October 17, 1999: The Fenway Animals

October 17, 1999: Mayhem breaks out at Fenway Park in Boston. It wasn't the first time, and it would not be the last. As so often happens, the host Boston Red Sox were playing their arch-rivals, the New York Yankees.

The Yankees defeated the Red Sox‚ 9-2‚ to take a 3-games-to-1 lead in the American League Championship Series. Andy Pettitte got the victory for New York‚ with home run support from Darryl Strawberry and Ricky Ledee.

It was only 3-2 Yankees going into the top of the 8th, but the Boston bullpen (Ledee hits a grand slam off Rod Beck) and defense collapsed -- some would say aided by some poor umpiring, particularly by 2nd base umpire Tim Tschida. If there's 3 things that Yankee Fans and Red Sox fans can agree on, it's these: They both hate the New York Mets, they prefer Dunkin Donuts to Starbucks, and they both considered Tschida to be a horrible umpire.

The Sox fans, angry about the calls, throw garbage onto the field in the 9th, for about 5 minutes, until the umpires got Ed Brickley, the public-address announcer at Fenway, to ask the fans to stop, or else the game would be forfeited.

But with all the errors the Sox had been making, and with all the bullpen failure, the Sox fans had no one to blame but their own players. For years, I’d heard Boston described as "the Athens of America," and Red Sox fans described as the most knowledgeable in baseball. This game proved both a lie. Even Tony Massarotti, then writing for the Boston Herald, ripped the Fenway animals, saying that this was not the Curse of the Bambino, but "the Torment of the Drunks."

The Yankees won Game 5 the next night, to take the Pennant, and went on to win the World Series.

UPDATE: The Red Sox have a team Hall of Fame. From this 1999 team, they have inducted shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, 3rd baseman John Valentin, right fielder Trot Nixon, catcher Jason Varitek; pitchers Pedro Martinez, Derek Lowe and Tim Wakefield; CEO John Harrington, general manager Dan Duquette; executives Dick Bresciani and Elaine Weddington Steward; scout George Digby, farm system director Ben Mondor, guest relations director Al Green, broadcasters Jerry Remy and Joe Castiglione, and longtime vendor Arthur D'Angelo.

*

October 17, 1999 was a Sunday. In the National League Championship Series, Game 5 was played, and the New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-3, in a 15-inning thriller at Shea Stadium. Robin Ventura's grand slam won it‚ but his Met teammates mob him before he can reach 2nd base. He never completes his round of the bases, and so he gets credit for a single instead of a home run. It becomes known as the Grand Slam Single. I have a separate entry for this event.

These NFL games were played:

* The New York Jets lost to the Indianapolis Colts, 16-13 at Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the New England Patriots, 31-30 at Foxboro Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The St. Louis Rams beat the Atlanta Falcons, 41-13 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

* The Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Cleveland Browns, 24-7 at Alltel Stadium (now EverBank Stadium) in Jacksonville.

* The Tennessee Titans beat the New Orleans Saints, 24-21 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The Oakland Raiders beat the Buffalo Bills, 20-14 at Ralph Wilson Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 17-3 at Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Minnesota Vikings, 25-23 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Chicago Bears, 20-16 at Soldier Field in Chicago. This was the 1st time the Eagles ever beat the Bears in Chicago, going back to their founding in 1933.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Green Bay Packers, 31-10 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

* The Washington Redskins beat the Arizona Cardinals, 24-10 at Sun Devil Stadium (now Mountain America Stadium) in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the Seattle Seahawks, 13-10 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium).

* The Carolina Panthers beat the San Francisco 49ers, 31-29 at Candlestick Park (then named 3Com Park at Candlestick Point) in San Francisco.

* On ABC Monday Night Football, the New York Giants beat the Dallas Cowboys, 13-10 at Giants Stadium.

* And the Baltimore Ravens, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a bye week.

Also on this day, the Staples Center opened in Los Angeles. The home ever since of the Los Angeles Lakers, Clippers, Kings and Sparks, the 1st event is a concert by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. It was renamed the Crypto.com Arena in 2021. (UPDATE: The Clippers moved into the Intuit Dome in Inglewood for the 2024-25 season.) 

The NBA season didn't start for another 16 days. There were 2 NHL games played that day. The New York Rangers beat the Atlanta Thrashers, 4-1 at Madison Square Garden. And the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Buffalo Sabres, 5-2 at the First Union Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.