It was a wild ride but the Yankees are back where they usually are at this time of year. In the postseason for the 13th consecutive season.

They deserve a lot of credit for how they played the last three months, making up a ton of ground after a brutal start which saw them 21-29 at one point, 14 and a half behind the Red Sox. Though Joe Torre’s club won’t make up the ground to win another AL East, just to get this far his team had to play lights out. Including tonight’s 12-4 wildcard clincher over the D-Rays in St. Petersburgh, the Bronx Bombers have posted a major league best 53-26 record since July.

They needed to play that kind of baseball to reach another October, leaving an emotional Torre reduced to tears about how much it means to once again be playing meaningful baseball for the 12th straight season since he took over in the dugout.

Not surprisingly, the celebration which included many key young players such as Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera, Shelly Duncan and Joba Chamberlain was chaotic. The youngsters who played pivotal roles in the club’s remarkable turnaround had plenty of fun in the Yankee locker room interrupting Kim Jones’ interviews during the raucous celebration by dousing teammates with champagne and making about as much noise as you’d hear at a frat party. If you’ve seen the energy Duncan brings, it’s no surprise that he was leading the charge in the fun.

That’s something that’s made this team different than past ones. When you see the ultraserious Mike Mussina even getting into the act with Duncan, you know it’s been very positive for this club which prides itself on winning and going about its business on and off the field.

Sometimes, youthful energy can rub off on veterans. It sure looks like that’s happened with this club. You’ve seen this team have more fun during games. Cabrera’s recent walkoff hit at The Stadium was greeted by buddy Cano and A-Rod who all jumped up and down playfully around him.

There’s been a lot more of that than in past seasons which has to be good for team chemistry.

The Yanks might have the highest payroll but without Joba (Jaw-ba) and some of those other kids coming up and playing roles, there probably isn’t a 13th straight postseason which is just one short of Atlanta’s ML record of 14 (1991-2005).

Of course, you can’t say enough about the performance of A-Rod, whose 53 home runs and 151 RBI’s in 156 games is one of the most remarkable seasons in Pinstripe history. The third baseman came in with much to prove this year and has been extremely focused and put together an amazing summer which will become his third AL MVP season and second as a Yankee in three years. You can tell just from his response to Jones that he knows it’s not done yet and there’s still something bigger coming starting next week.

You saw the same expression on Derek Jeter, whose sixth 200th hit season is two fewer than all-time great Lou Gehrig’s major league record eight.

He talked about it not being easy to be this consistent year after year despite the talent they have and gave credit to Brian Cashman for some of the call-ups such as Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy.

Of course, the Yankee captain’s right. It’s not easy to be one of those eight teams. Just ask the Mets.

They know they’ve done something very nice already but the goal becomes bigger with the Indians looming in the first round probably next Tuesday.

The Yanks were written off many times this year including by WFAN’s Mike Francesa, us and even fans. They never gave up and believed in each other enough to get the job done.

It was a team effort. Jorge Posada has had perhaps his best season. Cano is six RBI’s short of 100 after a brutal first half and Bobby Abreu who he doused during an interview is one shy of the century mark. Johnny Damon who has come on strong down the stretch had his share too. Hideki Matsui had a tough first half too but has rebounded to knock in his usual 100-plus. Valuable players have come off the bench and chipped in such as Doug Mientkiewicz, Wilson Betemit, Duncan, Jose Molina and even Jason Giambi.
This is part of why Andy Pettite and Roger Clemens returned. Now comes the bigger test where recent Yankee teams have failed to deliver.

In an ultracompetitive AL where all four teams (Boston, Cleveland, Angels and Yankees) are only separated by three total games, there’s no such thing as a gimme in the first round. Whoever comes out of the AL and takes the pennant will really earn it.

The Yanks have gotten to Part I. They should be commended for how they played with little margin for error. Now comes the real challenge.