The Yankees season came to an end Friday night when they lost to the Rays in Game 5 of the ALDS. It was another disappointing season from a franchise that has won two World Series in the past 20 years. Lots has changed from the days of Jeff Nelson’s dynasty Yankees. Nellie and Chris Shearn talked about that on the season finale of the “Pinstripe Pod.”
Before getting into what happened in the ALDS, the guys opened up honoring Whitey Ford, who passed away at the age of 91 on Thursday. Nellie talks about his experiences chatting with him during spring training and Old Timers’ Days over the years. The guys then get into why the better team won as the Rays just had more pitching than the Yankees. Nellie says there is no accountability with the Yankees — it used to be championship or bust and now they seem satisfied to get into the playoffs. He talks about too many playoff games being scripted because of analytics. They then look ahead to the offseason and what this team needs to improve. Getting another frontline starting pitcher is key, because they can’t have faith that Luis Severino will come back and be the No. 2 starter. They don’t believe the Yankees should extend a qualifying offer to Masahiro Tanaka. Nellie would be a big fan of bringing Didi Gregorius back, moving Gleyber Torres to second base and DJ LeMahieu to first base. That could potentially mean finding a trade partner for Luke Voit. I pop on to wrap the segment looking back at all the great guests from Season 1 of the podcast, despite a whirlwind ride, when the world shut down days after we launched the show.
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One of the greatest Yankees pitchers ever, Ron Guidry, then joins the podcast. “Gator” comes on to honor the life of Ford, whom he got close to when he pitched for the Yankees. Guidry explains what his relationship with Whitey was like, the advice he gave him over the years and some of his favorite memories. He gets into how it has changed from players used to coming up to the old-timers, but it not being the same anymore. Guidry then reacts to the breaking news, as he learns of it for the first time, of the legendary Joe Morgan passing away.
Catch up on all episodes of “Pinstripe Pod,” a New York Yankees podcast, by subscribing to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow Chris Shearn on Twitter @ChrisShearnYES and Jeff Nelson @NYNellie43. The next episode of the podcast drops Monday.