The similarities between the 2026 Yankees and Knicks seasons

Ah, playoff baseball. There really is nothing like it. No other sport’s postseason is distinctly embodied in a time of year, but baseball commonly associates the chill of autumn and the month of October with their own march towards a championship.

Today, the Yankees’ journey begins, one that could end as soon as Wednesday night or could last deep into October. It’s an unforgiving sport and playoff format, especially for non-division winners. You play two bad games and you’re done. You get hot? You can go all the way. There’s more variance, hence why some call it a crapshoot.

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As we wait for 8 pm, I couldn’t help but think about the last New York team to win a title. A few months ago, that would have been the 2011 New York Giants, but now? It’s the Knicks, baby. They’ll begin their title defense in a few weeks, but for now, the focus of the city is on Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

There’s something about the journey of the 2o25-26 Knicks that makes you think. If you followed them as religiously as I did, you might remember the ups and downs of that season and maybe, if you squint just enough, you can start to see the distinct similarities between them and the Yankees, who will look to bring a second parade to the Canyon of Heroes in the calendar year.

I’m not saying they will, but there are more similarities between the hopeful Yankees and the triumphant Knicks than you might think:

Regular Season Underperformance

Both the Yankees and Knicks entered the season as the favorites in their respective conferences. Both had primary competitors that would turn out to massively underachieve in the Blue Jays and Cavaliers, but outside of them, they were both considered to be the class of their respective conferences.

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The Yankees were good but not great, finishing with 93 wins in a season that saw them play at a pretty consistent level, save for a few rough weeks, despite some incredibly rough injury luck. While it was a near-identical record to the two prior seasons, the relative consensus was one of disappointment at not taking better advantage of a bad American League.

Speaking of seemingly…

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Publish date : 2026-09-29 17:00:00

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