NEW YORK -- Prior to Game 5 of the American League Championship Series, Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch acknowledged the boost the home crowd had given the Yankees over the previous two nights.
"This is a tough place to play. These guys are pretty loud from the very beginning," Hinch said. "I've been to both Yankee Stadiums as a player and as a manager, and it's a tough environment. These people love their Yankees. They love baseball, they love the moments and they're smart with how they try to get loud and put pressure on the players. You can feel why it's special to play here as a home player."
Later Wednesday night, following the Yankees' third straight home win in the ALCS -- a win that made them 6-0 at home in the postseason and 57-30 overall this year -- Houston's Game 5 starter, Dallas Keuchel, all but admitted that the atmosphere at Yankee Stadium rattled the Astros.
"New York is no joke; this is a crazy place to play," Keuchel said.
In the clubhouse, several other Astros, including Carlos Correa and former Yankees Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran, also spoke with a tinge of lament about the incredible atmosphere over the three nights in the Bronx in their postgame interviews.
On the other hand, several Yankees spoke glowingly of their experience this week, and to sum up what you, the Bronx faithful, have meant to the team this postseason, we've taken a selection of quotes from Games 3-5 straight from the mouths of the New York Yankees players.
MANAGER JOE GIRARDI: "I think our guys feed off of it a lot, and I think it definitely helps them. I've heard our players talk about it. It's electric. It's something that they haven't seen. And you get it during the season sometimes, certain teams that we face. But this is up a whole other notch. It's as good an atmosphere as I remember at this new ballpark."
TODD FRAZIER: "The crowd played a huge part. This is the best place to play, and this is the most raucous crowd you'll ever be a part of in the best way possible."
DIDI GREGORIUS: "It means a lot. We're playing in front of what, almost 50,000 fans every night, and it's just amazing to show our fans how hard we play, and to have them here cheering us."
CHASE HEADLEY: "It's been unbelievable. I haven't seen anything like it in Major League Baseball since I've been here. Reminds me of college football games. They're going crazy the entire game. It's a huge advantage for us, and makes the environment tremendous to play in."
AARON JUDGE: "That stadium is alive. They're coming for us every game and they're into every pitch, it's just … I've never seen anything like it."
TOMMY KAHNLE: "The fans have been incredible since we've been playing at home, and it really helps when they're behind us. Since we've gotten to the postseason, they've been even louder and crazier, keeping us in the game when we're down, and it's helped big time."
CC SABATHIA: "The fans bring it every night to playoffs, and you can feed off that. It's been a lot of fun to watch what they've been doing, and the way we can kind of feed off their energy."
GARY SANCHEZ: "When I look around and see the fans cheering and screaming, it's nice to see all their support to come out here and show the kind of support they've shown. It's amazing."