Bronx, N.Y., August 24, 2003 — Had I written a column after the Friday evening opening contest of the four-game series with the Orioles, the title might have been, “Who Let the Air Out?” The weather was hot and forbidding, and the air barely breathable that night, but the Yanks were up early, 3-2, on Johnson and Soriano homers, and there was actually a light breeze wafting over the Stadium’s upper deck. But then the air left, and so did the offense, as the Yankees seemingly sleep-walked their way to a 4-3 loss..
David Wells of the balky back pitched well, and I anxiously thought that he deserved more support than the eventual feeble ninth-inning rally that fell short. Or at least I felt that way until Saturday, because while Moose toiled one run down for four innings during that battle, I would have given anything to cheer a Yankee game-closing rally, even one that fell short. But the Yanks only put together four hits on Friday after Soriano’s third inning bomb, and that number shrunk to two after the Yanks scored two in Saturday’s third frame, an inning that was keyed by Jorge Posada’a home run.
The timing was perfect three days ago, after the seven-game win streak and the 7.5 game lead, when word first came down from the Yankees that Jose Contreras would be getting another start in the Bronx. But by the time the fiery Cuban expatriate finally took the mound for Sunday afternoon’s game on a second consecutive gorgeous day in the Bronx, the lead had shrunk to five games, and the Yankees were once again displaying that anemic brand of offense that saw them no-hit by six Astros hurlers two months ago.
Contreras just shrugged that recent history off at 1:08 Sunday afternoon, striking out pesky Oriole second baseman Brian Roberts on three pitches to start the game. But the crowd grew very nervous when Derek Jeter threw away center fielder Luis Matos’s 1-0 bouncer, another ball that Nick Johson not only (understandably) couldn’t grab at first, but which he disturbingly failed to knock down (again), placing the speedy O’s oufielder in scoring position with the three and four hitters in the lineup coming up. The crowd took heart a bit when Contreras whiffed wily lefty-hitting veteran B.J. Surhoff on five pitches, but Jeff Conine lined the 1-1 pitch sharply past Soriano into right, and a burst of celebration, following a few moments of anxiety, arose when young Juan Rivera charged the ball, grabbed its second hop and fired an accurate throw to Jorge Posada at home to catch the sliding Matos.
A few minutes later Posada would contribute again, blasting a two-out, three-run homer, and Contreras had himself a lead. Fueled by the quick offense, the delightful weather and the appreciative crowd, Contreras strode to the mound for the second and had a dominating inning, sandwiching four-pitch swinging strike outs of lefty outfielders Jay Gibbons and Larry Bigbie around a 2-1 Batista foul out to Boone at third. Rookie Oriole lefty Eric Dubose, meanwhile, had a shaky start to his second, walking the free-swinging Boone on four pitches and watching Nick Johnson line a double into the left field corner after he had made him look bad on a nice bender on the at bat’s first pitch. But Dubose showed some resiliency by striking out Rivera and Soriano in succession, even if the effort cost him 15 pitches.
The crowd was painfully aware that the Yanks had been shut down for two straight days after flashing early power, and a groan went up when Marty Foster called a strike on Dubose’s low outside first pitch to Jeter. And the Yankee captain, no doubt aware how close his first-inning error had come to causing the Yanks to fall behind, took a ball, and then lined the third offering into the right center gap, and followed the tardy throw home into second as Jay Gibbons’s attempt was too late to prevent Johnson from scoring behind Boone, and the Yanks had a 5-0 lead.
Some of us still couldn’t forget the helpless feeling engendered during back-to-back uninspired losses, but it was hard not to take heart as Contreras continued to dominate the O’s, even if he did it a bit more quietly following the four strike outs by the end of the second. After Matsui squeezed Deivi Cruz’s fly to start the third, one of only five outfield flies the Orioles could muster against Contreras in seven, it was hard not to get a bit nervous when Baltimore backstop Brooks Fordyce strode to the plate. Sure, he was batting ninth, but he had stroked five hits (three for extra bases) and knocked in five in the last two days, and we all relaxed a bit after his 1-1, excuse-me, checked-swing slow roller to Boone for the inning’s second out.
Gibbons bounced an infield single off Contreras’s body in the fourth that caused no harm, and Bigbie singled sharply to left to lead off the fifth, but Bernie Williams flagged down an easy fly and Boone corraled two liners, the second one a fine grab on a twisting, knuckling ball toward the shortstop hole, to close the inning. Jose retired the next six to end his day by allowing no runs on only three hits through seven innings. He struck out five, had a 62/29 strikes to balls ratio, and finished with 15 of 25 first-pitch strikes on the strength of the fact that he threw one to each of the last seven batters he faced. I hesitate to mention his only walk because he never threw a ball four, as Roberts was awarded first base when Contreras went to his mouth on the mound while about to throw the Oriole second baseman a 3-2 pitch. Jose’s ignorance of that rule posed no great danger, however, because that was one of only two three-ball counts on the day, the other coming on the very next at bat, and only after Luis Matos had fouled off strike three four times.
The Yankee Stadium I labored to root in during the haze and heat of Friday night was delightful on both Saturday and Sunday afternoons. It was Ray Bradbury’s 83rd birthday on Friday night and Fahrenheit 451, the title of his seminal novel about living in an oppressive society in a too-real future, seemed only too descriptive of the temperature in the Bronx, even if the scoreboard claimed it was only 87 degrees with a humidity of 65 percent. Those numbers dipped to 81 and 45 for Saturday’s tilt and the wonderful ceremony commemorating the retiring of Ron Guidry’s number 49 that preceded it, and Sunday’s first-pitch temp occurred in an atmosphere another nine degrees cooler, though it felt hotter in the sun.
On Saturday, it was great seeing Goose Gossage, Dick Tidrow, Graig Nettles, Hank Bauer, Dave Winfield, Rick Cerone, Whitey Ford, Don Mattingly, Phil Rizzuto, Yogi Berra and Reggie Jackson join Ellen Hunter, Catfish’s widow, and present-day Yankees Willie Randolph and Andy Pettitte in the tribute to Louisiana Lightning, and to hear Gator’s classy and moving words in appreciation. I’m sure the highlight for most fans like myself, fans who try to make a connection by spending their money, time and voices in support of the team in the Stadium as often as they can, occurred when Ron acknowleged that he had “heard it every time” when the fans stood and applauded on the 0-2 count, and that he appreciated it.
I often remark on the fun the fans in the stands have scurrying for foul balls. We celebrate the great catches, and the fluky ones, and laugh together with the people who lose a beer or a tray of hot dogs in the attempt, or at the few that skin a knee while making an ill-advised dive over hard plastic and wooden seats anchored with metal into years-old concrete, but it bears repeating the old saw that fans need to keep their eyes on the ball in play while at these games, which is just one more (ineffective, I’m sure) argument against the wave. I’m sure the fans in the Main Reserved sections down the baselines rarely see a ball struck in their midst, but the foul that Brian Roberts hit today on a 2-2 count in the third made it into those seats in section 14 or so down the third baseline, and a young person had to be escorted from the area holding a bandage to their hopefully only slightly injured eye in the aftermath.
Some August 24 historical precedents were disturbing to a Yankee fan concerned about the state of the empire on a weekend where, despite our continued superb contributions from the mound staff, the club and its fanbase saw their advantage slipping away daily. Rome was overrun by the Visigoths on this day way back in 410, effectively ending Rome’s hold in the West. And the invading British sacked Washington and burned the White House on this day in 1814. But any attempt by the Orioles to continue their bombast and mayhem was thwarted by the fine pitching of Mr. Contreras, with a big assist from Juan Rivera in keeping the Birds off the Scoreboard early.
But despite Jose’s great and uplifting performance, the thing I appreciated the most was the return of the Yankee bats. The cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were destroyed on this day way back in 79 A.D. when Mt. Vesuvius erupted. The Yanks bunched six hits and seven runs into Sunday’s first three innings. There were doubles from Alfonso Soriano and Nick Johnson; the latter had two hits as did Jorge Posada with his three-run homer, and that is not to mention the fine job he did with Contreras. And Jeter chipped in with the huge two-out, two-run base hit.
Young Eric Dubose hit Jason Giambi with the first pitch he threw to the Yankee power hitter on the day. Little did he know that all that that would do was to set up one more run for the Yankees when Posada strode to the plate…
And the eruption came.
BTW,TYW
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!