The lights were on and the music blared from the old Yankee Stadium speakers in center field as the crowd slowly streamed in on this mid-July afternoon. After throwing warm-ups in the bullpen before the game, Jose Contreras made the long walk from the bullpen to the visitor’s bench, amid a faint chorus of boos as embittered Yankees fans showed there was very little “love” lost. for its poor performance. days as a Bronx bomber. Randy Johnson was the next to emerge from behind the outfield walls of Yankee Stadium, and was greeted with applause from the fans, likely because The Unit had quality starts (6 IP, 3rd or less) in four of his last five. begin. Players from both sides finished stretching and warming up as they made their way to the bench; after the national anthem played, we would all be ready for baseball.
Randy Johnson took the mound, and while not the entire crowd had filled the stadium thus far, the atmosphere seemed to have a little more juice. Johnson pitched well in the first, and the highlight of the inning was Jim Thome’s strikeout. Then the Yankees came to the plate and couldn’t get any runs on their own. The White Sox struck first on Joe Crede’s shot over the wall, giving the White Sox a 2-0 lead from the start. The stadium had now filled to the edge and were taking their seats when Johnson delivered the bomb; many Yankees fans began to express their discontent with Johnson. Randy calmed down and didn’t allow another run until the seventh inning. The Yankees hit back in the fourth with a bases-loaded single by Jorge Posada and then a sacrifice fly by Bernie Williams. The game was now tied at two a piece, heading into fifth. This game had all the elements of a postseason atmosphere, timely pitching, hitting, and fielding, but unlike postseason games, time flew by. It must have been only 8:00 pm or so when the game was on the fifth.
Johnson worked a perfect fifth, and the Yankees would now reach the plate in the middle of the local entrance. Miguel El Cairo was the leadoff hitter and started things off with a triple. The crowd roared after each pitch, as fans knew this could be the clincher in this pitcher’s duel. So the Yankees had top of the order up with no outs and a runner on third. Johnny Baseball was up at the plate, and he struck out on three pitchers; Jose Contreras made Damon look absolutely goofy. DJ was next and, once again, Contreras had the edge over a Yankee, striking him out with four. Ozzie Guillén then made an interesting movement, intentionally walking to Giambi to launch A-Rod. The crowd then rose to its feet and began cheering for Alex Rodriguez; A-Rod quickly fell 1-2 and the disappointment began to mount. As fast as he dropped into the count, Contreras wasted it all when a curveball slipped out of his hand and hit A-Rod in the head. Jorge Posada came up with the bases loaded and two outs; the crowd roared and cheered “Hip, Hip, Jorge!” it was raining from the upper decks of the Stadium. Posada grounded Juan Uribe and ended the threat.
The Yankees would take the lead in the local half of La Sexta with an opening homer of Aaron Guiel, to put the score 3-2. The Sox hit back with a run in the seventh, with a bag. flies from Juan Uribe’s bat to Melky Cabrera. The game would be 3-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh. The crowd rose to the chanting of “God Bless America,” as the fans in the stands knew that they would not be seated again for the rest of the game. Damon, Jeter, Giambi did nothing in the seventh for the Yankees, who would now have to bring in Farnsworth for the eighth, who worked a surprisingly perfect inning for the Yankees.
(story continues in “Friday Night Lights: Part II”)
