Yankees need to remember how to swing the sledgehammer

Back when success was a Yankees habit at this time of year, regularly baked into the calendar alongside Oktoberfest, they knew exactly what had to happen now. They would know by instinct and habit how to approach Game 3 of this American League Division Series when it resumes Wednesday in Kansas City.

Over the years, the rose-tinted narrative has emerged that these Dynasty Boys were so good, so dominant, and so efficient that they simply steamrolled teams. The passage of time tends to embellish Maalox moments.

Sometimes they simply overwhelmed all comers.

And sometimes they had to counterattack. Sometimes they had to crush the minds of upstarts who had the audacity to think they could get into the Yankees' heads, into their nervous systems. And almost every time, these Yankees had not only an answer, but an immediate one. It was one of her superpowers.

They knew how to swing a sledgehammer.

The Yankees need some of that now after the Royals' 4-2 win at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday. You'll need to pack a few sledgehammers in your carry-on luggage.

“We did this a lot,” said Jazz Chisholm Jr., owner of one of the few Yankees hitters who wasn't smothered in mothballs and hit a home run in the ninth inning. “One day we get our asses kicked, the next day we get our asses kicked.”

That's the idea. It must be. It always was. In 1998, El Duque Hernandez wrote the first chapter of his legend in a 2-1 loss to Cleveland in the ALCS: seven innings, 115 pitches, four hits as he struck out Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome and their friends and kept them on remembered which team she had won 114 games. The Yankees didn't lose the rest of the playoffs.

Two years later, after the Mets won Game 3 of the World Series, Derek Jeter hit a leadoff home run off Bobby Jones. Order was immediately restored to the Subway series. The Yankees didn't lose another game that year either.

In 2001, Jeter executed his flip play in Oakland, at a time in the ALDS when it seemed the A's were finally going to end the Yankees' run.

This was in the same stadium where the Yankees were fighting for life and death in Game 5 a year earlier, heard an overconfident Eric Chavez talking a little too much trash on the scoreboard during batting practice, and hit a six-spot in the top of the first.

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The Yankees could use a little of this Wednesday — or a lot of it. Look, the Royals are a good club, a smart club, and they didn't win Game 2 in the lottery. They won on performance, just as they improved from 56 to 86 wins on performance, just as they beat the Orioles on performance. It looked like Carlos Rodon was going to mow them down all night; They recovered and were able to knock him out before the end of the fourth quarter. They have a hard time.

“They’re tough,” Rodon said. “They keep coming back to you.”

The Yankees' offense, which suffered from periodic lapses all season, failed to jump on the nervous Royals pitchers early in the first innings of both games. They got away unscathed in Game 1. They couldn't do that in Game 2. So instead of flying to Missouri with a hammerlock in the series, they fly there in a draw. The Royals have to believe they have a chance.

The Yankees need to disabuse the Royals of that notion. Fast. Vehemently. The easiest way for an underdog to send his favorite home early is to allow him to believe a little too much and hang around a little too long. Ask Alabama — or, more specifically, Vanderbilt — what’s possible if that happens.

“We have two more games to win, that's how important it is,” Yankees coach Aaron Boone said 20 minutes after Gleyber Torres hit Bobby Witt Jr. to tie the game. “It’s the playoffs. Every day is crucial. Hopefully we’ll regroup (Wednesday) and take care of Game 3 because that’s what’s next.”

They need to make a statement early in Game 3, the kind of proclamation that was noted at the start of Game 2 and that they were never quite able to seize. They took an early lead and Rodon capitalized immediately. There was a lot of traffic, but few big hits. We've seen this a lot from the Yankees this year.

There were almost always answers. Chisholm is right. The Yankees almost always recovered before things could get too violent.

“It’s been a hallmark of our success,” Boone said. “Especially after the difficult ones. These guys are really confident and that's understandable. We’ll be ready for Game 3.”

Aaron Judge said: “The boys are pumped. They’re excited.”

They must be. Back then, in the good times, it was always like that. It's happened too many times for it to be a coincidence. They were eloquent, elegant champions. But they were also stone-cold killers who specialized in being bullies when necessary. These Yankees could use some of that.

They could use a little bully ball. Fast.