(BRONX, N.Y.) Yankee Stadium knows from postseason baseball.
Even with the nightmarish traffic caused by the postseason crowds --
made even worse by the new Yankee Stadium construction -- there's
little chance that the seats will not be filled to capacity come first
pitch.
If anything, the much-criticized (by opposing fans and media) "Roll
Call" -- as performed by the Yankee Stadium crowd for each and every
game -- makes the first inning begin powerfully.
.
Though it feels like August, this is October, and 56,000-plus voices screaming each and every player's name is succession is mesmerizing. This is playoff baseball in the Stadium that has seen more postseason games than any other, and win or lose, no one does it better than the Bronx Bombers and their fans.
There are no ThunderStix here, no towel giveaways to “root on the team”, no gimmicky mascot with a t-shirt gun. This is baseball drama at its highest, with plenty of juice to go along with it.
The manager begins the game with a win-or-be fired edict from the owner. The Game 3 starter is making what could be the final start of his Hall of Fame career (again) and the third baseman, who is the majors' best player, could be booed out of town, despite a Ruthian year.
Drama, folks. Love it or hate it, the Yankee mystique is unparalleled in all of baseball.
The gravity of this elimination game begged for the kind of opening-knockout 1-2-3 frame that Clemens has habitually thrown in his long career. The fans didn't get it, and Clemens labored mightily, allowing a first inning RBI single to Ryan Garko, and a second inning solo home run to Trot Nixon.
This is not what the Yankees envisioned when they signed the Rocket to his $28 million contract back in May. Even with his so-so regular season and assorted physical problems, Clemens had provided not only an emotional lift to this tradition-conscious fan base, but was a valuable mentor to the young arms on the Yankee roster. The last thing the Yankees were hoping for was this crowd-silencing, tepid showing.
The offense didn't help, as the Yankees' bats looked as bad as Clemens, hitting into double-plays and failing to take advantage of a not-so intimidating Jake Westbrook.
Alex Rodriguez led off the bottom of the second. He first worked out a 3-2 count, then rapped a single to left center. The cheers were thunderous.
Then Jorge Posada, who has been as disappointing (if not more so) this postseason as any Yankee, hit into a double play. Jason Giambi then grounded into the overshift, and the Bronx Wall of Sound came falling down. It would get built back up pretty quickly. Strangely for a Yankee crowd, though, no boos yet.
The top of the third began ominously, with Phil Hughes warming up in the Yankee pen. Maybe Rocket noticed, as he threw his first two consecutive strikes of the night. Then he faltered, throwing four straight balls.
Torre did not make a change, and allowed Clemens to pitch to Victor Martinez. He fouled off Clemens' first offering, then took a breaking ball for 0-2. He threw the next pitch into the dirt, a fastball outside to even the count and for the second straight batter, went 3-2. Posada jogged to mound to check on him (it was obvious that Clemens was hurting, and the Yankee crowd begged and pleaded for a big pitch.
They got it, but something in Clemens' left hamstring popped after strike three was called, and his night was over. Just like that.
NY Observer reporter and Gotham Baseball Magazine contributor Howard Megdal turned to me in the press box and said,"He ended his career on a strikeout" This time, it felt like it really was the end of the line for the Rocket, as the Yankee trainers came out, and so did Clemens.
The standing ovation that followed was not the stuff of legend, and despite a gutty effort, most fans did not join in the standing ovation given to Clemens by the fans directly behind the Yankee dugout.
The cheers for Hughes were much louder, and at that moment, the first October breeze of the night wafted throughout the press box. Was it to be a good omen, the ghosts of October past coming to help?
It would seem so. Just not this inning.
A wild pitch moved the runner to second and Peralta doubled into right to drive him home. With Kenny Lofton at the plate and another runner in scoring position, Hughes needed to record the biggest out of his young career. However, like his mentor had done twice in this inning alone, he muddled his way to another 3-2 count.
Hughes got the strike. He didn't get hurt on the pitch, and would give his team the lift they needed. Yet, while the Yankee crowd was appreciative, their cheers were not overly loud. The Yankees needed offense, and needed it immediately.
They got a litle of what they desired in the bottom of the frame, as Hideki Matsui, who has been lost for most of the postseason, worked out a 3-2 count, and beat out an infield hit to start off things off. GBM's Issue 6 coverboy Robinson Cano was up next, hoping to avoid the double-play snafu that had slowed the Yankee offense all night.
Looking for their first consecutive base hits of the 2007 ALDS, Cano did his best Rod Carew imitation, first working out a 3-2 count (and taking his sweet time doing it). Again, Cano stepped out of the box, and surprisingly on the next pitch, the Yankee sent Matsui. So, while Cano grounded out to first, Matsui gave the Yankees their first runner in scoring position all night, with Melky Cabrera oat the plate.
Cabrera, who should have been the hero of Game 2, had suffered through a horrid September. His nubber at home plate should have made him the second out of the inning, but Victor Martinez tried to cut down Matsui at third. Perhaps the young backstop didn't realize that it was a tag play (which shockingly, Matsui beat out) but it as the first sign of life from the Yanks all night,
With Damon up, and the crowd was urging Melky to run, Joe Torre did not send the runners with the suddenly red-hot Damon at the plate. Damon, like Cano and Matsui before him, was patient, making Westbrook work. It paid off, as the selective Damon drove the Yankee crowd wild with another 3-1 count
He singled the next pitch into right, driving home Matsui, and a rally was enfolding. The Captain was up next, and the cheers became "De-rek Je-ter" chants...would he work the count? No, as he hit into his second double play of the night.
Though it ruined the best rally of the night, there were no boos for the Captain. Let's face it, though, he deserved them. It was the last possible thing the Yankees needed at that point.
Hughes struck out Nixon to start the fourth, got Lofton to fly out and that brought Grady Sizemore to the dish. The guy that had ruined fellow rookie Joba Chamberlain's night in Game 2 worked out a 3-2 count, but Hughes got him looking.
Abreu led off the bottom of the frame with a groundout, A Rod flied out on the first pitch, and then Posada then grounded out. For a guy that wants a long term deal, I thought, his postseason to this point had not helped warrant such a signing.
Hughes worked out of trouble again in the fifth, and his yeoman effort would finally be rewarded in the fifth, as the deep counts finally would catch up to former Yankee farmhand Westbrook.
Jason Giambi struck out to start off the inning, and the quiet bat of Matsui was up next. He singled to left center, Cano then doubled to left, moving Matsui to third. Cabrera singled to left center, scoring Matsui, and that set up the biggest hit of the night.
Johnny Damon, who looked so lost in the first half of the season, who didn't complain when Cabrera took his job in center, and who has been a key player for the Yanks since the All-Star break waved his bat. His three-run jack not only ignited the crowd, but gave Hughes a chance to work with a lead.
The kid threw his first pitch of the sixth, a hard slider for a strike, but Peralta singled to left to quiet the crowd. The crowd booed the announcement of Lofton, and the potential for trouble brought a jogging Ron Guidry to the mound. The trip wasn't only to calm down Hughes, but to buy some time for Chamberlain who had started to warm up in the Yankee bullpen.
The mound discussion created the first reflective interlude of the night.
The postseason creates many a different atmosphere for the working media, not the least of which is an auxiliary press box in the right field Loge stands. Though it's a great seat to watch a game, the atmosphere is quite different from covering a game in he main press box. Here, along with some of the country's biggest media folks -- like Ken Rosenthal, you're bunched in with fans on either side. Most don't like it, I do.
Likewise, the crowd can get an appreciation of the baseball media at work (not unlike those restaurants where you can watch the chefs prepare the meal) and hear the announcements from the main press box.
For example, when it was announced earlier that "Roger Clemens has left the game with a strained left hamstring, the response from the crowd alongside us was "bull(bleep).
The word that “Joba Chamberlain is now warming up in the Yankee bullpen” was a quite different reaction. Clapping is not allowed in the Press Box, but on this night it sure felt like it was.
Back to the game. Hughes' biggest moment as at hand, as he had went to 3-2 on Nixon. The fresh-faced youngster, whose entire minor league career has been littered with comparisons to Clemens, was facing a very tough left-handed bat from a guy who had killed the Yankees during hi career.
Hughes won the battle, getting him to fly out to Damon for the second out.
Casey Blake strode to the plate for what would likely be Hughes' last batter of the night. A great curveball gave him a 0-1 count, but his fastball would hit bat, and though struck well, would wind up in Abreu's glove in right.
A job well done, and Joba to follow.
Would the Yankees get their young squire some cushion, or would they continue to make things tough on their pitching staff?
The first Yankee Stadium groan moment came in the middle of the sixth, as for some insane reason, the Go-Go's we got the beat was the song of choice. Awful, Maybe that was the reason A-Rod got such tepid applause for his leadoff at-bat.
He fell quickly into an 0-2 hole, then fouled off an inside fastball. He had a small Wonderboy moment as he selected a new bat, taking hi time as he did so. He did not however, take his time going to first base, as his groundball to deep short and hustle down the line drew yet another poor throw from Peralta..
Rodriguez beat it out, bringing Posada to the plate in a big spot yet again. Westbrook was relieved by left hander Aaron Fultz, moving Posada around to the right side.
Interestingly, the video board featured a "Let's Go Yankees" promo, and the Yankee fans, much to their credit, pretty much ignored it, as if to say "guys we're trying to see this guy warm up so we can help Jorge through this inning!”
It was only after the silly video that the Yankee crowd started their JORGE chant Posada repaid the love, singling to left, giving the Yankees first and second with nobody out.
Doug Mientkiewicz then pinch hit for Giambi, and in a situation that screamed for a sacrifice (why else pinch hit a lefty against a lefty), Eye Chart delivered a perfect bunt down the third base line. Having moved up the runners, Wedge then opted to walk Matsui, only to face Cano. The ghosts of October then made their visit known.
Not only did Cano then deliver a sharp single to right field, but Nixon in his haste to lessen the damage with a strong throw to hold the slow-running Posada from scoring, misplayed the RBI single into a bases-clearing two-base error allowing all three runs to score.
The noise was beyond deafening now, and out of it grew a derisive chant of “Trot NIXON”, which rained down upon the right fielder, who only innings before had quieted the crowd his his second inning home run off Clemens.
Though Fultz fanned Damon to end the inning, not even the ridiculous YMCA could quell this Yankee throng. The only bugs in this cathedral were in the press box wireless connection, which kept going on and off all night.
Chamberlain greeted Sizemore with a 98 mph fastball, and struck him out with a nasty slider. He then struck out Cabrera on a slider, and finished off the inning by getting Travis Hafner to fly to right after going 3-2 on him.
Then, it was time for Tynan.
I don't care what some fans, media and baseball officials think. When that guy sings that song in that stadium, and the fans join him with one giant voice, it's emotional.
Nearly to a man, the press box in right field, were all standing for the God Bless America, and all couldn't help but applaud the moment. The emotion (and delay) couldn't help the Yankees much though, as they went 1-2-3 in the seventh.
The eighth began with a single from Victor Martinez, but Chamberlain got Garko to hit into a quick double play, and then after walking Peralta, gave up a base hit to Kenny Lofton and an RBI single to Nixon.
Rather than boo Joba, who was working very hard, the crowd instead began to clap for the kid. “JOBA-JOBA-JOBA” was the chorus, and the result was a fly ball to the warning track to end the inning.
Only the god-awful Cotton-Eye Joe could ruin the mood, and it did.
The Yankees managed two walks out of Joe Borowski in the eighth, but ended the inning after three straight flyouts.
We were wondering if the announcement of Kyle Farnsworth warming up in the bullpen during the eighth meant Torre would save Rivera with a four-run lead (though most said no) and then the sounds of "Enter Sandman" (any Mets fans want to argue about whose song it really is?) quelled that discussion quickly and got the Yankee crowd really fired up.
The Great Mariano didn't disappoint, getting three quick outs, and making sure that the Yankees would live to see another day. Whether they make it back to the Jake is tomorrow's story.
(BRONX, N.Y.) Yankee Stadium knows from postseason baseball. 