04-03-2005, 11:12 PM
The lights shine bright along the facade and the steeplechase of the old stadium that sits at 161st St. and River Avenue.
Those who don the white and navy blue, emblazoned with such numbers as 2, 42, 20, 13, 11, 55, 51, the return of 24, and the additions of 41, and 45.
They come to pay their respect, to the franchise which has brought this city the most national championships of any sport. Combined with the 2 championships of the New York Knicks, the 4 of the New York Rangers, and the three from our football teams, New York City has won 35 national championships.
The New York Yankees have been sucessful in delivering the most. The current owner, George Steinbrenner, sees his job to be to provide the citizens of New York the World Series Championship. He has delivered us 9 pennents, and 6 championships. That’s more than like all of our other sports combined for all time. Almost. Not quite.
The gloating World Champion Boston Red Sox grace Yankee Stadium with their presence tonight, and will find that the largest ovation will not be for them, but for the returned native Yankee. The blood that pours out white with blue pinstripe draws our first baseman and designated hitter Tino Martinez back to the first base dugout at the Stadium.
Unfortunatly, our showcase between the Red Sox and our team will not be what is talked about this season. Instead, it will be the Minnesot Twins, who now carry with them a veteran attitude, and are ready to take out any team that gets in their way. They have taken the on field model of the Yankees, and made it affordable and young. They have pitchers who can shear the meat off the elder players bones, and which can make even the most giving martyr of the Yankees, Derek Jeter, shudder in awe of the oncoming spectacle.
The Yankees have the ominous assignment of leading the oldest staff in the league to the promised land not seen since that one October in 2000, when New York’s baseball teams engaged in civil war. The Yanks would win the pennent twice more, but lose to the fast revenue chop shop expansion teams of Arizona and Florida. Twice, the Yankes would be eliminate in the first two two rounds. The Angels, the eventual World Champs of 2005, now known as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, would stiffle the blue coats in the divisional championship. In 2004, the Red Sox would decide to make a full go against the Yanks, and not let their terrible baserunning get in the way of a plunk fest off of a meandering pitching staff, whos workhorse closer of a full season once again failed to deliver the necessary saves.
You ought to forgive Mariano for both instances of failure. Because, for one thing, the Yankees have been winning 100 games a year for the past five years, and most of those wins have come at the expense of making the Sandman work 100 plus innings a season, and pushing to exceed those save totals. You have a Dominican in his late 30’s who’s getting tired at the end of the season, as the cold comes in.
We have a supposed leader this year, who should bring rest to the bullpen just by himself. Randy Johnson is going to be a 42 year Game 1 starter, and his arm will give 7 plus innings, and put games directly into the hands of its relievers, spreading out the number of saves this season received by Mariano. If Tom Gordon and Mo could match 40 save totals, that would be much more interesting than every team in the major leagues following our suit of trying to get the next Wild Thing in the bullpen.
I will tell you this. The one thing that Boston does NOT have on us, nor does any other team in the major leagues.
No other team gets to experience that one perfect moment in Yankee Stadium.
When the stadium goes silent, and muttered applause for the pitcher coming off the mound. As the crowd sits in silence, the first chords begin to strike.
Enter Sandman.
The crowd erupts into adulation, for the time has come.
Mariano Rivera is entering the game.
His bio appears on the big screen, and the Voice of God tells the world of his arrival.
He is a short, thin man, whose arm can toss a baseball over 90 mph. He never says much, nor does he express anything on the mound, until the job is done.
His job is one inning, to end the game on a good note, and bring us one game closer to the harvest dance.
Today is the first of 162 steps of the 2005 Major League Basball Stairway to Heaven.
Those who don the white and navy blue, emblazoned with such numbers as 2, 42, 20, 13, 11, 55, 51, the return of 24, and the additions of 41, and 45.
They come to pay their respect, to the franchise which has brought this city the most national championships of any sport. Combined with the 2 championships of the New York Knicks, the 4 of the New York Rangers, and the three from our football teams, New York City has won 35 national championships.
The New York Yankees have been sucessful in delivering the most. The current owner, George Steinbrenner, sees his job to be to provide the citizens of New York the World Series Championship. He has delivered us 9 pennents, and 6 championships. That’s more than like all of our other sports combined for all time. Almost. Not quite.
The gloating World Champion Boston Red Sox grace Yankee Stadium with their presence tonight, and will find that the largest ovation will not be for them, but for the returned native Yankee. The blood that pours out white with blue pinstripe draws our first baseman and designated hitter Tino Martinez back to the first base dugout at the Stadium.
Unfortunatly, our showcase between the Red Sox and our team will not be what is talked about this season. Instead, it will be the Minnesot Twins, who now carry with them a veteran attitude, and are ready to take out any team that gets in their way. They have taken the on field model of the Yankees, and made it affordable and young. They have pitchers who can shear the meat off the elder players bones, and which can make even the most giving martyr of the Yankees, Derek Jeter, shudder in awe of the oncoming spectacle.
The Yankees have the ominous assignment of leading the oldest staff in the league to the promised land not seen since that one October in 2000, when New York’s baseball teams engaged in civil war. The Yanks would win the pennent twice more, but lose to the fast revenue chop shop expansion teams of Arizona and Florida. Twice, the Yankes would be eliminate in the first two two rounds. The Angels, the eventual World Champs of 2005, now known as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, would stiffle the blue coats in the divisional championship. In 2004, the Red Sox would decide to make a full go against the Yanks, and not let their terrible baserunning get in the way of a plunk fest off of a meandering pitching staff, whos workhorse closer of a full season once again failed to deliver the necessary saves.
You ought to forgive Mariano for both instances of failure. Because, for one thing, the Yankees have been winning 100 games a year for the past five years, and most of those wins have come at the expense of making the Sandman work 100 plus innings a season, and pushing to exceed those save totals. You have a Dominican in his late 30’s who’s getting tired at the end of the season, as the cold comes in.
We have a supposed leader this year, who should bring rest to the bullpen just by himself. Randy Johnson is going to be a 42 year Game 1 starter, and his arm will give 7 plus innings, and put games directly into the hands of its relievers, spreading out the number of saves this season received by Mariano. If Tom Gordon and Mo could match 40 save totals, that would be much more interesting than every team in the major leagues following our suit of trying to get the next Wild Thing in the bullpen.
I will tell you this. The one thing that Boston does NOT have on us, nor does any other team in the major leagues.
No other team gets to experience that one perfect moment in Yankee Stadium.
When the stadium goes silent, and muttered applause for the pitcher coming off the mound. As the crowd sits in silence, the first chords begin to strike.
Enter Sandman.
The crowd erupts into adulation, for the time has come.
Mariano Rivera is entering the game.
His bio appears on the big screen, and the Voice of God tells the world of his arrival.
He is a short, thin man, whose arm can toss a baseball over 90 mph. He never says much, nor does he express anything on the mound, until the job is done.
His job is one inning, to end the game on a good note, and bring us one game closer to the harvest dance.
Today is the first of 162 steps of the 2005 Major League Basball Stairway to Heaven.