Bronx, N.Y., October 11, 2004 — The greatest postseason closer in baseball history recorded yet another save in the Bronx Tuesday night. And as Mariano Rivera trotted in from the bullpen to take his practice throws, the Scoreboard displayed its latest gimmick, not just playing Mettalica’s Enter Sandman, but flashing the lyrics across the auxiliary boards that hang from the loge sections down each line.
I couln’t help but think that the song’s lyrics, a halting and unsuccessful attempt to help a child confront the night’s demons as he (she) tries to sleep, mirrored the experience Yankee fans had had, and would continue to have, until the game’s last out was finally recorded. As in the song, the game began as well as it possibly could for the locals, as Mike Mussina whiffed Johnny Damon (who would strike out four times this night) on three pitches, and retired the side in the first on 11. Fans got increased encouragement in the bottom half, initially because of the good swings Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez put on Boston ace Curt Schilling. But it got better when back-to-back Sheffield and Matsui doubles and a Bernie Williams single gave the Yanks the early 2-0 lead.
The Sandman lyrics start well too, assuring the young child that all is well:
- Say your prayers little one
Don’t forget, my son
To include everyone
Tuck you in, warm within
Keep you free from sin
Till the sandman he comes
And as the game wore on, Yankee Stadium could hardly have been a happier place for fans of the Pinstripers. Mussina retired the first nine, and Schilling ran into trouble again in the third. Jeter and A-Rod singles and a Sheffield walk loaded the bases with none out, and Matsui smacked Curt’s first pitch into the right field corner for another double and three more rbi’s. When Williams moved Hideki one base, Posada’s sac fly to center made the score a delightful 6-0.
With Schilling gone after three, a line of Boston relievers carried the action successfully, but not without challenges, as Leskanic allowed two walks in his frame, and ex-Yank Mendoza a hit-by-pitch and a single in his. Meanwhile, Mussina was getting better, as he struck out the first five in the Boston order their second time through, and added another K in retiring ithe Sox in order through six.
The raucous fans’ loudly esposed theory that the Yanks were Boston’s “Daddy” seemed reinforced when the Bombers reached scheduled Game Four starter Tim Wakefield for two on a Lofton home run and yet another Matsui rbi in the sixth. But then the Sandman came, and things got unpredictably tense in an instant. After notching his eighth strike out against Damon leading off the seventh, Moose left an 0-2 pitch to Bellhorn up. Mark drove it to the base of the wall in left, ending Mike’s Perfect Game try and no-hitter in one fell swoop.
The fans gave Mussina a standing ovation, fully expecting him to close out the inning once he got Ramirez for the second out on a grounder to Jeter. But the Mettalica song quickly turns dangerous, and so did this game:
- Sleep with one eye open
Gripping your pillow tight
Something’s wrong, shut the light
Heavy thoughts tonight
And they aren’t of snow white
Dreams of war, dreams of liars
Dreams of dragon’s fire
And of things that will bite
Ortiz ended the shutout on a single to right, Millar doubled David to third, and Nixon delivered both with a single up the middle. Still, things seemed OK when Sturtze came in and went up 0-2 on Varitek, but when the switch-hitting catcher blasted a homer to right, we had a ballgame, and a fanbase grateful for the two runs off Wakefield in the sixth.
Another good feeling permeating the place had as its source the return of the grief-sticken closer Rivera, which was roundly cheered as he took his place in the pen in the middle innings. The Yanks attempted to rally for insurance runs in the seventh but got no further than a Cairo single. But with Tom Gordon and Mo around to hold a three-run lead over two, things looked good.
- Hush little baby, don’t say a word
And never mind that noise you heard
It’s just the beast under your bed,
In your closet, in your head
Gordon fell behind Mueller leading off the eighth, and he singled off Cairo’s glove. Damon concluded his night of infamy with his fourth strike out and Bellhorn flied to left, but a Ramirez single and Ortiz triple high off the left field wall closed the Sox to 8-7 with the tying run on third. (That ball almost cleared the fence in far-out left for an 8-8 tie!). Mariano came in, the song played, the fans cheered, and Millar popped to short.
Then the Yanks mustered a rally behind A-Rod and Sheffield one-out eighth-inning singles. When Matsui finally failed in the clutch (popping softly to short), Bernie Williams responded with a line double over Ramirez in left, delivering both baserunners. The Sox still did not give up, and brought the tying run to the plate yet again on Varitek and Cabrera ninth-inning singles off Mariano. Bill Mueller, who had homered against Rivera six weeks ago, bounced to the box for a 1-6-3, and the game was over. 10-7 Yankees, they win Game One.
A few conclusions can be made, I think. That the Yanks beat Boston ace Schilling in Game One is huge. Most of the plethora of experts who picked Boston to win this Series gave Curt and his postseason pedigree as their reason. On the other hand, the Boston club neither earned nor deserved the derisive “Who’s Your Daddy?” cheer that proliferated during the game’s early stages. Perhaps Pedro Martinez can be justly taunted in that manner because of his recent wierd postgame interview; the Boston players resoundingly showed, I think, that they do not deserve the slam implied. No one anticipated that they would almost tie this game.
Yankee fans have to be pumped by what they saw of Mussina. He used all his pitches, and he was hitting spots. He threw 61 strikes among his 95 pitches, and 16 of 24 batters he faced had to come back from a first-pitch strike. Mike kept his pitch count low early, using his fielders to record easy outs, but the number began to mount when he started piling up the strike outs in the fourth. Mussina’s control was electric. He not only walked none; he got Randy Marsh to agree that his pitches were worthy of 21 called strikes. Moose made Sox batters swing and miss but eight times. He obviously knew what he was up to. The only two frames in which he did not record a strike out, the second and third, were also the only two during which the Sox never missed a ball with a swinging bat.
Aside from the already heralded contributions from Matsui and Williams, the Yankee bats were lively against everyone Francona sent out there (and he sent out seven pitchers before it was over). Also worthy of mention: Sheffield’s 3-for-4 with a walk and four runs, the Lofton home run, and two base hits by A-Rod.
Neither Sturtze nor Gordon were as reliable as we have come to expect; both deserve another chance and our full confidence. Mo was fine despite his anguish, his fatigue, and the two Boston scratch singles in the ninth. When Mo takes the mound, all fear is dispelled with his arrival:
- Exit light
Enter night
Take my hand
Off to never never land
BTW,TYW
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!