These Yankees were 11-19 after 30 games. As recently as three weeks ago, they were three games behind the Red Sox, and it seemed their only pathway to the playoffs would be the wild card. And now this. Gary Sheffield clobbered a first-inning homer, shoving the Yankees out to an early 3-0 lead, Alex Rodriguez went 4-for-5, Randy Johnson threw 71/3 innings of first-rate ball.
The final score was 8-4, and the end came when Mariano Rivera coaxed Boston's Chief Idiot, Johnny Damon, to dribble the ball back at him for the out that clinched the AL East.
Only 173 days earlier, Rivera was introduced at Fenway during the Sox home opener, and Boston fans had mocked him with cheers, "thanking" him for failing to close out Games 4 and 5 in last year's AL Championship Series.
They weren't cheering now, but that only made the sound of the Yankees cheering all the more noticeable.
The celebration was long, and it was loud, and it was unabashed. For a team that has made a habit of winning for the last 84 years, it seemed a bit out of character. Until the Yankees started talking.
|
