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After watching the Blue Jays dismantle the Yankees yet again this season, my frustration has forced me to open up old wounds. The Blue Jays are going to be a pesky annoyance for years to come, and it's all thanks to new Yankee killers Bo Bichette, Randal Grichuk, and company (who seem to have the Yankees number). Bichette tied his career-high with an 11-game hitting streak. He had three hits and also stole a base. He also ended the game with a walk-off home run, his second for the day.
The Blue Jays have always had some guys that were a huge pain for the team. The most known and most dominant has to go to Roy Halladay, who always got to the Yanks. In 38 games against the pinstripes, Halladay boasted an 18-7 record. He posted a 2.98 ERA and struck out 195 batters in 253 innings.
The term "Yankee Killer" has been thrown around for decades, and now in 2021, you have some new players who are ready to torment the team. Looking back at it, there have been far too many that have haunted this team.
Most notably, there has been a mog-podge of players throughout the league who just had the secret sauce to knock around the Yanks. That list includes Miguel Cabrera, Edgar Martinez, Cliff Lee, and Howie Kendrick, just to name a few. Focusing on the AL-East, these names will sure bring back some dark thoughts.
We can start with a flurry of Boston Red Sox players, the arch-nemesis of all rivalries.
I mean pick your poison here. Let's just start with Jon Lester. He spent his first nine seasons as a Red Sox and relentlessly toyed with the Yankees batters. He kept the majority of the team's stars to sub .300 averages, most notably Alex Rodriguez to a .234 in 47 at-bats. Dustin Pedroia tallied a .305 average with 64 RBI's and 159 hits. Heck, even in 2012-2013, Pedro Ciriaco, taunted the Bombers. He slashed a .407/.429/.556 line in 54 at-bats while stealing five bases.
Then, there's Manny Ramirez. It was always "Manny being Manny", but his lengthy 8-year career for the Red Sox absolutely tortured the Yanks. His career stats against the Yankees is alarming. He hit .322 in 203 games while also smashing in 55 home runs. He possessed a .617 slugging and a 1.030 OPS. My goodness. Ramirez also had seven multi-home run games against the Yankees, 17 three-hit games, and had five four-RBI games. Last but not least, Big Papi, David Ortiz. Ultimately one of the most clutch hitters, he knew how to get under the team's skin. Batting .307 in 214 games, Big Papi clobbered 45 home runs, 154 RBI's, and a whopping 256 hits. Most recently, the damage was created by former MVP Mookie Betts and current Sox DH JD Martinez,
No other team had notorious crusaders like the Red Sox, but the remainder of the AL-East had some villains. The Baltimore Orioles haven't had recent success against the Yanks, but in the past, Nick Markakis is a player who comes to mind that always of an Oriole who caused headaches. He always dominated Phil Hughes too, boasting a +.300 average against him. The young crew in the early 2010s of Manny Machado, Matt Wieters, Chris Davis, and Trey Mancini always seemed to stir the pot and collect some hits.
Then there is our newest foe, the Tampa Bay Rays. Thankfully Blake Snell and Charlie Morton have been traded, but Tyler Glasnow and Austin Meadows will sure to torment the team for quite some time. Similar to Bochette, Randy Arozarena has been causing the recent commotion. In his last 9 games vs. the Yankees, including the postseason, he has smashed 6 home runs. Unfortunately, he won't be going anywhere for a long time.
We have seen some of these killers join the dark side and sign with the Bronx, including Corey Kluber, A.J Burnett, Zack Britton, and Tino Martinez just to name a few. However, now in the present, seeing Bichette walk off the game today brought back terrible flashbacks of "Yankee Killers". It may be an overreaction for the beginning of the season, but the Yankees are not a good team right now. It doesn't help to have countless new faces of the games absolutely dominating them. For a franchise that always possesses such incredible talent, there are far too many Yankee killers and that narrative needs to be fixed. Hopefully, Aaron Boone and the company can figure this issue out asap, and maybe this blog will serve as a motivator.