The New York Yankees’ deep bench gets them into the World Series

Saturday night, playing in extra innings in Cleveland with a trip to the World Series on the line, the New York Yankees’ season was in jeopardy, but the Bronx Bombers knew any of their teammates could turn things around immediately.

The Yankees-Guardians series added even more excitement to an already memorable postseason. After winning the first two games against the Guardians in the Bronx, the Yankees appeared to be on their way to the World Series. But the Guardians came back from a 5-3 deficit in the bottom of the ninth to win Game 3. History seemed to repeat itself in Game 4 when the Yankees blew a four-run lead but escaped with two runs in the ninth. inning to win 8-6.

On Saturday, both teams leaned heavily on their bullpens as they tried to take the lead in the crucial Game 5. The Yankees erased an early 2-0 deficit, but once again they headed to overtime. Cleveland went through eight pitchers on Saturday, while six Yankees took the mound.

As the autumn breeze blew off Lake Erie, in the top of the tenth, with two men on and two men off, Yankees outfielder Juan Soto faced Hunter Gaddis, one of baseball’s most reliable players. Gaddis hoped to throw Soto away with a series of sliders and changeups, but the Yankee outfielder kept him at bay with a series of foul balls. Finally, on the seventh pitch, Gaddis threw a fastball, which Soto cracked with his bat. The entire stadium fell silent as the ball floated over the outfield wall.

Soto provided some last-minute heroics to close out the series for the Yankees, but against Cleveland, many players came through in pinstripes. Like the best teams, from the diamond to the boardroom, the Yankees’ victory was a team effort. Yankees starter Carlos Rodón pitched six innings and gave up just one run, striking out nine Guardians in Game 1 as Soto and Giancarlo Stanton hit crucial home runs to give New York the lead.

Aaron Judge provided the offense for the Yankees as four New York relievers held off the Guardians to win Game 2. Stanton and Soto hit home runs again in Game 4, while unheralded reliever Tommy Kahnle stepped in to end the game.

And four Yankees relievers held off the Guardians, allowing no runs in the bottom half of Game 5, as Soto and Stanton hit more home runs. Relief pitcher Luke Weaver was the only Yankee who remained calm after Soto’s big home run on Saturday night, as he had to finish off the Guardians.

“There was no reaction coming out of me because I was completely in lock-in mode. I knew I couldn’t exert any energy there because I didn’t want to go out there without enough energy to help us win the game,” Weaver said . the New York Post after the victory.

Every member of the Yankees contributed to beating Cleveland, a testament to the strong bench assembled in the Bronx.

Building a strong bank is necessary in business as well as in creating a championship sports team. In a piece in Deal Room, Ken Greenberg, Senior Managing Director at Auctus Search Partners, cited a study showing that nearly half of middle managers do not have a successor willing to take over.

“It is critical for owners and their senior leadership to identify and develop a bank that can fulfill key executive functions,” Greenburg wrote. “The bank can consist of internal existing junior executives who develop into leaders; external recruits with deep sector knowledge and leadership skills; or a combination of both.”

To help build your bank, Greenburg emphasized that companies must make training their talent pool a top priority.

“Building talent pools for key positions should always be part of an organization’s resource planning,” Greenburg said. “This also means analyzing the key soft and technical skills needed to fill key positions and having a fact-based assessment process (not just gut feeling) in place to screen candidates.”

The Yankees have made building their bench a priority, and it’s one of the reasons they won the American League pennant.

Hal Steinbrenner, the chairman and managing partner of Yankees ownership, acknowledged that his team received the efforts of every member of the roster as they reached their first World Series in 15 years.

“This has been an incredible year, and it’s an incredible group of guys,” Steinbrenner told Front Office Sports. “We had our ups and we had our downs, but they never wavered. They never panicked. Every day they went out and did their job, and that’s why we’re here.”