CLEVELAND – Here is the resume of an era for a particular major league baseball team.

This is a period of 14 years. The team had a winning percentage of .566 during that period, the highest in its league and second-highest overall. It never finished below .500. There were the second most home and away wins. No team had more comeback wins. Only one team scored more runs and only one had a better run differential. Nobody hit more home runs and it wasn't particularly close.

Of course, this is all part of the regular season – what about the playoffs? The answers are not so rosy, but still impressive. Only three teams played more postseason games. Only five won additional postseason games. Only two teams hit more home runs.

These are all facts from the New York Yankees' pennant drought, the stretch from 2010 to 2023 that finally came to an end on Saturday night. The drought – a description some unfortunate franchises would dispute – ended thanks to a powerful punch from Juan Soto, punctuating one of his trademark meat grinder punches. The Yankees are back, back on the podium where their fans have a historic justification for feeling like they belong: at the top of the American League.

“It’s been a conversation every year,” ALCS MVP Giancarlo Stanton said. “We’re here now.”

The success described above would be impressive for pretty much any franchise, although no fan base will ever be completely satisfied without pennants and World Series titles. But for Bronx residents, flags are the only currency that can be exchanged for respect or affirmation. Those are the standards of a franchise and a fan base that has now celebrated 41 pennants and four wins from its 28th championship.

Saturday's win over Cleveland ended a five-game losing streak in the ALCS during the drought, the last two of which came during current manager Aaron Boone's seven-year tenure. The other three came under Joe Girardi, the only other captain New York had during the drought.

Meanwhile, front office chief Brian Cashman has been around so long that he may have been the one who traded for Babe Ruth, although we'd have to check the historical record to see if that's the case.

“I’m proud of these guys,” Cashman said amid the crowd at the postgame trophy presentation. “And we are proud that we have earned the right to compete in the World Series.”

Behind Boone and Girardi before him and the current Cashman, not to mention the team owned by the same family since 1973, the Yankees were remarkably stable even during one of their dark times. It's not like there was a thorough house cleaning anywhere along the way.

What is different then about this bunch, the 2024 Bronx Bombers, that gave them their final breakthrough on Saturday after so many disappointments last October?

The Soto Judge Stack

During the regular season, Aaron Judge enjoyed one of the best offensive performances in baseball history, but as incredible as it may be, he's done it before. He also had to deal with a lot of hand-wringing and sprawling theories throughout October. Still, one could argue that despite his weakness, Judge has remained a fearsome presence in New York's lineup, and he's been able to do that because Soto hits in front of him.

The most tangible way to illustrate this is to simply point out that Judge had 353 hits with at least one runner on base this season, the second-most hits in baseball behind Atlanta's Matt Olson. Judge drove in a career-high 144 runs that season — a result of his level of play, yes, but also because he always batted with someone on base. Often, it was Soto who would crush the opposing pitcher in the same way he did Cleveland's Hunter Gaddis on Saturday.

“I just tell myself, 'I'm on every field, I'm on every field,'” Soto said of his pennant victory. “So be ready. Be ready. He will make the mistake. He did it. And I got it.”

Soto got the spoils on Saturday, but often he just takes a walk — 129 of them on the season — to set the table for Judge and those behind him. Judge posted an astronomical OPS of 1.237 when batting with at least one runner this season.

The Soto-Judge stack, by some measures the most productive one-two punch duo in a season since the days of Ruth and Lou Gehrig, is a tiring prospect for any pitcher to navigate four or five times a game, even if one of them ( Judge in this case) doesn't say it so well.

“He wears down pitchers,” Stanton said of Soto. “It doesn’t matter if he gets out. The stress of getting him out, then you have to deal with Judge…then you have to deal with everyone behind them.”

The runs metric created had Judge at 183, Soto at 147. The Yankees haven't had two batters in the top 140 in the same season since Jeter and Williams in 1999. That's the biggest difference between the Yankee teams of the last 14 seasons and this one. In recent years they have had one mega-hitter – but not two.

Stanton, for example, knew the impact this would have when he heard Soto would be his new teammate.

“I thought he was going to do something like he did tonight,” Stanton said. “And in pure Juan Soto fashion.”

The Stanton-Torres wrap

Stanton has had his ups and downs since joining the Yankees, but he's often been at his best in October – and Tbe October might be his best yet. His four home runs against Cleveland earned him MVP honors. He scored a total of five goals in the 2024 playoffs, one fewer than the Yankees' record. And only three Yankees have hit more playoff home runs for the franchise — Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter and, gulp, Mickey Mantle.

“The physical nature of what he does is different than almost anyone else in the world,” Boone said Sunday before Stanton went out and hit another home run. “He’s just incredibly disciplined – his approach, his process, the way he studies guys.”

Stanton doesn't always manage to clean up, as Boone usually likes to put a lefty between Judge and Stanton. But that also has to do with the Soto-Judge stack, because when Stanton hits and cleans up hits like he did Saturday, those worn-out pitchers must feel the life being sucked out of them.

This also presents an additional challenge in getting out the batter who precedes it all: Gleyber Torres. That didn't happen regularly this October. In fact, Torres has reached base in his first at-bat eight times this postseason, a Yankees record. Suddenly there's a runner on base, and along comes the smiling, nodding Soto, striding toward the bowl.

“Maybe starting players need a hit or two to settle in,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. “And these are two guys you can’t get along with.”

The Yankees didn't light up the scoreboard in reaching the AL bracket, but no one did. In general it was very difficult to get runs. New York averaged 4.78 runs per game and led the AL's six postseason participants, a group that otherwise averaged just 2.93. Through that prism, the Yankees' offense was dominant — even without Judge putting up big numbers.

The scary question for whoever's next for the Yankees – whether it's the New York Mets or the Los Angeles Dodgers: What happens if Judge starts hitting too?

The Astros are out

We won't go into detail here as there isn't much to say other than pointing it out. But the Yankees' last three ALCS losses – 2017, 2019, 2022 – all came at the hands of the Houston Astros, who were eliminated in the wild-card round by Detroit this season. New York could have beaten Houston this time anyway, and it's fair to wonder if the ship has sailed on in the Astros' dynasty. But the fact remains – the Yankees' biggest obstacle to the World Series in recent years wasn't exactly at this time to get in their way.

patience

In October the tension is greater. The moments are more intense, the crowds larger and smaller, the consequences of each victory or defeat exaggerated. One would think that from a hitter's perspective this could lead to a slight over-aggression. Not these Yankees.

New York drew just one walk in their win at Cleveland, but has made 13.9% of their plate appearances this October. That's more than any other playoff team this season and more than all but five of the 512 playoff teams in baseball history.

Plate discipline was a hallmark of the teams Cashman assembled, and the Yankees also led the majors in draw walks during the season. In October they took it to a new level.

“For that reason, they are a very difficult lineup,” Vogt said. “You have to get in the zone and get them out in the zone, and they are all very good hitters.”

A touch of youth

The Yankees, at their most decadent, fielded too many high-dollar players on the wrong side of the 30 with big names and declining athleticism. This has been the case for decades. But the Yankees' position group has gotten younger in recent years, going from a playing time-weighted age of 30.3 in 2022, according to Baseball-Reference.com, to 28.5 last season and 28.0 this season.

This was necessary due to injuries to older stars like Anthony Rizzo and DJ LeMahieu. But New York has received significant contributions from young players on both the hitting and pitching sides. Game 4 featured an all-rookie group – right guard Luis Gil and catcher Austin Wells, both leading AL Rookie of the Year candidates.

Shortstop Anthony Volpe just completed his second season and was nominated for his second consecutive Gold Glove. He has also improved his consistency at the plate, although he still has a lot of work to do in that regard. He has an OBP of .459 in the postseason.

The Yankees are still a star team, but they have better balance in the clubhouse. When you look back at the history of baseball's most successful franchises, this has typically been when they won big.

“We had some great groups, some great camaraderie, some great clubhouses,” Boone said. “This group is as tight as ever and they trust each other. They lean on each other. They love each other. They play for each other. These are special things you can have in a team sport.”

This team has won big so far, but the final goal has not yet been achieved. And this target – in the Bronx – is really important, which will really alleviate this drought.

“It doesn’t mean much to get there,” Stanton said. “We have to win it.”