Perhaps you have heard about the times the Yankees experienced World Series droughts, like the one that lasted from 1964 to 1976?

If you’re old enough, you may have even witnessed the era when the great Pinstripes failed to make it to the Fall Classic between 1981 and 1996.

However, I’ll bet you never thought you’d witness such a drought again, not in the 21st century when Major League Baseball’s haves and have not could now be more obvious. Yet, the last Yankees American League pennant occurred in 2009, back when Justin Bieber was still an up-and-coming pop singer. Taylor Swift was just getting started. Reality shows like Dancing with the Stars and American Idol were still fresh ideas (at least they were way fresher than they are now). Prince William wasn’t even married yet. Prince Harry was still in good standing with the Royal Family.

OK, you get the idea, a lot has changed since the Bronx Bombers last appeared in the World Series.

The drought finally ended in Game 5 of the 2024 American League Championship Series on Saturday night in Cleveland when the Yankees defeated the Guardians by a score of 5-2 in 10 innings to clinch their first trip to the World Series in 15 years.

New York won the first two games of the series at Yankees Stadium in fairly easy fashion, but things got a bit more dramatic starting in Game 3 at Progressive Field in Cleveland on Thursday night. The Guardians took a 3-1 lead into the top of the eighth inning before the Yankees stormed back and scored three runs in that frame; Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer to tie the game at three before Giancarlo Stanton followed with a go-ahead solo shot. New York then scored what figured to be an insurance run in the top of the ninth to take a 5-3 advantage. But that insurance was only good enough for a trip to extra innings when Jhonkensy Noel hit a two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the game at five. David Fry then hit a two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th to give the Guardians life and a more realistic chance of coming back to win the series.

The Yankees were in firm control late in Game 4 on Friday night before Cleveland came roaring back with three runs in the bottom of the seventh and another in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game at six. But New York quickly answered with two runs in the top of the ninth and ultimately won by a score of 8-6 to take a commanding three-games-to-one lead in the best-of-seven series.

Would the Guardians win on Saturday night to send the series back to New York for Game 6? It certainly appeared that way for a while, as Cleveland led 2-0 after five innings in front of an approving and hopeful home crowd. However, Stanton quieted that home crowd with a game-tying two-run home run in the top of the sixth inning. The contest would extend into extra innings before Juan Soto got in on the dramatics by hitting a three-run home run in the top of the 10th inning to put the Yankees ahead to stay.

The Yankees now await the winner of the National League Championship Series between the Dodgers and Mets. If New York wins the final two games in Los Angeles to come all the way back from being down three-to-one, it will set up the second subway series between the two Big Apple franchises and the first since 2000 when the Bronx Bombers defeated the team from Queens in five games. If the Dodgers win, it will pave the way for the 12th World Series matchup between perhaps the two most popular teams in Major League Baseball and the first since Los Angeles won in six games way back in 1981.