It was awful, but far from the worst we've dealt with

[lilhen18]

2004 is the worst ever because it was the Red Sox, and it broke the Curse of the Bambino.

I agree. To me, I can't imagine it getting much worse than '04. You just didn't lose a series in which you were up 3-0; it just didn't happen... and then it did... against the Sox. And there went the Curse. To me, that went beyond just being a Yankee fan; that hurt being a fan of the game. The game lost something great that day.

And we're constantly reminded of it every time somebody discusses a 3-0 series lead... "Well no team has ever taken a 3-0 lead and lost... except the Yankees."

This year was bad, but I didn't expect much from this team, especially after the Baltimore series.

[False1]

The Martin HR and the domination of a seasonal excellent closer over the course of a series was very Yankee-like over the past few decades, and I enjoyed the Balt series immensely. Nobody hit, but the pitching was fantastic throughout until the last game.

It was very frustrating over the last four games, but to me it wasn't crushing. They didn't deserve to get through. In 2004 I thought they did, in 2001 they had their feet on the Dbacks throat, same as '95. This one is FAR down my list. Behind 2002 when I thought they should have beaten the Angels, and every other DS loss.

I hear you, and I don't expect everyone to feel the same way.

Just sharing that for me this is the first time I literally had to force myself to watch the garbage play that was out there night in, night out. You couldn't have pulled me away in '04, '01, '95, etc. The outcomes sucked, but that was exciting baseball. This was about as exciting as a root canal.

[False1]

I agree. To me, I can't imagine it getting much worse than '04. You just didn't lose a series in which you were up 3-0; it just didn't happen... and then it did... against the Sox. And there went the Curse. To me, that went beyond just being a Yankee fan; that hurt being a fan of the game. The game lost something great that day.

To this day I remember the feeling. Heck, even now when I'm flipping through the channels and I see the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary "Four Days in October" I get the feeling all over again. It was traumatic for me.

I agree... if I could "undo" one playoff demise, it would have been '04 for the reasons you mentioned. But I was absolutely consumed by that series, as painful as it ended.

I'm not trying to come off as some baseball purist, or unenthusiastic Yankee fan... but I watch the game to be entertained by the team I'm rooting for. Sometimes, they'll lose but still have points in the game where I jump out of my chair, feel like they're competing, etc. The 9th inning of game 1 was it for me, and then in-game they went right back to sucking.

[CoyoteYankee]

2004 was the total worse and being at the game was worse still, watching all of us leave and exhultant Red Sox fans streaming down towards the dugouts.

I was at Game 7 in 2004 too. I stayed for the whole game. I had to sit there and watch them and their fans celebrate on the field, in YS, and outside of YS. And I still think 2001 was worse. It's all just a matter of opinion.

[gold23]

I hear you, and I don't expect everyone to feel the same way.

Just sharing that for me this is the first time I literally had to force myself to watch the garbage play that was out there night in, night out. You couldn't have pulled me away in '04, '01, '95, etc. The outcomes sucked, but that was exciting baseball. This was about as exciting as a root canal.

Good point. It was the first time that I disliked the Yankee squad DURING a playoff series. Also the first time where early deficits seemed absolutely (and proved to be) insurmountable. I find myself watching the NLCS where teams are scoring at normal rates and wonder how that is possible.

[lilhen18]

I agree... if I could "undo" one playoff demise, it would have been '04 for the reasons you mentioned. But I was absolutely consumed by that series, as painful as it ended.

I'm not trying to come off as some baseball purist, or unenthusiastic Yankee fan... but I watch the game to be entertained by the team I'm rooting for. Sometimes, they'll lose but still have points in the game where I jump out of my chair, feel like they're competing, etc. The 9th inning of game 1 was it for me, and then in-game they went right back to sucking.

I definitely see your point, especially since this year's playoffs I got to the point where I had zero expectations of seeing anything from this team.

[effdamets]

I was at Game 7 in 2004 too. I stayed for the whole game. I had to sit there and watch them and their fans celebrate on the field, in YS, and outside of YS. And I still think 2001 was worse. It's all just a matter of opinion.

This.

[fredgmuggs]

Eh. 2004 sucked, but to me it wasn't close to '95 or '01. '95, up 2-0 after not having tasted anything in close to two decades....up in Game 5, the slow motion Griffey run on Edgar's 2B. That hurt the most. '01, the comebacks in YS, up in the 9th inning of game 7 with Mo on the mound.... Stunning.

In '04 it was a boulder rolling down a hill. We had a long time to see it coming, sort of knew it was coming as it got closer, and then in Game 7 they got blown out and we had 2-3 hours to prepare for the blow. Plus, you had '03 the year before and a lot of good positive equity with the team over the prior decade.

It's 95 for me. That devastated me for days afterward and it must have been a cathartic experience because no play-off series loss has bothered me ever since.

[rajah]

Its probably 2001 for me as an adult, though 1995 also was especially difficult after the long drought.

As a kid, 1960 was tough after that great season, and in light of the Yankees clearly being a better team, foiled by a lousy rock in the infield that led to a ball off Kubek's throat.

There were many worse years. But, as I said in the Hank and Hal thread, this was the worst offensive post-season performance by a Yankee team ever. It was embarassing and it sticks in my craw, regardless of the level of disappointment or expectation. I really want the ownership to take action in response.

[YankeePride1967]

For me, other than the lean years, the playoff years that were toughest for me were (and in this order):

1. 2001
2. 1995
3. 2004

Yes 2004 was tough but we hadn't made it to the World Series. 1995 was tough as it was the first time in 14 years we made it and after winning 2 games we went down 3 straight in Seattle. But 2001 we were 3 outs from WINNING the World Series with the best closer of all time on the mound.

[Messerwhitescooter]

2001 was terrible. My recollection of 2004 is that we staggered through our first three wins, so it wasn't surprising when Boston came back. Joe Torre had a terrible series.
Let's face it, if you are a Yankee fan, getting eliminated is becoming routine in the post season.

[Messerwhitescooter]

I also want to say how tough 1976 was for me. I was a fan of the Mickey Mantle/Ralph Houk Yankees, then watched them sink into the despair of the hitless wonders, then Steinbrenner bought the team, and brought them to the championship of the American League, only to be run over by the Big Red Machine at its peak, or near peak. I remember Phil Rizzuto being almost at a loss for words after Game 4 at how bad it was. Only Thurman showed up for that series, the rest of the team didn't fell they were ready to be World Champions.

[StingrayJG]

To me, 2001 and 2004 were two completely different types of disappointment.

In 2004, the anxiety built and snowballed over the span of days. You had a chance to talk to your friends as it was happening, it was covered in the press, written about, argued about, etc. Then when we had to go into game 7 with our hope resting on the duo of Kevin Brown and Javier Vazquez, we had plenty of time to stress over that. Then got to watch our anxieties come to full fruition. It was kind of a slow bleed.

In 2001 it was like getting mugged. In literally an instant (in reality probably about 8-9 minutes) you went from "we got this" to "what the hell just happened?" I felt absolutely sandbagged. I went from scheduling my trip to Modell's for my 4-peat gear and wondering if we should burn a vacation day to go to the parade again (we went to first one in 2000) to just sitting there, mouth agape, literally wondering what just happened. I can still remember as clear now as that night saying, "They should be at double play depth right now instead of drawn in. I don't like this." and my wife just said, "yes, plus Mariano gives up a lot of bloops you can go out and get if you are playing ba--" *swing* and the ball lands right where Jeter could've floated back and caught it with ease and held all the runners. Instead, the series was over, and not in the way we thought. We were just stunned. Stunned is the best way to describe it.

[teknetic]

2004 wasn't nearly as bad as this, IMO. We still had a in-his-prime ARod (28 going on 29!). The 2005 team was also loaded; the pitching sucked ass, but the lineup was ridiculous (most likely PED fueled, but ridiculous nonetheless).

-Cano's rookie year
-Giambi had a 161 OPS+ in 550PA (108 BB/109 SO!)
-Jeter hit .309 with a 125 OPS+
-Sheffield put up a .291/34/123 slash (78 BB/79 SO)
-Matsui had a 130 OPS+
-Alex's second MVP: .321/48/130 173 OPS+
That team was fun as hell to watch.

This year's team wasn't all that fun to follow; they sucked for most of the second half, turned it on the last ~20 games and put together the worst postseason experience of my lifetime. There was not one fun game out of the nine they played. Sabathia's gem in game 1 was the closest, but the offense was made me hate life for eight innings. I'm not nearly as distraught over the sweep as I was with losing in 2001 with our best weapon on the mound.

[awy]

what i learned this year: offense is still more interesting than pitching

[Jersey]

It's 95 for me. That devastated me for days afterward and it must have been a cathartic experience because no play-off series loss has bothered me ever since.

That's what I feel 2001 did to me. Nothing can touch me after that devastation lol. 2004 I was upset and cut the tv off right after it was over but I actually watched the world series and was fine after a few weeks and can freely talk about that series today with no problems. After we blew it in 2001 I cut the tv off, cut the lights off and could not sleep all night. I didnt turn the tv back on for weeks, didn't watch ESPN for months. Did not want to think about baseball until opening day.

I still to this day want to cry when I think about 2001. That was the worst moment for me in Yankees playoff losses. We were about to win the World Series! and it all came crashing down so fast. The bottom of the ninth is the worse inning in baseball, someone is going to get their heart stomped in. I'm tearing up right now..

[Hitman23]

Not making the playoffs is worse. And I saw many years of that. So even though this last series was sort of embarrassing, it was still playoff baseball and my team was in it. If I needed to pick a season that I really had a hard time dealing with, it would be 96 seeing another player starting at 1st base. It's obviously a love/hate thing with 96 with winning the WS, but I hated not seeing Mattingly at 1st.

[kan_t]

This year lost doesn't even top 2002.

[Yankee Steve]

2001 was terrible. My recollection of 2004 is that we staggered through our first three wins, so it wasn't surprising when Boston came back. Joe Torre had a terrible series.
Let's face it, if you are a Yankee fan, getting eliminated is becoming routine in the post season.

Staggered? We absolutely destroyed the Red Sox in game 3 (19-8) after winning closer games (10-7, 3-1) in the first 2. Plus they should have won games 5 and 6. 2004 was the most embarrassing, but I agree that 2001 hurt more. I too watched game 7 in 1960 and that was was tough considering how we outclassed the Pirates in the games we won. This year, the edge of the loss was tempered by losing DJ, and the fact that we did not compete at all.

[fredgmuggs]

Staggered? We absolutely destroyed the Red Sox in game 3 (19-8) after winning closer games (10-7, 3-1) in the first 2. Plus they should have won games 5 and 6. 2004 was the most embarrassing, but I agree that 2001 hurt more. I too watched game 7 in 1960 and that was was tough considering how we outclassed the Pirates in the games we won. This year, the edge of the loss was tempered by losing DJ, and the fact that we did not compete at all.

The Sox were dead after that game 3 shellacking. The rain out the next day really helped them. I still believe in my heart if they had played the game the next day it was over in 4 games. Oh well.

(and what game did Mussina pitch in Fenway? Game 5 or 6? He got incredibly squeezed by the home plate ump in that game. I never understood how a guy with a reputation for control like Mussina always got squeezed by the home plate umps. He certainly never got the Greg Maddox strike zone)

[RogerNatural]

It's a matter of frame of reference, youngsters. I don't put playoffs on the same level as WS. I personally regard them separately. None of the series comes close to the 1960 WS loss to the Pirates. None. It was so outrageous that Casey, with the past decade of pennants & rings, got fired. As mentioned, the worst offensive performance, again, I view playoffs as a continuance of the season. The 1963 WS vs the Dodgers was the worse. Yeah, I know it was Koufax/Drysdale/Podres... but the Yanks batted only one-something collectively & only scored more than one run only 1 game. As far as Playoff Series, it's probably 04.

[razor313]

I also want to say how tough 1976 was for me. I was a fan of the Mickey Mantle/Ralph Houk Yankees, then watched them sink into the despair of the hitless wonders, then Steinbrenner bought the team, and brought them to the championship of the American League, only to be run over by the Big Red Machine at its peak, or near peak. I remember Phil Rizzuto being almost at a loss for words after Game 4 at how bad it was. Only Thurman showed up for that series, the rest of the team didn't fell they were ready to be World Champions.

The 63 Series with the LA Dodgers, when they were swept in 4. The Mick tied the game up with a home run off of Koufax in the 7th to tie it a 1-1. The Dodgers went ahead on a error by Pepitone in the bottom of the 7th to lead 2-1. Koufax struck out the Mick in the top of the 9th with one on to end it. The next year 64 was just as bad with the Cardinals taking the Series. The worst of all was the Pirates in 1960.

[yanksftw]

2001 was personally the worst for me. it felt like yankees, in particular Mo, let down the entire city and the free world

[dabomb2045]

The Sox were dead after that game 3 shellacking. The rain out the next day really helped them. I still believe in my heart if they had played the game the next day it was over in 4 games. Oh well.

(and what game did Mussina pitch in Fenway? Game 5 or 6? He got incredibly squeezed by the home plate ump in that game. I never understood how a guy with a reputation for control like Mussina always got squeezed by the home plate umps. He certainly never got the Greg Maddox strike zone)

Yeah it was Game 5 you are referring to. Moose was squeezed a ton especially in the early innings. There was also Trot Nixon laying out to rob Matsui of a 3 run double (which if it gets by Nixon, the lead at the time goes from 4-2 to 7-2). Of course, the Tony Clark double in the 9th that would have scored Sierra if it traveled a foot further or landed a foot shorter. Then there was Varitek catching Wakefield in the 13th...and we stupidly did not try to steal bases when we got a runner on that inning.

Game 6 was back home and of course was the bloody sock game....and us not trying to lay down a few bunts on an injured Schilling because Torre said it wasnt the "classy thing to do".

[teknetic]

2001 was personally the worst for me. it felt like yankees, in particular Mo, let down the entire city and the free world

What the balls?