When a loved one dies, their close relatives and friends all gather to pay their respects and to share memories of the deceased.  Now that the last piece of our beloved Shea has been torn down, thus officially ending an illustrious 45-year history, I feel that it is time that I finally sit down and reflect on the great memories I had there as well as Yankee Stadium. 

 

With the installation of the new MLB Network, my passion for baseball has skyrocketed.  It truly is my passion.  I really think I’m in the wrong field.  I need to figure out a way to make baseball a part of my livelihood. 

 

Anyway, I was reading over my “Shea Goodbye” posting and realize that I still had not posted my top moments in Shea and Yankee Stadium history.  It’s been a long time since I’ve written about baseball.  One month is down in the new season and I promised myself I would not set foot inside Citi Field without burying Shea first.  This is the only way I know how.  Thinking back to all of my moments in each ballpark, I came up with 10 for the Yankees and 20 for the Mets. 

 

It took a lot of tweaking and toying to come up with the “top” memories for each ballpark.  I’m sure there are some that I’m missing, but that’s exactly the point.  They can’t be as memorable as these thirty if I can’t think of them off the top of my head.   So if anyone has any other memories of me at Shea that didn’t make the list, I apologize.  Beer does negative wonders for the memory. 

 

Since I was at the Yankees game against the Red Sox the other night, the Sox’ first visit to the new ballpark, I will start with the Yankees first.  I’m still working on Shea’s and promise, I’ll have it done before my first REGULAR SEASON game in Citi Field.  I was at the Red Sox-Mets exhibition game, unfortunately, I lost my phone with all the notes in it.  Yet I digress.  Without further adieu, here are my Top 10 All-Time Old Yankee Stadium Memories:

 

10) My first ever game in Yankee Stadium. 

 

My Godfather Tom scored tickets in the box seats in right field.  I was 12 years old.  The day was Saturday July 17, 1993.  I can still remember the rowdiness of the bleacher creatures.  And I remember Freddie, the “Hooooooh!  Hoooooooh!!!! Hooooooh!!!  METS SUCK!  BOSTON SUCKS!  BOX SEATS SUCK!” and having no idea why they hated all those people so much.  I now know why.  Regardless, my first Yankee Stadium was a fun one.  That day, I was accompanied by Tom, his first born, Tommy, you all know Tommy from the Giants games, Tom’s brother-in-law Rich and his son Michael, who’s a couple years older than Tommy, and my life-long friend Nicky.  Tommy was about 5 at the time. 

 

As for the game itself, Rickey Henderson batted lead off for the A’s and had his typical 2 for 3 with 2 runs scored and 2 walks kind of day.  Jim Abbott and his one hand started for the Yankees.  The Yanks got off to a quick 4-1 lead after 1 and never looked back.  A’s starter Bobby Witt only lasted 3.1 innings surrendering 7 runs on 10 hits.  We even had a Goose Gossage sighting from the A’s pen.

 

The one lasting memory I have is the bleacher creatures heckling A’s Right fielder Reuben Sierra.  It got so bad that at one point he turned around and pointed his finger to the crowd.  Not only was this the first time I ever experienced Yankee Stadium, but it was the first time I ever took place in heckling players.  And so it begins.

 

Reuben Sierra reacting to the bleacher creatures. 

 

9) My First Goodbye: 2008 Yankees vs. Detroit. 

 

Heading into the 2008 season, I knew I had to hit a Yankee game before they tore it down.  My manager, A-Train, a Yankee fan, had bought tickets to a couple games early in the season.  He couldn’t make a game in May, so he offered me the tickets.  I offered one to D-Train, my ex-girlfriend, Little D’s brother.  The night resulted in this blog: http://viewfromthegreenseats.metsblog.com/blog/_archives/2008/5/8/3680104.html.  It was a bad night for the Yankees, a bad night for the New York Rangers and a fairly bad night for the Mets.  Overall, New York was not a happy town that night. 

 

The one lasting memory I will have from that night was being able to walk around the whole ballpark on the Field Level, something that was NEVER allowed at Shea without a ticket to be on the Field Level.  My father almost got thrown out once a couple years ago, because he had to go to the bathroom and the Field Level was the closest.  I learned a lot from my father about how to deal with irrelevant people that day. 

 

8) “Father and Son Day”:  August 13, 1997 Yankees vs. Kansas City

 

On a rainy Wednesday, in the middle of August, the year after the Yankees became champions of baseball for the first time in over 15 years, and when they were still tolerable, my father took me to Yankee Stadium along with his buddy Fox and his son Colin.  We sat down the third baseline on the Field Level.  The Yankees squared off against the Kansas City Royals.  After approximately an hour-long rain delay, the game got underway and the Yankees wasted no time getting to Royals’ pitcher Tim Belcher, scoring a run in each of the first three innings, on a Paul O’Neill RBI single, a bases loaded walk and a home run by O’Neill.  In the 5th, the Royals climbed back into the game with 2 runs off of Yankees starter, are you ready for this?  Hideki Irabu!!!!!  Oh yeah.  That’s a name right there. 

 

The name game doesn’t end there.  Irabu’s battery mate was none other than future Yankees manager Joe Girardi.  I wonder if Joe Torre ever thought he would have been kicked to the curb after winning 4 World Series to his one-time catcher.  Like I said though, it doesn’t end there.  Leading off the game for the Royals was none other than the inexplicably pompous jackass, and future Bridgeport Bluefish/criminal Jose Offerman.  Can you tell there is no loved lost within me for this man? 

 

Batting second was future Yankee-killer-turned-Yankee Johnny Damon.  Wait, it gets better, as the DH for the Royals was future Yankee Charles Theodore “Chili” Davis.  I love the Name Game.

 

In the 7th, the Yankees blew it open with 4 runs on some sloppy pitching and defense, including an error, wild pitch and three walks.  Oh Royals baseball.  Irabu picked up the win, as Colin and snuck down to the front row down the third baseline and watched Wade Boggs make a nice catch on a line drive to his right to end the game.  Until then, I had never been that close to a Major League Baseball field. 

 

Wow, LOOK at that sellout crowd! 

 

7) A College Invasion: April 20, 2001 Yankees vs. Red Sox

In my late high school and early college years, I was obsessed with picking up and going to baseball games whenever I felt it necessary (and had the money.)  Early in the 2001 season, the Red Sox visited the Bronx for a weekend series and being that I lived with two Sox fans, my roommates Dill and Jeff, it was the perfect opportunity to see my first Yankees-Sox game live in person.  As it turns out, to this point, it’s the ONLY Yanks-Sox game I’ve ever been to.  I secured the tickets online through the Yankees website, a phenomenon that was still amazing at the time, and being that Jeff was the only one with a car, we piled into his big ol’ Buick and hustled down I-95 to the Bronx. 

 

The night didn’t go as we had hoped.  Remember, this was the year AFTER the Yankees celebrated their World Series victory on our home field.  This was probably around the peak of my hatred for this team AND I was with two Sox fans.  The Yanks got off to a roaring start with a Tino Martinez grand slam in the first.  I still remember as the ball was headed for the seats, the three of us just put our heads down.  It was gonna be a long night and none of us were of age, nor did we have fake ID’s.  Ouch. 

 

The Sox never really put up a fight, as Andy Pettitte went the distance, yielding one run in the 9th en route to a 6-1 victory for the Yankees.  Wait til you see the names in this one.  Red Sox starter, HIDEO NOMO lasted just two innings.  Red Sox first baseman, Jose Friggin Offerman got the first hit of the game with a single in the first.  Red Sox centerfielder Carl Everett went 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts and no assaults.  Here comes one of the best names.  Red Sox reliever Pete Schourek pitched an inning of relief yielding just a walk.  This game just has Mets scrubs written all over it.

 

The one memory that I will never get out of my head from this game wasn’t necessarily a good one.  We parked on the top of the parking deck, one of the worst structures ever created.  As we patiently waited, a guy was trying to back out of his spot.  He was a Red Sox fan there with his family.  Apparently a drunk Yankees fan to exception to this and walked over to the car yelling obscenities at the guy while wielding a Yankees mini bat.  Dill got out of the car and charged at the guy, bringing him to the ground, Jeff came around the other side and hip checked a guy, while I saw another guy heading towards Dill and cut him off slamming into a car, pinning him there.  The situation calmed down and Dill said try anything else and see what happens.  Naturally, this story is completely false, but it was a great story to tell all our buddies when we got back.  There was a guy with a bat and we were about to get out of the car before the cops showed up and handled the situation.  You stay classy, Yankees fans.  

 

6) Old Times Sake:  May 21, 2002 Yankees vs. Blue Jays

 

One night while a bunch of friends were hanging out, my buddy Johnny Mack turned to me and said, “Let’s go to a Yankee game.  You’re 21.  Let’s go get drunk and watch the Yankees pound on somebody.”  Of course, this was right in the middle of my deep hatred for the Yankees, but the Mets were looking so bad between 2001 and 2002 that I just needed to see some good baseball, so I obliged.  Joe also wanted in.  Mark it down, 3 tickets, for a Tuesday night in May, just before I went away to Ireland for 2 weeks of “school.”  The day of the game, Johnny Mack called and said he couldn’t get out of bed, he was so sick, so he gave up his ticket.  Frantically, I called everyone, my girlfriend at the time who was a Yankee fan, my brother Chris, for whom I was working, and finally I called our buddy Gerry, a big Yankee fan.  Gerry’s sister Beth, who is our age picked up and said Gerry was away.  Knowing Beth was also a Yankees fan and she is also a good friend of ours, I offered her the ticket.  I figured she had something going on, but she responded very excited and jumped at the ticket.  We’re all set. 

 

Now for a little bit of a background story.  I’ve known Joe since I was four years old; we went to Pre-K and Kindergarten together.  In first grade, I transferred to Catholic school, where I met Beth.  Beth and I really became friends more towards second and third grade, while Joe transferred to our school for fifth grade.  Joe and I went to high school together and Beth went to our sister school.  We grew up together, hung out, she was a cheerleader, and we were managers for the football team.  We weren’t necessarily always in the same circle of friends, but our paths always crossed one way or another.  We were always there for each other.  Looking back on my life, I can without a doubt say the two of them are two of my closest friends, however before I talked to her on the phone that day, we probably hadn’t spoken in months since we all went to different colleges.  What transpired was a night that I’ll never forget.  It was a night where three life-long friends hung out at a baseball game and it was like 3 years of college had never happened, nothing had ever changed. 

 

As for the game, the Yanks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second on a Jason Giambi home run and a Rondell White RBI ground out, scoring Jorge Posada.  Mike Mussina gave one back with an RBI double by Raul Mondesi scoring Felipe Lopez.  The Yankees scored another run in the 4th and Rondell White led off the 7th inning with a blast of a home run to left field off of Toronto starter Luke Prokopec.  We didn’t stay too much longer after that, as the Moose cruised through 6.2 innings before handing it over to Steve Karsay for the final 2.1.  But it was more than just the game that I remember.

 

The three of us spent most of the game catching up on our lives, telling stories from our first three years of college, talking about our significant others and what to expect going into senior year and beyond.  We were still growing up and I remember talking about plans for post college.  People always say to savor the great moments in life.  Well what better moment to remember than that of three friends who grew up together, have seen each other at some of their highest and lowest moments and always stood by each other’s side when called upon spending time together telling war stories and planning new ones while watching a Major League Baseball game?  I’m not sure, but I might have even given Beth my scorecard for a while, which everyone knows it pretty sacred.  Eh, she was a softball player, she knew the game.  Joe?  He’s hopeless, he never could figure out how to score a baseball game.  He was never good at math.  I’ll have to see if I still have that scorecard buried somewhere.

 

5) Welcome to the Bronx Johnny:  Opening Day 2006 April, 11 2006 Yankees vs. Royals

 

I was looking back through the blog to find my posting about this game, since I established the blog in the spring of 2006.  I was surprised to find two things.  One, my first couple of posts have been deleted.  Good thing I printed them out and put them in a binder.  Two, I never wrote about this game.  I guess at that time I was only writing about Mets games.  Anyway, Joe and our buddy 3900, who at the time was known as C-2, have had a season ticket plan for the Yankees in the bleachers since 2004.  They usually hover around a 20-game plan, but given their work schedules never get to go to all 20 games together.  So, for Opening Day in 2006, Joe couldn’t make it, so C-2 asked me.  Naturally, I took the day off and we headed over early. 

 

We hit up the bar in the bowling alley.  I’ve said this so many times, this is what I always wished the Mets would have…a place to hang out and throw back a few beers before, during and after the game.  Hopefully, Citi Field will provide.  This was the day that the term, “Ho yob!” was born.  Ho yob is “Oh boy!” backwards.  That’s a C-2ism and it stuck.  Although it has lost some of its thunder, I’m lobbying for a fierce comeback this summer.  It was also the day that we were introduced to Twisted Tea and the new favorite party drink was born.  Maybe it was because the Twisted Tea girls from Arizona were hot and we just wanted to keep talking to them, maybe it was because the beer line was too long or maybe we were just lazy and it was right there.  It’s probably a combination of all three.  Since there was no alcohol allowed in the bleachers, we drank probably a good 5 or 6 teas each and since they were flowing like water, the buzz came quickly.

 

Once we got inside the buzz quickly lifted in the hot sun.  We basically sweat it all out.  As far as the game was concerned, it just so happened to be Johnny Damon’s debut as a Yankee in Yankee Stadium.  I’ll never forget the one sign that said, “Welcome to the Bronx, Johnny, where it doesn’t take 86 years to win.”  Hmm.  Well, here’s hoping that there’s no karma in that statement.  (Snicker.) 

 

The Yanks got off to a blazing start, as did Johnny Damon’s Yankee career leading off the bottom of the first with a double.  Two outs later, after an Alex Rodriguez walk, Giambi hit a blast to give the Yankees an early 3-0 lead. 

 

Yankees’ starter Chien-Ming Wang gave back a run in the top of the second and although he didn’t have his best stuff, going 6 innings yielding 8 hits and 5 earned runs, the Yankees offense sparked in the 8th scoring 5 times leading to a comeback 9-7 win over the hapless Royals.  We didn’t stick around for all that and were well on our way home. Yankee fans. 

 

4) First Impression:  2004 Subway Series June 26, 2004 Yankees vs. Mets

 

Now I have blogged about this game before in my All Time Subway Series post, so to save some time, I’ll just take some excerpts from that, or maybe the whole thing:  With a couple of edits of course…

 

In the first ever game I shared with my girlfriend at the time, Little D, along with her parents, by the way, we had been exclusively dating all of 4 weeks at the time, the Mets pounded the Yankees again in Yankee Stadium on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.  This time, the victim was Brad Halsey.  In the second, Halsey walked Richard Hidalgo and Mike Cameron to start the inning.  After a Ty Wigginton ground out moved runners to second and third, Jorge Posada tried to pick Hidalgo off at third and the ball sailed into left field allowing Hidalgo to score and Cameron to go to third.  Cameron would later score on a Jason Phillips sacrifice fly.  So to recap, 2 runs, no hits, 1 error.  Mets baseball.  The Yankees stormed back in the bottom of the third with a double by Bernie Williams and a two run homer off the bat of Gary Sheffield.  In the fourth, however, Brad Halsey couldn’t get out of his own way allowing a one-out single to Wigginton, followed by a steal of second and a walk to Todd Zeile.  Wigginton then scored on a Jason Phillips double.  Zeile came in behind him on the next at bat, a base hit for Jose Reyes.  Reyes would then steal second and follow Phillips to the plate on a single by Kaz Matsui.  Tanyon Sturtz would come in to replace Halsey, but he would fair no better as Matsui stole second and scored on a Mike Piazza single.  Piazza would advance to second on a Cliff Floyd ground out and later score on a single for Hidalgo and the route was pretty much completed.  In the bottom of the fourth, Hideki Matsui smack a homerun off of Al Leiter to lead off the inning, but that would be the last of the Yankees offense.  In the top of the seventh, the Mets would add one more run on a long homerun to left center by Cliff Floyd.  Leiter would go 6 1/3 for the win and I somehow was allowed in the car for the ride home. 

 

I, of course, did not hold back my support for the Metropolitans, wearing my black home Piazza jersey.  Luckily, there were some Mets fans sitting around us.  In the beginning, I lightly cheered for my team, but as the game moved on, I became a lot more vocal.  I thought her father was gonna throw me on the field.  Little D wasn’t too pleased, but she eventually got over it.  Sure, maybe I embarrassed her a little but, but I wasn’t that bad.  Plus, at least it showed that I’m not afraid to stand up for what I believe in, right?  Right??  Nothing like a first impression!

                       

3) A Subway Blowout:  2002 Subway Series June 29, 2002  Yankees vs. Mets

 

This may be the last and top Subway Series moment of mine in Yankee Stadium, but it CERTAINLY is not the last one you’ll read about here.  Again, I’ve already written about this, so I’ll add a little extra commentary at the end again…

 

After taking a year off in 2001, since it was nearly impossible to get tickets in the season following the World Series, I returned to the Subway Series, this time at Yankee Stadium, in the bleachers no less, with my buddy Joe.  I did not wear any Mets gear out of fear for my life.  I might have actually worn a Yankees hat.  (Two things, one: Our lineup consisted of Roger Cedeno, Mo Vaughn, John Valentin, and Jeromy Burnitz, all hitting under .250. and two:  I was a dumb college kid.  You know what?  I don’t gotta explain myself to you!)  I actually felt bad for Joe in this game.  After Roger Cedeno led off the game with a strikeout, and Fonzie flied out, Piazza doubled, Vaughn walked, and John Valentin singled home Piazza with the game’s first run.  In the bottom of the first, Alfonso Soriano led off with a double.  With one out, Soriano was thrown out trying to steal third.  No, it wasn’t Piazza, Vance Wilson threw out Soriano.  Jeter promptly homered.  That was it for the Yankees scoring until the 8th.  The Mets scored in every inning except for the 7th inning.  They pounded Yankee pitchers Ted Lilly, Ramiro Mendoza, Jeff Nelson and Randy Choate for 11 runs.  In the second, Jay Payton tripled and scored on a Wilson ground out.  In the third, Alfonzo singled, and advanced to third on a walk and a passed ball, scoring on a John Valentin sac fly.  In the 4th, are you ready for this?  Vance Wilson homered, then Cedeno tripled.  He then scored by STEALING HOME.  Yes, THAT Roger Cedeno.  The next inning, Mo Vaughn hit a towering homerun into the Upper Deck that even made Joe say wow.  That was a bomb.  From there, the Mets just poured it on.  I don’t even think we stayed to watch the whole game, I’m not that cruel, I mean the tickets were a birthday present.  Al Leiter recorded the win for the Mets throwing 7 solid innings. 

 

Yeah, I guess I got nothing else to add here.  Let’s just say during a year when the Mets were SO DAMN AWFUL, it was nice to see them put the hurting on the hated Yankees on their home field.  Take that!

 

2) Jim Dandy:  1995 ALDS Game 2, October 4, 1995 Yankees vs. Mariners

 

As I started freshman year of high school, the 1995 postseason was right around the corner.  The Yankees were hanging around the chase and the Mets were just bad.  I still loved the Mets and would NEVER switch allegiances, however, when the Yankees made the playoffs, my brother Frank scored tickets to Game 2 of the ALDS Yankees vs Mariners.  I wasn’t a Yankee fan, but at the time, my hatred for the Yankees had yet to bloom.  One must remember, this was before Interleague play.  Since the two teams never crossed paths in my lifetime, except during Spring Training, I had no ill-will against the Yankees, I just wasn’t a fan.

 

I still remember we sat in the seats behind home plate on the Yankees dugout side in the old, but not that old Yankee Stadium.  Row V.  We were up there.  The crowd was fired up.  Granted it was Game 2, but this was the first Yankees appearance in the playoffs in 15 years and it was Don Mattingly’s first in his last season.  Wait til you see some of the names I come up with this one. 

 

In the battle of the Andy’s, Andy Pettitte and Andy Benes, the teams traded 0’s through the first two innings, before Vince Coleman,  VINCE FREAKIN COLEMAN hit a bomb to right in the top of the 3rd to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead.  With a lineup heart consisting of Ken Griffey Jr, Edgar Martinez and Jay Buhner, with inexplicably batting 7th behind Mike Blowers, it’s Vince Coleman, yes THAT Vince Coleman, who was responsible for the first Mariners run.  What a firecracker. 

 

On the other side, Benes cruised through the first four before giving up a single to Tony “the Mutt” Fernandez, who, like the Mutt that he is, was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.  One out later, Wade Boggs walked and Bernie Williams doubled him home to tie the game.  Pettitte gave the run right back in the top of the 6th, however, allowing Edgar Martinez to double and pre-Yankees Tino Martinez drove him in. 

 

Not to be outdone in the bottom half, Ruben Sierra, the same Ruben Sierra mentioned earlier as an Athletic, led off with a home run to tie the game.  Mattingly followed with a bomb to right center that sent the decibel level off the charts.  The stadium didn’t shake like Shea, but I thought the roof over the upper deck might blow off. 

 

Back and forth they went as the Mariners scored two in the top of the 7th on a double, two singles and a sac fly, but the Yankees would not go away tying the game in the bottom half on a Paul O’Neill home run.  The score would remain tied at 4 until the top of the 12th when John Wetteland served up a moonshot of a home run off the bat of Ken Griffey, Jr.  In the bottom half, however, Boggs drew a one-out walk when, remember this name?  TIM BELCHER replaced pre-Yankees Jeff Nelson.  Belcher walked Bernie Williams and after a fly out from Paul O’Neill, with the crowd on its feet and a guy banging a sledgehammer against a beam in our section (I have no idea of how he got the sledgehammer in the building, except to say that it was before 9/11 and it was Yankee Stadium), Ruben Sierra doubled to left, scoring Posada who came in to run for Boggs, but Bernie was thrown out trying to score.  I just remember keeling over thinking that I couldn’t believe this game was going to keep going.

 

After relieving Wetteland, Mariano Rivera retired the next 8 batters before allowing two singles, before getting out of the top of the 15th.  As we passed 1 AM on the clock, Pat Kelly walked with one out and Jim Leyritz blasted a shot into the night landing the right field bleachers sending the Bronx into a crazed frenzy.  Up until this point, this was the greatest baseball game I had ever attended.  It was my first exposure to the Major League Baseball playoffs and my first ever walk off home run.  It was also before I hated the Yankees, so I was still able to enjoy it.

 

 

1) The Jeffrey Maier Game:  1996 ALCS Game 1, October 9, 1996 Yankees vs. Orioles

 

And finally, every Oriole fan remembers this game with disgust.  There are a lot of Mets fans who call this game a fluke.  If I wasn’t there, I would probably had said the same thing, except for the fact that until this point, Game 2 of the 1995 ALDS had been the greatest game I had ever been to.  Game 1 of the 1996 ALCS was still before the Yankees had won a World Series in recent memory.  The Yankee fans weren’t arrogant yet.  The teeny-bopper, no nothing about baseball Yankee fans, or as I call them, the “Derek Jeter” Yankee fans had not come out of the woodwork yet.  This game was probably what started it all. 

 

October 9, 1996 marked my first exposure to the League Championship Series.  What I thought was intense in 1995 was nothing compared to the passion and intensity of the LCS, which pitted two division rivals against each other.  Boy, did I not have any idea of what the next 5 years would have in store for me.  Somehow, Frank scored tickets again, in basically the same area, with the same group of people at the game.  The déjà vu all over again began.  This game actually featured 12 former and future Mets players and coaches as Davey Johnson’s Orioles squared off against Joe Torre’s Yankees.  Wait til you see the ressssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssst of the names.  Thank you to the late, great Paul Harvey. 

 

Once again, Andy Pettitte started for the Yankees in the first League Championship game in Yankee Stadium since 1981.  Future Met and Yankee Scott Erickson countered for the Orioles.  The Yankees wasted no time as Tim Raines led off the bottom of the first with a double and came around to score on two ground outs.  1-0 Yankees. 

 

Believe it or not, Pettitte gave the run right back again.  This seems to be a trend.  Raffy “Needles” Palmiero led off the top of the 2nd with a walk and moved to third on a Cal Ripken Jr double.  El Juicebo scored on an Eddie Murray ground out.  Each team would score in their next at bat as Cecil Fielder walked, moved to second on an error, then to third on a ground out, and subsequently home on another ground out.  It was the most running Cecil had to partake in all season, while in the top of the third, Brady Anderson blasted a solo homerun, which I’m SURE was not P.E.D. aided. 

 

In a GREAT playoff pitching performance by Andy boy, he allowed a lead off home run to El Juicebo in the top of the 4th to give the O’s a 4-3 lead.  You know what?  I’m just gonna say it right now, because there’s no other time that I will mention his name, but Bobby Bonilla was in the lineup for the O’s and went 0 for 4 including a flyout on a two out RBI chance in the 7th.  Okay?  There, I said it.  It’s dead now and we’re not gonna hear about him anymore.  That name’s been hovering over my head since I started writing about this game.  Oh yeah, and he was replaced by future Met and weed head Tony Tarasco in the 8th.  You STINK Bobby and I will NEVER forgive you for your time as a Met that we will never get back.  You owe us!  Okay, NOW I’m done. 

 

The O’s added to their lead with an el Juicebo walk, Ripken single, Murray walk and a B.J. Surhoff sac fly in the top of the 6th.  There went Andy’s stab at a quality start, but fear not, the Yankees offense eventually came alive in the 7th to scratch out a run.  The 7th and 8th innings for the Yankees proved to be huge for them.  I didn’t realize it at the time, but looking back over the play-by-play now, knowing what I know, I enjoy it so much more.  After a 1-out walk and double, former Met “Messy” Jesse Orosco relieved Erickson, and struck out Tino Martinez before intentionally walking Cecil Fielder to bring in he’s not Yourmando, he’s not MYmando, he’s future Met ARMANDO Benitez!  The first batter Hismando faced, was former Met Darryl Strawberry.  Wouldn’t you know it?  Hermando walked Straw with the bases loaded forcing in Boggs from third.  I’m laughing now just typing this. 

 

In the bottom of the 8th, with Tony Tarasco in right, Theirmando toed the rubber with one out facing Derek Jeter.  Jeter his a fly ball to deep right field, Tarasco drifted back, with his back against the wall, he looked like he might have been able to leap for it.  I still think he would have missed it and it would have been extra bases.  From the upper deck behind the plate, I saw a little kid reach his glove over the wall and make a sensational catch and I put my hands on my head screaming, “NOOOOOOO!!!!” as everyone else in our section did.  2 out.  WhuuuuaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!?!  The right field umpire come streaking out pointing to the wall.  Again, I thought he was indicating fan interference.  Then I saw Tarasco go into a tirade waving his arms and Davey Johnson was sprinting out of the dugout.  They actually called it a homerun.  To this day, I still don’t know how the ump blew that call.  Benitez stood on the mound in shock.  Following a 10-minute argument, the Orioles continued the game under protest and the game was tied.  Picturing Itsmando standing alone on the mound in shock makes me smile so much more now.  It’s almost reverse justice.  This is one of the few moments that I stop to watch when Yankees Classic is on.  That and when Darryl lays a haymaker into Benitez during a brawl when he hit Tino in the back.  Anything bad that happens to Armando Benitez is okay in my book. 

 

Needless to say, the Yankees went on to win the game on a Bernie Williams lead off home run down the left field line in the bottom of the 12th.  That made 2 playoff games and my first two walk off home runs.  I wish it was the Mets, but regardless, it’s baseball.  Everyone knows what happens next.  The Yankees went on to win 4 of the next 5 World Series including their last on the field at Shea Stadium, and my hatred for the Yankees was on.  They even gave Jeffrey Maier, the little boy who stole Game 1 from the Orioles, a float in the parade.  That’s when it started for me, when I realized that the Yankees were willing to commend a fan for breaking a cardinal baseball rule, which tells me that the Yankees will stop at nothing and I mean NOTHING to win.  This is evidence to verify my cousin Eddie’s point that the George Steinbrenner made a deal with the Devil to beat the Mets in 2000. 

 

Before I go to the Mets-Braves game next week, I will have my Shea post finished.  I promise.