With yesterday's 16-5 whupping of the Orioles, the Yanks reached the 900-run mark for the third time during the Torre era. The Yanks have come close to 900 runs on the season in the past (1997, 2002, 2004), and have hit 900+ twice. Both times, 1998 and 1999, the Yanks won the World Series.
This year, the Yanks have run away with the league scoring title after languishing around 5th or 6th for the first half of the season. As Rob Neyer showed a couple of years ago (before ESPN became a pay site for baseball analysis), the Yanks have usually relied upon hitting as much as pitching for postseason success (1996 = 8th in AL in scoring, 5th in ERA ; 1998 = 1st in both; 1999 and 2003 = 3rd in both). But sizeable discrepancies have not bode well for the Yanks -- in 2002, they were the top-scoring team in the league, 4th in ERA; in 2004 they were #2 on offense, #6 in ERA. This year, the Yanks are 1st in scoring, 6th in ERA -- and fourth out of the four AL playoff teams.
To be continued . . .
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