazier, a glimpse at the up-and-down schedule ahead, and Kunj's post-vacation B-Ref WAR update. Oh, and of course, a not-so-modest Yankee and Mitre of the Week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pinstripe Alley Podcast Ep. 143: Surviving September

As noted on last week’s podcast, Kunj is on the other side of the world this week and avoiding Yankees baseball while soaking up the sun. That turned out to be a blissful plan, as he’s missed a disastrous pair of series between the weekend loss to the Orioles and the current Blue Jays bludgeoning. The Yankees have already lost their Wild Card lead on Boston and will be a mere half-game in front of Toronto if they don’t rally to avoid a four-game sweep today. Not content to suffer alone, Andrew roped former Beyond the Box Score editor and PSA scribe Matt Provenzano into discussing the frustrating past week with him. (He's clearly quite kind.) The two talked through the Yankees’ slump, from the suddenly-sputtering bats to the pitching staff that’s just trying to hang in there. The bullpen’s gassed, and that’s not helping matters one bit. A constant theme of the episode touched on the Yankees perhaps facing a crossroads in the near-future with all the names on paper failing to live up the resumes. It’s tough stretch. In lieu of the “Meet a Baby Bomber” segment though, Andrew and Matt turned to the bright side “Met a Hall of Famer.” Derek Jeter was enshrined in Cooperstown yesterday, so they took the opportunity to talk about the ceremony a bit before playing armchair psychologist on why some fans dig their heels in on the idea that Jeter “wasn’t good, actually.” The hottest takes are rarely correct. At the end, they wrap up with the Yankee and Mitre of the Week, and boy, were there not many candidates for the former. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pinstripe Alley Podcast Ep. 142: Jeter to Hall, Yankees to Hell

We were fooled. We thought that maybe -- just to mix things up -- the Yankees would have a good West Coast trip. They even started strong, extending their winning streak in 60 years to 13 games with back-to-back victories in Oakland. Then ... they looked completely lost for four days in a row against the A's and Angels. Oof. Andrew and Kunj try to strike the balance between optimism & realism about the Yankees' most recent stretch (recorded prior to Gerrit Cole's dominance last night), while looking in on some of what went wrong. Corey Kluber's still working out the kinks, Jameson Taillon might be fatigued, and Gio Urshela is getting accustomed to playing again, too. Let's just hope that his latest snafu doesn't look worse, post-MRI. At least Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton are still raking. The co-hosts also took a look at the Yankees' upcoming schedule and the current playoff race, which has New York perhaps too far back of Tampa Bay to worry much about the AL East, and the Red Sox going through a shaky week as well amid Wild Card contention. Time constraints prevented the standard "Meet a Baby Bomber" segment, but don't worry: there was no missing the Yankee and Mitre of the Week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pinstripe Alley Podcast Ep. 141: Never Trust the West Coast

The Yankees simply haven't stopped winning since the last time Andrew and Kunj sat down to record a podcast. A solid five-game winning streak has bloomed into the club's longest such run in 36 years: 11 victories in a row. The Red Sox, Twins, and Braves have been swept aside, and the Bombers now have a three-game lead in the first Wild Card spot. Although it's annoying that the Rays keep winning as well, that will play! The streak's latest highlights are the main discussion points, including *outfielder* Giancarlo Stanton doing spectacular work, hometown hero Andrew Velazquez's moment in the spotlight, and even Andrew Heaney coming up with a big start. Don't worry though, we still have time to wring our hands about Aroldis Chapman's latest struggles and Zack Britton's season perhaps being done. At least Gio Urshela is coming back today in Oakland. Later on, the co-hosts wrap up the show with "Meet a Baby Bomber" segments on the wonderfully-named Ocean Gabonia and no-hit artist Sean Boyle, and as always, the Yankee and Mitre of the Week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pinstripe Alley Podcast Ep. 140: “This Winning Streak Goes to 11”

On July 5th, the Yankees trailed the Red Sox by 10.5 games. It's now August 19th, and after six and a half weeks, the Bombers have finally caught 'em and now lead the American League Wild Card race. It's been a little over a week since Andrew and Kunj's last podcast, so they went long on the wacky Royals series, the Field of Dreams Game and far-more-successful sojourn to Chicago, the make-up victory over the Angels, and of course, the sweep of the Red Sox. There have been some frustrating games here and there and the Yankees haven't made it easy, but it's nice to revel in a winning streak! When even Tyler Wade is on an over-.400 run, then you know things are going quite nicely. The show does have injury news to go over, though thankfully, it's more on the side of activations than setbacks. Gerrit Cole, Jordan Montgomery, Gary Sánchez, Anthony Rizzo, and Aroldis Chapman. More reinforcements could be soon to follow, though the co-hosts do send their best wishes out to Clint Frazier and Luis Severino, who now don't seem likely to return. Alas. The "Meet a Baby Bomber" segment stops in with Kyle Holder and Isaiah Pasteur, and Andrew and Kunj wrap up as always with the Yankee and Mitre of the Week. PS: Someone help Kevin Costner with his wardrobe. Kunj is begging. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pinstripe Alley Podcast Ep. 139: The Wild Card-Leading Yankees — Really!

Andrew and Kunj discuss a promising 5-2 week of Yankees baseball that featured some pretty great games bookended by a couple frustrating ones. On the bright side, they mostly took of business with Baltimore before nabbing three of four from the Wild Card rival Mariners over the weekend. They were legitimately fun wins! The team is doing as much as it can to hang in the race despite setbacks elsewhere, and rookie Luis Gil has been key to that excitement in the past week. Speaking of those setbacks, the Yankees lost even more players due to COVID positives and injury. Down went Gary Sánchez and Anthony Rizzo, joining Gerrit Cole and Jordan Montgomery on the COVID-IL. Down went Aroldis Chapman and Gleyber Torres to standard baseball nicks and bruises. The episode was recorded when the Yankees still thought that Gio Urshela's return was imminent, but now that's pushed back as well. Joy. Nonetheless, the Yankees are hanging in there, and while the rehab is understandably slow, there could be help on the horizon. Urshela's delay shouldn't be long and both Luis Severino and Corey Kluber are in the midst of rehab assignments. Fingers crossed that they go well and that those afflicted by COVID recover soon. As always, the co-hosts end the show with "Meet a Baby Bomber," in which we meet the rookie reliever duo of Stephen Ridings and Brody Koerner, and then wrap up with the Yankee and Mitre of the Week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pinstripe Alley Podcast Ep. 138: One Gil of a Rookie

After a busy, busy trade deadline, Andrew and Kunj reconvene to discuss all of the Yankees' moves, led of course by the tragic DFA-ing of Sal Romano, "The Big Cheese." We miss you already, buddy. In reality, the Joey Gallo and Anthony Rizzo trades were of course the focus, and the deals featuring Andrew Heaney, Luis Cessa, Justin Wilson, and Clay Holmes were all discussed. GM Brian Cashman did a pretty good job of keeping the team competitive for the stretch of 2021 while also helping the 2022 club and keeping the most important prospects to the Yankees' future in tow. It's a fine line, and the club got off to a good start post-deadline with a sweep of the Marlins. But because this is still the 2021 Yankees, there had to be some bad news, and Gerrit Cole's COVID diagnosis was the original focus. Then, the Jordan Montgomery COVID news broke mid-recording and the co-hosts got a little delirious. Gio Urshela and Domingo Germán also landed on the injured list, though on the bright side, Luis Severino and Corey Kluber seem to be making their way back. In the latter half of the show, Andrew and Kunj "Meet a Baby Bomber" with Everson Pereira and Josh Breaux (hey, a rhyme!), who both happened to earn minor league promotions during the recording. Then, they close out with the Yankee and Mitre of the Week, and salute AL Pitcher of the Month Jameson Taillon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pinstripe Alley Podcast Ep. 137: Gallo, Rizzo, and, uh, COVID-o

Andrew and Kunj are back on the PSA Podcast beat this week, and the weekend in Boston went so poorly that the two-game mini-sweep of the Phillies wasn't mentioned even once. That's how much of a great time the Yankees had at Fenway, where Chad Green, Jonathan Loaisiga, and Brooks Kriske all experienced spectacular meltdowns in a four-game series loss that probably sank the Yankees out of AL East contention in 2021. FanGraphs has the preseason AL favorite's odds of winning the AL East all the way down at 3.5 percent, with just over a one-in-three chance to even make the Wild Card Game. Delightful. There's also the Trade Deadline to discuss this week, as it looms on Friday afternoon. Will the Yankees still choose to buy? Will they pursue a strategic retool? Who could reasonably be put on the market? The co-hosts talk those possibilities before moving on to the regular "Meet a Baby Bomber" and "Yankee/Mitre of the Week" segments, featuring Donny Sands, Dermis Garcia, Gary Sánchez, Gleyber Torres, and some miserable members of the Yankees' bullpen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pinstripe Alley Podcast Ep. 136: Trade Deadline Tribulations

At one point, Andrew and Kunj thought that there might not be enough to talk about for a podcast so soon after the most recent edition went live last Thursday. Then, well, Aaron Judge and several other Yankees got COVID, Luke Voit ended up back on the injured list, and suddenly, the Yankees' lineup against the Red Sox featured an outfield of Ryan LaMarre, Greg Allen, and Trey Amburgey. Perhaps the most inexplicable part of this entire development is that after all those losses, the Yankees finally won their first series of the year against the Red Sox. Just the way they planned it, right? Those topics are the main focus of today's podcast, though Andrew and Kunj also find room to praise the resurgent Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon and attempt to be optimistic about Rougned Odor and Gleyber Torres. Who the hell knows what will happen next at this point, so let's just hope the B-squad Bombers can help the team stay afloat in this critical period before the trade deadline. The "Meet a Baby Bomber" segments this week focused on ascending prospect Anthony Volpe (the 2019 first-round draft pick) and Tampa first baseman Eric Wagaman. Then, the co-hosts close out with the Yankee and Mitre of the Week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pinstripe Alley Podcast Ep. 135: The LaMarre/Allen/Amburgey Era

The last time Andrew and Kunj podcasted, the first half was essentially over, as half of the Yankees' season had already been played. Well, now we're beyond the math, as the All-Star break and MLB Draft are both behind us. The Yankees officially kick off the second half on Thursday night against the Red Sox, and they still have so much to prove. The Yankees technically ended the first half on a high note with a 4-2 road trip through Seattle and Houston, but once again in a recurring theme of the 2021 season, they entered the finales with a chance to sweep and failed to do so. The second loss was particularly galling, as the Yankees blew a five-run lead in the ninth behind the bizarrely bad Chad Green, who has been otherwise-excellent. There have been some encouraging signs, as the Yankees' offense has looked a lot better since the start of June and Gerrit Cole looked absolutely filthy in his 1-0 Saturday shutout. But there's a long way to go. Andrew and Kunj also touched on Yankees injury updates, their first-round draft selection of Trey Sweeney, and used the "Meet a Baby Bomber" segment to meet two new draft picks: second-rounder Brendan Beck and sixth-rounder Richard Fitts. Then they wrap it up with the Yankee/Mitre of the Week and some scattered Home Run Derby thoughts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pinstripe Alley Podcast Ep. 134: “Allergic to Sweeps” Week

The official home for audio programming from Pinstripe Alley, SB Nation's community for fans of the New York Yankees.

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Pinstripe Alley: for New York Yankees fans

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