Bronx, N.Y., September 19, 2011 – My friends and loved ones are not buying it, but I’m here to tell you, the 6-4 Yankee win over Minnesota wasn’t just a baseball party on a gorgeous afternoon, capped by a moment for the ages.

True, the home team received some very encouraging news on some position players, a mystery starter turned in a few innings better than most we’ve witnessed in the Bronx all year, and it was a lot nicer day than the rainy, chilly April day when this game vs the Twins was supposed to have been played. Derek Jeter opened the home first with the first of his three hits, and Curtis Granderson reminded us of early August with a two-run jack to right center.

Robinson Cano unleashed a vicious drive to the wall just left of center in the third before being walked intentionally twice later in the game; he scored from third to make it 5-0 Yanks on the second of two Nick Swisher singles. This took place as the out-of-town scoreboard revealed a 5-1 Baltimore lead over Boston. A few innings later, Alex Rodriguez followed a key rbi base hit with two outstanding defensive plays that gave the lie to months of injury.

But the most astounding thing, perhaps, was the way A.J. Burnett started this game. The Twins did reach him for one infield hit in each of the first three frames, but that’s bookkeeping. They each reached because they hit the ball too softly to be defended, though even striking the ball was an accomplishment. A.J. had his curveball working so well that his three-inning total was seven strike outs on 34 strikes and just nine balls. And better still, only eight of those 34 strikes hit bats. Minnnesota batters were both helpless and mesmerized, with virtually no chance whether they swung the bat or not. Coupled with the loud early offense and the terrific news from the north (the only other game in town), it truly was a baseball party.

Was.

The first sign of trouble? First and third and second and third with one out in back-to-back frames, but just one run. The Yanks failed to score after a Jeter leadoff walk in the fourth as well. This became a concern because Burnett lost something against Chris Parmelee leading off the top of the fourth. A called and swinging strike had the Twins first sacker down 0-2, but he turned on the next pitch and deposited over the wall for a 5-1 score. Minnesota plated no more runs then despite two hits and a walk, but it was 30 pitches, and the bell was tolling.

Nine pitches into the fifth inning, two runs had scored on a single, homer and double, and A.J. was gone. A Cory Wade walk and single made it 5-4 with two on and no outs. Meanwhile, the score in Boston closed to 5-2, then 6-2, but then 6-5. Two one-run games with four innings to go in each game. The rooting was no longer easy.

But then the Yankee bullpen proved its mettle. Wade stiffened and two strike outs ended the fifth still 5-4, and the righty got an out between two singles in the sixth, a situation that improved when Russell Martin threw Ben Revere out trying to steal a third base. Once Boone Logan retired Parmelee on a ground ball, the back of the pen took over. A litany of relievers – we could see the numbers changing on the board – held the Sox at bay in Boston, as Rafael Soriano and Dave Robertson threw one-two-three frames in the Bronx.

The crowd was able to relax once Jeter led off the home sixth with a single and two outs later, Rodriguez singled hard through the shortstop hole for an insurance run. So a potential occurrence that seemed a long shot at 5-0 in the third built slowly through an undeniable crescendo as the innings went by and the 6-4 score held. Fans fidgeted nervously as the Yanks put two on the eighth with one down and, sad to say, Nick Swisher’s double play grounder that ended the inning received stronger applause than the A-Rod rbi single the inning before.

And the seemingly inevitable came to pass. Mo was warming in plain sight in the bullpen as that rally built and fizzled, and once Swisher’s grounder was turned, the 20-25,000 of the announced crowd of 45,000 rose to their feet as if World Series Game Seven had just broken out. A crowd who barely registered a peep at John Hirschbeck’s strike zone in three hours now reacted loudly to each call. We booed lustily at ball one, ball two to Trevor Plouffe, screamed for joy at a called, then swinging strike, then the ground ball to second. A similar five-pitch minidrama came to an end as Michael Cuddyer lined softly to right. Then Parmelee, who figured so prominently in bringing Burnett’s great game to a halt, took his turn.

September 19, 2011, is the 71st birthday of former Righteous Brother Bill Medley who, along with Bobby Hadfield, had a string of hits in the late 1960s, a time, incidentally, when the New York Yankees lost their winning ways. One of those hits was You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling. The Yanks would recover in the 1970s, but by the 80s they were losing again.

But then in the mid-1990s the losing ways were gone. And if you’ve been in outer space for much of the last few decades, Mr. Parmalee could give you an idea of where they went. Three pitches later Monday afternoon, he was gone, amd Mariano Rivera had his 602nd career regular-season save (to go with 42 more in the postseason).

I was wrong. Monday was a party. Actually it’s been one long party since since 1995. That was when the Yanks found

That Winning Feeling

BTW,TYW
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!