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| Baltimore | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 1 | |
| N.Y. Yankees | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | X | 7 | 9 | 1 |
On Thursday I mentioned how sad I was to go to my final game at Yankee Stadium. Everything I said in that post was true, and that night was a very sad one for me. But thanks to a late birthday (my birthday was the 7th) surprise from my mother, I was lucky enough to attend one more very special game; the final one. The only catch was I had to bring her, but that's a deal I'll make any day. So instead of me retyping the same thing all over again, I certainly had the same emotions tonight as I did on Thursday, but they were probably more intense based on the fact that this was not only my final game, but THE final game at The Stadium.
The ceremonies were great, so many things that happened tonight that are worth mentioning, but I really don't know where to start. Maybe that's because I haven't sat down and let the whole night sink in yet. I was at The Stadium literally all day, just got home, and I'm pretty damn tired. One thing I can say is that tonight was one of the greatest and saddest nights I've ever had at that wonderful, wonderful stadium.
But for now I will just discuss the game itself, which was a very nice 7-3 Yankees win, the Yanks' fifth in a row.
Andy Pettitte wasn't great, but he was good enough to pick up his first win since August 20th. In five innings he allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits, he also walked one and struck out three.
The bullpen was excellent tonight. Jose Veras, Phil Coke, Joba Chamberlain, and Mariano Rivera combined for four shutout innings, they didn't allow a hit, walked one, and struck out three.
Johnny Damon got the Yankees on the board with a three-run homer in the third. Jose Molina added a two-run shot in the fourth. It would turn out to be the final homer at Yankee Stadium. The Yanks added two more insurance runs in the 7th, one coming on a Jason Giambi RBI single, and the second came on Robinson Cano sac-fly.
Tomorrow I will post pictures from the game, and discuss the wonderful pre and post game ceremonies that honored the House That Ruth Built.
In the meantime, I'd like to know what your favorite part of the night was?
| AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG | |
| Damon, CF-LF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .307 |
| Cabrera, LF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .243 |
| Jeter, SS | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .301 |
| Betemit, SS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .260 |
| Abreu, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .299 |
| Rodriguez, A, 3B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .303 |
| Giambi, 1B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .249 |
| 1-Gardner, PR-CF | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .190 |
| Nady, LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .306 |
| Ransom, 1B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .296 |
| Cano, 2B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .264 |
| Matsui, DH | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .294 |
| a-Rodriguez, I, PH-DH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .278 |
| Molina, C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .221 |
| Totals | 32 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 14 | |
| a-Grounded out for Matsui in the 7th. 1-Ran for Giambi in the 7th. | ||||||||
| BATTING HR: Damon (16, 3rd inning off Waters, 2 on, 0 out), Molina (3, 4th inning off Waters, 1 on, 1 out). TB: Damon 4; Abreu 2; Giambi; Cano; Matsui; Molina 6. RBI: Damon 3 (69), Molina 2 (17), Giambi (94), Cano (64). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cano; Nady; Jeter 2; Rodriguez, I. SF: Cano. GIDP: Giambi. Team LOB: 7. BASERUNNING SB: Abreu (20, 2nd base off Cormier/Hernandez, R). | ||||||||
ORIOLES OFFENSE
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
| Pettitte (W, 14-14) | 5.0 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4.54 |
| Veras (H, 10) | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.54 |
| Coke (H, 3) | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Chamberlain (H, 18) | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.46 |
| Rivera | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.45 |
ORIOLES PITCHING
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jose Molina (3-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R)
HONORABLE MENTION: Yankee Stadium - you will be missed.
The Yankees have an off-day tomorrow before heading to Toronto for a three game series starting on Tuesday. Mike Mussina will start for the Yanks in the opener, and he will face Jesse Litsch. Game Time: 7:07 p.m. - TV: YES - Radio: WCBS 880
20 Comments:
i dont know what to say about last night other than that it didnt feel like the last time I was gonna be there.
oh yeah - happy birthday
you guys are lucky the last time i was able to go was in may when they got swept by detroit.
my fav part of last night was the end when they were all together on the mound.,i think that was the first time i saw jeter take the role of the captain, the speech and how he was leading everyone around the stadium. it felt like they won the world series or something. i dont know, it just felt weird.
i think we should send cleveland $10mil for each win if they somehow sweep boston. if only we had won one more game vs the sox, the magic # would be 3, damn.
so giambi got the last hit right? too bad it wasnt jeter. o and molina?!, ha! who would have thought that.
not sure if anyone noticed, but when they took the victory lap, A-Rod was off to the right side by himself for a good part of it.
Favorite part had to be seeing Bernie again
Well, Happy Birthday first!
It killed me that I didn't make it up to The City to see the game, but I watched it from my outpost in Tennessee.
I, too, have the very real feeling that I have not visited Yankee Stadium for the last time. Perhaps I'm just an optimist. Perhaps it's just the fact that the "general" address--161st Street and River Avenue--will remain the same. And yet...
I spent much of the time in front of my TV weeping. Go ahead and call me a wimp if you'd like, but that's what I did. For thirty years I've sat in the bleachers in either Section 37 or 39, and a flood of faces came back to me as I watched the game last night--faces of the dead, and faces of the living. Faces that were once young that are now older. Faces that I will see everytime I get in my car and head up I-81 for one of my five or six yearly visits to NYC. Faces that will stay with me until I breathe my last.
But to your question. My favorite thing about last night? It's a tie: the "ghost team" from the first game at The Stadium in 1923 AND Jeter's speech with the walk around the field that followed.
But to echo a few of the comments made here, I must say that the whole thing seemed so very odd somehow, and I just can't pin it down.
You know, I was hoping they'd do something like shut down a few of the lights in the old stadium, and then--a few lights in the new stadium would click on for a short time. Sort of a passing of the torch. They could have directed the fans' attention to the screen so they could all watch it. The glow of the lights from the new stadium would have been a really neat touch.
I'll be at the new stadium next year and hope to be able to meet up with some of you guys (I'm easy to recognize--the big bald guy who doesn't sound like he's from Tennessee. You can't miss me!). Before I attend my first game at the new stadium, though, I hope to walk around the site of the old place. Just one last time, you see. After all, we all have our own ghosts, don't we?
Here's one last time: "Box seats suck!!!"
Thanks for sponsoring my favorite Yankees blog.
Mike
Godriguez,
I wasn't able to see where A-Rod was from my seat. Where exactly was he?
Mike,
it's funny you mentioned "Box seats suck!!!" because the bleacher creatures did say it as loud as they could during role call, which they haven't really done all year, and they also said it one last time well after the game had ended.
Dan,
Here's a list of lasts at The Stadium from Peter Abraham http://tinyurl.com/428yw2
Ha the only reason I didn't cry was because my roomate was watching with me. haha.
Greg,
I attended four games this summer, and in each game I heard the "Box seats suck!" chant only once during each game (and it was pretty lame, too). Do you know if stadium security was cracking down on the bleacher creatures somehow? I thought I did indeed hear them chant it during roll call, though.
Mike
Yes Mike, they told season ticket holders in the bleachers not to chant it, and threatened to take away their tickets if they did.
he was off to the right. in the pic you have there he is the 3rd one in from the bottom right. that pic doesnt show it too well, but i took a few of it from when they went around the left field corner(i think) i just have to run home on lunch break and get my memory card adapter. I also noticed a-rod taking pics on the mound with Big G and moose. probably because they are gonna be outski. Did you get to go on the field? i got into line outside the stadium at 1:30, cut in front of a shitload of people, and still didnt make it to monument park until 5:00. it sucked ass being stuck in that line for so long and then getting rushed through Monument park, but oh well. I'm glad i went.
A great night for Yankee fans. Having Bernie back (and the reception he got from the fans) was awesome.
Our boys made me proud by winning such an important game (historically). It was nice to see Pettitte pick up the W, and then watch the bullpen work their magic with Mo shutting things down at the end.
Again, a great night.
wow how nice would it be if moose wins tomorrow and then wins his 20th on Sunday topping off a 7 game losing streak for the BLOWSOX.
If that going to happen, the Ghosts will have to intervene.
What a great night !! The only thing that made me sick was watching and listening to DOUBLE PLAY ROD. This guy is a phony, he will never fit in with this team.
Wouldnt be the first time a seemingly ridiculous idea of mine came true. so far i was right about pavano going 4-1. so i was a little off on the ERA so what - we will most certainly take the good with the bad.
I hope it does come true, nothing would make me happier.
I'd love to see it come true, too.
Imagine that...the suits at Yankee Stadium threatening to take away season tickets in the bleachers because folks chant "Box seats suck!" (and other things, I'm sure). Yankee brass acting like Puritans (hey, most of Puritans lived up near Boston!!!!) and trying to "sanitize" the "Yankee Stadium game experience." Oh well--I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Will they kick out one of those guys with a $2500 seat next year if he curses? What do you think, Greg?
Mike
Mike, no, they'd probably let rich people do whatever they want. It's very sad.
I also believe they told the creatures to stop singing the "Gang bang song", "Why are you gay?" and the "Horses Ass" song. Pretty much anything funny or fun had to stop. That's why at times this year they chanted "no fun allowed".
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