This was on the final day of the 2000 season, a few hours before the Yankees would lose their seventh straight to close out the schedule, their 13th loss in 15 games, 15th in 18. Joe Torre had exhausted all the silver linings, he’d gone through all the usual platitudes. His team hadn’t just backed into the playoffs, they’d gotten there via the old Nestea plunge.
“Let me ask you this,” he said that day in Baltimore. “Is it crazy to think maybe you have an advantage going on the road to start a best-of-five? What you want is a split, right?