There was hope. After 5 months of mostly bad baseball, there was still hope for a late Yankee playoff run in September, hope that they themselves helped inspire with a 17-12 run from mid-August to mid-September. But in the end everything that plagued them in the first 5 months came back to kill the hope in the final 2+ weeks of the regular season. Injuries, extended stretches of dormant offense, and to put it mildly, incredibly uneven starting and relief pitching. The Yankees went 6-9 in their final 15 games of the season, including 2 separate 4-game losing streaks, to eliminate themselves from postseason contention and render the final handful of games meaningless, save for the career celebrations of Mo and Andy.
It was a long season, one with more bad than good. But there were still some noteworthy performances in September, and after the jump you can check out the final batch of monthly AB4AR awards honoring those performances.
Player of the Month- Robinson Cano
Robbie takes home POTM for the third time this season, and his competition wasn't nearly as stiff as it was in previous months after Brett Gardner went down with his oblique injury. Among players who got a full month's worth of plate appearances, Cano led the team in batting average (.340), OBP (.358), SLG (.519), wOBA (.380), wRC+ (140), hits (36), 2B (13), RBI (18), and fWAR (0.9). He also hit 2 HR, scored 9 runs, and put the finishing touches on what should be another Gold Glove-winning season at second base. Soriano gave him a run with another 5 HR and 15 ribbies of his own, but there's no one else on the Yankee roster whose all-around game compares to that of Cano.
Pitcher of the Month- Andy Pettitte
Talk about going out with a bang. Andy picks up his second POTM award in his final season in what was easily his best month of work this year. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that Andy was the only reliable starter in September. He was the only starter to make 6 starts, which also gave him a team-leading 41.0 innings pitched, and among guys who made 4 or more starts he was the leader or second best in ERA (2.63), FIP (3.19), K rate (18.8%), BB rate (5.6%), and led the staff with 1.0 fWAR. He pitched at least 6 innings in each of his 6 September starts, never allowed more than 3 ER, gave up just 34 hits in 41.0 IP, and saved his best for his last 2 starts- 7 innings of 2-run ball against the Giants and a 1-run CG against the Astros last Saturday. If he wanted to, he could come back next year and probably still get it done.
Play of the Month- Andy and Jeter coming to take the ball from Mo during his final Yankee Stadium (and MLB) appearance (9/26)
It wasn't a play so much as it was a moment, but it was the defining moment of the 2013 Yankee season and one of the most emotional scenes in recent sports memory. After carrying himself with all the dignity, grace, and professionalism we've come to expect from him in his 19 years, Mariano Rivera finally cracked when his 2 remaining Core Four teammates surprisingly came out to get him in place of Joe and give him his final Yankee Stadium standing ovation on Thursday night. He broke down in tears and clutched Andy in what can only be described as a brotherly hug as his teammates, opponents, and fans rose to salute him one last time. The Sandman got misty, overcome by the moment that had been 6 months in the making, and gave Yankee fans everywhere one last great Mariano story to tell. Kudos to Joe for coming up with the idea on the fly, and kudos to Andy and The Captain for going along with it.
Game of the Month (Individual)- Ivan Nova throws his second complete game shutout in less than a month in a 6-0 win over the San Francisco Giants (9/21)
We don't know what kind of pitcher he'll be next year, but on this day Ivan was everything the Yankees hoped he'd become when he first showed flashes of brilliance in 2011. He was throwing his fastball down and on the corners on both sides of the plate to get ahead in the count and cutting down the San Fran hitters with one of the nastiest curveballs he had all year. He was even efficient too, using 108 pitches to work the 9 innings, and was just as strong in the 9th inning as he was in the 1st. 12 of his 73 total strikes were swinging (16.4%) and when your rate is that high you know you're doing something right.
Game of the Month (Team)- 6-5 road win over Baltimore on a 9th-inning wild pitch after blowing an early 4-run lead (9/12)
This was the game that felt like it was going to be the one to point to when the Yankees finished their September march to the playoffs. They had lost the first game of this series, won the next 2, and looked primed to finish off the O's on the road after going up 4-0 in the top of the 3rd. Then Joe turned a 5-2 game over to David Robertson in the 8th and watched him give up a 3-run home run to Danny Valencia after getting the first 2 outs of the inning in quick order. Not to be deterred, the Yankees scratched a run across in the top of the 9th on a Brendan Ryan leadoff single, an error, a sacrifice, and a Jim Johnson wild pitch. Mo took it from there in the 9th and the Yankees had themselves another win. This game pulled them within 1 game of the second Wild Card spot, and it was as close as they would get.
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