BRONX, N.Y., Oct. 15, 2001 — It may represent a pretty frivolous approach to a game that sparked some deep emotions; in fact, I’m sure that that’s what popped into my head when I sat here. There are a jumble of feelings dueling for control, and I could spend the next few minutes talking about things like love, joy, resignation, forbearance, courage and heroism.
But I prefer to talk about the powder blue Grand Am that preceded me from the Cross County Expressway onto the Bronx River Parkway as I hurried to the game, having left work almost a full hour later than I had planned. DMC2128 the license plate read, and it sent a definite shiver down my spine. The first three digits are my initials, at least the ones I had in school, the only place to regard “Mc” as its own letter, segregating it from the other “M”s. The next four digits, as any Yankee fan knows, represented the numbers of the left-hand hitting outfielders I had already heard on the news were benched for Game 5.
Panicky that Joe had made a huge mistake, I wondered how such a sign could be read as a good omen, without much success. And then when Oakland left-handed batters led off each of the first two innings with hard doubles and each scored, I tried to remain positive, and loud — very loud, in fact — and tried to believe the little clues I was finding that this was not the same Mulder who started Game 1 (like two out of nine first pitch strikes first time through the order).
But then Alfonso finally got the big hit that had so far eluded us in the Bronx, Oakland collapsed under the pressure, Roger threw as hard as I’ve ever seen, and we opened a little daylight. It was then that I noticed that both Sue on my left and the guy on my right had on #21 jerseys (“no name, of course”), his a road gray, hers a home pinstripe, and I felt a little better about Pauly.
So when Oakland closed it to 4-3 and Hudson started looking like he did four days ago, it was with a big smile that I greeted the sight of Justice in the on-deck circle in the sixth. Did I know he’d hit it out? No, but I felt good, really from that moment on.
A glorious win, a real nice night. Lisa Beamer, widow of Todd, a hero who perished on the flight that crashed outside Pittsburgh, was honored, and NYPD Officer Daniel Rodriguez was superb on both the National Anthem and on God Bless America in the seventh. There was a defiant sign held by someone in Tier section 15 that said:
Hey Oakland,
SWEEP THIS!
Congrats to Derek, the most extraordinary ballplayer of the last decade, on capturing the most hits in postseason history and for his almost routine superhuman play. Gotta stop now. Those emotions I mentioned before are sneaking back in. Yankee fans — the happiest and luckiest people on the planet!
BTW, TYW
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!