The best offensive teams are able to attack in several different ways. If a player or team is a one-trick pony, poor results can happen against an opponent who attacks that weakness. For the Yankees, several analysts have pinned the team’s reliance on the long ball and propensity for strikeouts as a weakness, one that perhaps would be their undoing against an excellent pitching team in the Cleveland Indians.
Instead, the Yankees were able to beat the Indians in two games, and they did it on the strength of their offense. The long ball was absolutely vital to the team’s success, as it always will be, but the real key was how the Yankees were able to get runners on base in front of the big boppers.