The New York Yankees exorcised some of their postseason demons when they bounced the Boston Red Sox from October in the Wild Card round, but the job was hardly done. They still needed to face the AL East champion Toronto Blue Jays in the ALDS, which really felt like the start of the playoffs.
The result? A likely 0-2 hole after the Yankees surrendered 22 runs over the first 14 innings of the series. Impossibly bad. How do they fool us every year at different junctures into thinking they are legitimate championship contenders?