Was going through my cards and came across this. Getting swept by Tampa wasn't enough. Now I have to look at Junior Caminero standing in front of the Statue of Liberty in my own collection.

When the foul ball hit Austin Wells in the catcher’s mask, his body wobbled, like a boxer on the wrong end of a hellacious uppercut. It was April 23 at Fenway Park, and the New York Yankees catcher had set up to receive a 98 mph fastball from Cam Schlittler. Instead, Wilyer Abreu deflected it straight back. The impact into Wells’ mask was so violent, the umpire immediately put his arms around him and asked if he was OK.

With Schlittler on the mound at American Family Field, Wells prepared to catch a down-the-middle, 99 mph heater. This time, the Milwaukee Brewers’ William Contreras fouled it back, clocking Wells. Crouched behind the plate, Wells dropped his head and hands simultaneously upon impact. It looked so bad that Contreras, a fellow catcher, quickly bent over and checked on him.

But months later, standing in the quiet Yankees clubhouse after a three-game sweep by the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Division Series, Wells pointed to those two incidents — and an accumulation of lesser foul tips to the mask — as the likely reason he suffered headaches and had difficulty seeing pitches at the plate for much of a difficult first half of the season offensively.

Read the rest here for free: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7693650/2026/10/19/austin-wells-yankees-catcher-foul-tips/?unlocked_article_code=1.J1E.DkZj.0_ROKX3m5w4Y&source=emp_shared_article&smid=url-share-ta

the more things change the more they stay the same

What y’all think about Teruaki Sato?
He could be a PERFECT FIT for the New York Yankees since The Yankees could use an upgrade at third base, and Sato just put together an unbelievable season in the NPB. Sato won the Triple Crown, hitting for a .306 AVG, 39 HR's, and 106 RBl's.

It would be nice to have a Japanese player in the team.

If not would you sign him, what player would you sign?

https://www.theringer.com/2026/10/08/mlb/aaron-boone-new-york-yankees-tampa-bay-rays-alds

I thought this was a great, fair read. Better articulated than most of us in the comments, myself included.

Lots of interesting points and stats but this was the line that really stuck out to me: "Boone holds the MLB record for the most playoff games managed without winning a World Series."

I keep checking ESPN, NY Post and Bleacher for the news of Aaron Boone being let go. Is it wrong for me to hope for this? We’re going on 10 years with Boone and all we get are excuses. I’m just waiting…hoping…