TAMPA, Fla. -- The day after Greg Bird lifted the routine fly ball to center field that ended Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, the Yankees' charter plane was steered from Houston to New York -- not Los Angeles, as they'd hoped -- and general manager Brian Cashman had already turned the page toward the 2018 season.
There would be much to do; Cashman and managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner spent hours on the telephone that week discussing Joe Girardi's fate, ultimately deciding it would be best not to renew the manager's contract despite 91 regular-season victories and advancing to within one win of the World Series.