The Yankees battled the Tampa Bay Rays all season for the top record in the Majors. They lost out in the final days of the season, but still made it further in the playoffs than their division rivals. As expected, the Yankees swept the Justin Morneau-less Minnesota Twins, but their AL Championship Series performance was what was unexpected. They came back in Game 1 in Texas, but were rather lifeless the rest of the way.
Sporadic performances spread the team too thin. The Yankees could not recover from the quality pitching and hitting the Rangers threw at them. The lively Texas team made the Bronx Bombers the Bronx Kamikaze Bombers as the Yankees continually dug themselves into holes they could not burrow out of.