| I had a pair of Game 7 ALCS tickets, which I ordered via TicketBastard.
It would have been nice to see a Game 7, but I honestly didn't want to
see it. Not after the Yanks went up 3-1 in the best-of-seven series against
Seattle. I'd much rather prefer a Game 6, one where the Yankees
had the option to clinch at home with none of the pressure of elimination.
On the night of Game 4, a Saturday, Beth and I went to a Phil Lesh concert at The Beacon. The baseball nerd I am, I brought a pocket radio to the concert, where I listened to the ball game during the set break, and again before the encore. During a first set bathroom break, I learned that Roger Clemens was tossing a no-hitter in the fifth inning, with the Yanks up 3-0. I listened to the seventh and eight innings of the game in set break, letting a fellow fan listen to an ear on my headphones. The Rocket gave up a hit, but struck out 15 in a brilliant shutout. When Phil returned for the second set, the stranger offered me Game 6 tickets, for Tuesday, at face value. Unbelievable. |
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| The game was terrific. Orlando Hernandez started, going for his record
eighth straight post-season victory without a loss. After seeing his major
league debut in 1998, I had always been a huge fan. Unfortunately,
El Duque didn't have his best stuff that night. He gave up a couple of
doubles in the first inning, including a monster shot by Alex Rodriguez,
and a two-run homer to Jose Guillen in the fourth. Down 4-0 in the fourth,
things looked scary. I buried my head in my lap and prayed for a quick
comeback. Someone heard my prayers. Jorge Posada did, hitting a bases-juiced
two-bagger to bring the game within striking distance.
El Duque kept struggling throughout the game, but he managed to keep the M's to a 1-run lead until the seventh. Then the Bombers exploded, fueled by a three-run shot by ALCS MVP David Justice. As good as Justice was for that team, I attribute that bomb to the rally caps worn by me, my Dad, and Justin. After putting up a six frame and going up by four, Duque ran out of gas, giving up a solo home run to A-Rod to start the eight. After another hit, Mariano Rivera came in to close the deal, six outs from the pennant. |
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| Above left, the final scoreboard shows the scene. The American flag
blocking the time (12:19) hung at half-mast, in honor of the 19 American
soldiers killed in a recent Middle East attack.
Orlando Hernandez had already set the post-season record for most consecutive scoreless innings with 33 1/3 coming into the game. (He broke Whitey Ford's old record.) After recording two more outs in the eight, thus extending his record to 34 innings, he gave up a double that hit first base and closed the gap. Rivera closed the deal in the ninth, setting another record with most saves on the post-season with 15. He had broken Dennis Eckersley's old record. |
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| The fans in the audience were wild. The girl to our left, hailing from
glorious upstate New York, was too excited to sit throughout the game.
And not only did she feel obliged to stand for the whole game, she refused
to let anyone near her sit, either. Unfortunately for my Dad
and his buddy Kenny (above right), that included them. "Get your shit together,"
she'd scream.
With two outs in the ninth inning, I called my friend Brian Merz, a Washington State native, and a lifetime Mariners fan. He had e-mailed me after Game 1 of the ALCS (where the Yanks lost 2-0) and called me "his bitch." With 56,796 fans screaming in The Bronx as his team went out with a whimper, I told him that he was now, offically, my bitch. Ah, revenge for 1995. |
| The celebration continued for about 15 minutes. The Sinatra
standard, New York New York, was never more appropriate as the Yankees
were now slated to play the crosstown Mets in the World Series. The Mets
had clinched in Game 5 of the NLCS the previous day against the Cards.
Ol' Blue Eyes crooned about the best city in the world, and us fans of baseball knew exactly where the heart of baseball lied. For the first time in 44 years, the final series of baseball was going to take place in New York City. The Yanks won their 37th pennant and were going for their 26th World Series, and the fourth in five years. The Mets won their fourth pennant and were going for their third World Series. How pathetic. |
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