November 4, 2009: The Yankees "Restore the Universe to Order"

November 4, 2009: Game 6 of the World Series is held at the new Yankee Stadium. Not publicly announced is the fact that, earlier in the day, across 161st Street, demolition began on the old Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-3 at the new Yankee Stadium, and clinched their 27th World Championship, 8 years to the day after they should have.

Andy Pettitte started and won. (His 148 wins during the 2000s -- that is, 2000 to 2009 -- made him the winningest pitcher of the decade.) Mariano Rivera got the save. Hideki Matsui, in what turned out to be his last game with the Yankees, drove in 6 runs, including hitting a home run, a blast, off a "blast from the past," Pedro Martinez. I don't think any Yankee homer -- not by Chris Chambliss, Reggie Jackson, Bucky Dent, Don Mattingly, Jim Leyritz, Bernie Williams, Tino Martinez, Scott Brosius, Derek Jeter, even Aaron Boone -- has ever made me feel better, because of what Pedro the Punk represents.

Jeter, Rivera, Pettitte and Jorge Posada, the holdovers from 2001, got their rings, Posada his 4th (his 5th title, though I don't think he got a ring for 1996), the others their 5th. For Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia, their 1st. And Pedro never appeared in another major league game.

The slates had been wiped clean. As Hank Steinbrenner, son of team owner George Steinbrenner, requested, the universe had been restored to order. Sports Illustrated named Jeter its Sportsman of the Year, the 1st Yankee ever so honored.

The Yankees had taken Title 27. They have not taken Title 28. What had happened was, George was ill, and would die the next year. His sons Hank and Hal had taken over the running of the team. Hank was a big believer in his father's philosophy of "Winning is second, only to breathing." But he, too, got sick, and Hal won a power struggle. Hal gave general manager Brian Cashman new orders: Do whatever it takes to make the team money. Hal has never accepted that winning championships makes more money than simply filling the ballpark and generating TV revenue.

Look at what has happened in the years since:

* 2009 off-season: Cashman lets Matsui and Johnny Damon go. Keeping one of the other would have helped, but he kept neither. From this point onward, it's Cashman's team, not George Steinbrenner's or Gene Michael's.

* 2010: The Yankees win the American League Wild Card, and beat the Minnesota Twins in the AL Division Series, but lose the AL Championship Series to the Texas Rangers, who had never won a Pennant before.

* 2011: The Yankees win the AL Eastern Division, but lose the the ALDS to the Detroit Tigers. Pettitte retires.

* 2012: The Yankees win the AL Eastern Division, and beat the Baltimore Orioles in the ALDS. But Derek Jeter breaks his ankle in Game 1 of the ALCS against the Tigers, and the Yankees get swept.

* 2013: The Yankees miss the Playoffs for the 1st time since 2008, and only the 2nd time since 1993. Rivera retires.

* 2014: The Yankees miss the Playoffs for the 2nd straight season, which hadn't happened since 1992-93. Jeter retires.

* 2015: There are now 2 Wild Card berths in each League. The Yankees host the AL Wild Card Game, but lose it to the Houston Astros.

* 2016: A-Rod retires. But on July 25, with the Yankees 7 1/2 games out of 1st in the AL East, and 4 1/2 games out of the 2nd AL Wild Card slot, both still reachable, Cashman trades relief ace Aroldis Chapman to the Chicago Cubs for Gleyber Torres, Adam Warren, Billy McKinney and Rashad Crawford. Chapman made the difference for the Cubs, who won their 1st World Series in 108 years, and then his contract ran out, and the Yankees re-signed him. 

It got worse: Having already hurt the bullpen by trading Chapman, Cashman wrecked it by trading Andrew Miller to the Cleveland Indians for Clint Frazier, Ben Heller, Justus Sheffield and J.P. Freyereisen. Miller helped the Indians win the Pennant, and then they lost the World Series to the Cubs. Sheffield pitched in 3 major league games in 2018, and then was sent to the Seattle Mariners as trade bait for James Paxton. 

Cashman also traded starting pitcher Iván Nova to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Stephen Tarpley and Tito Polo. And he traded slugger Carlos Beltrán to the Rangers for Erik Swanson, Dillon Tate and Nick Green. Beltran helped the Rangers win the AL Western Division. Swanson and Tate never threw a pitch for the Yankees: The former was also part of the package for Paxton, the latter part of the package for Zack Britton. 

So, to review: Cashman essentially traded Beltrán, Miller and Nova, and loaned Chapman, for Torres, Happ, Paxton, Britton and Frazier. Torres turned into a star in 2018, but has been inconsistent. And of the players acquired in these deals, he is the only one with any amount of success.

The Yankees did not make the Playoffs in 2016.

* 2017: Justin Verlander turned out to be available, but Cashman didn't trade for him. He went to the Houston Astros. Who also traded for Beltran. The Yankees reached the Wild Card Game, beat the Minnesota Twins, and beat the Indians in the ALDS, before losing the ALCS in 7 games to the Astros, including 2 games won by Verlander. They went on to win the World Series.

* 2018: Cashman trades All-Star 2nd baseman Starlin Castro to the Miami Marlins for one-dimensional slugger Giancarlo Stanton. The Yankees reach the Wild Card Game, beat the Oakland Athletics, and lose the ALDS to the Red Sox, a series in which Stanton absolutely disappeared.

* 2019: Several good starting pitchers are available, at a time when the Yankees really need at least 1, possibly 2. Cashman does nothing. The Astros trade for Zack Greinke. But the "Baby Bombers" plan finally begins to pay off for Cashman. Finally, for the 1st time in 7 years, the Yankees win the Division. They beat the Twins in the ALDS. And then they lose to the Astros in the ALCS.

If you're trying to keep score at home: In the last 4 seasons, Cashman has helped 4 different teams -- the Cubs, the Indians, the Rangers and the Astros -- reach 8 postseason berths, win 4 Pennants, and win 2 World Series. Not only have none of these teams been the Yankees, but the Astros have beaten the Yankees in the postseason twice in that time.

* 2020: Due to the COVID epidemic rearranging the season, 3 AL teams now had Wild Card berths. The Yankees turned out to be one of them. They beat Cleveland in the 1st Round, but lost the ALDS to the Tampa Bay Rays.

* 2021: The Yankees lost the Wild Card Game to the Red Sox.

* 2022: The Yankees beat the Cleveland Guardians in the ALDS, but lost the ALCS to the Astros. Again.

Explain to me why Cashman still has a job.

UPDATE: The Yankees missed the Playoffs in 2023. In 2024, they finally won another Pennant after 15 years, but lost the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 5 games. In 2025, they finally beat the Boston Red Sox in a postseason series, but lost the ALDS to the Toronto Blue Jays. Going into the 2026 season, Cashman still has a job.

Among the Yankees' many traditions is Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. From the 2009 World Champions, they have given Plaques to shortstop Derek Jeter, catcher Jorge Posada; and pitchers Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera and CC Sabathia. In 2010, longtime team owner George Steinbrenner died, and they dedicated a Monument to him.

Manager Joe Girardi has not yet been honored -- but then, neither has Cashman.

Pitcher David Robertson retired after the 2025 season, making him the last active player from the 2009 Yankees.

*

November 4, 2009 was a Tuesday. There were no other baseball games. Football was in midweek. There were 10 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Indiana Pacers, 101-90 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Denver Nuggets, 122-94 at the Izod Center in the Meadowlands.

* The Miami Heat beat the Washington Wizards, 93-89 at the MCI Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington. Dwyane Wade scored 40 points.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Phoenix Suns, 122-100 at the Amway Arena in Orlando.

* The Toronto Raptors beat the Detroit Pistons, 110-99 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The New Orleans Hornets beat the Dallas Mavericks, 114-107 in overtime at the New Orleans Arena (now the Smoothie King Center). Chris Paul scored 39 points for the Hornets.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 92-90 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Houston Rockets, 103-102 in overtime at the Toyota Center in Houston. Kobe Bryant scored 41 points.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 113-105 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena (then named the Oracle Arena).

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Sacramento Kings, 113-105 at the Power Balance Pavilion (formerly the 2nd ARCO Arena) in Sacramento.

There were 6 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders lost to the Buffalo Sabres, 3-0 at the HSBC Arena (now the KeyBank Center) in Buffalo.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Washington Capitals, 3-2 at the Prudential Center.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 3-0 at the BankAtlantic Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.

* The San Jose Sharks beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-2 in a shootout at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Dallas Stars, 3-2 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Jarome Iginla scored the winning goal with 3:25 left in overtime.

* And the Colorado Avalanche beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 4-1 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

In UEFA Champions League action, Arsenal beat Dutch team AZ Alkmaar, 4-1 at the Emirates Stadium in North London. Liverpool and Olympique Lyonnais played to a 1-1 draw at the Stade de Gerland in Lyon, France. Glasgow, Scotland team Rangers and Unirea Urziceni played to a 1-1 draw at Stadionul Steaua in Bucharest, Romania. FC Barcelona and Rubin Kazan played to a 0-0 draw at the Central Stadium in Kazan, Russia.

Internazionale Milano beat Dynamo Kyiv at the Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium in Kyiv, Ukraine. Sevilla and Stuttgart played to a 1-1 draw at Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán in Seville, Spain. Standard Liège beat Olympiacos of Athens, Greece, 2-0 at Stade Maurice Dufrasne in Liège, Belgium. And Fiorentina beat Hungarian team Debrecen, 5-2 at Stadio Aretmio Franchi in Florence, Italy.

September 21, 2008: The Last Game at the Old Yankee Stadium

September 21, 2008: After 85 years, the last game is played at the old Yankee Stadium in The Bronx.

Well, it's not official, as the New York Yankees haven't yet been eliminated from the Playoff race. But it is presumed that it will soon happen, as they enter the game 9 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Eastern Division, and 6 1/2 games behind the Boston Red Sox for the 1 AL Wild Card Playoff berth then available. Indeed, they are eliminated the next day.

The Yankee organization was wrong to leave The Stadium and build a new one. But they did everything right when it came to closing the Big Orchard down.

All the major ceremonies came before the game, not after. Having the lookalikes in 1923-style uniforms was a little goofy, although the guys they got to play Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig really looked like them, both in face and in form. Not so for the guy they got to play Joe DiMaggio. I loved that the Casey Stengel lookalike had cockeyed socks. Casey never did that, as far as I know, but it was the kind of thing he might have done.

They brought out pretty much all the Yankee legends then living, other than those who were otherwise employed by a professional sports team: Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Don Larsen, Moose Skowron, Bobby Richardson, Roy White, Graig Nettles, Chris Chambliss, Willie Randolph, Reggie Jackson, Ron Guidry, Goose Gossage, Dave Winfield, Paul O'Neill, Tino Martinez, David Cone, David Wells, and, introduced last, with a prolonged ovation, Bernie Williams.

The next-best cheer after Bernie's was for Randolph, a huge one, as on Old-Timers' Day, a perfect way to show up the New York Mets, who had fired him as manager earlier in the season; and their fans, who, despite his having grown up a Met fan in Brooklyn, had never trusted him due to his having played so long and so well for the Yankees.

And, of course, the active ones: Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, Hideki Matsui.

And relatives: The widows of Phil Rizzuto and Catfish Hunter; the sons of Mickey Mantle, Billy Martin, Roger Maris and Thurman Munson; the daughter of Elston Howard; and the widow, son and daughter of Bobby Murcer, for whom Old-Timers' Day was probably too soon to come back following his death earlier in the year, but this enabled Yankee Fans to give their husband/father a proper goodbye.

Not there, because they were otherwise employed: Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre and coach Don Mattingly; Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella; Sparky Lyle, managing the Somerset Patriots into the Atlantic League Playoffs; and Jerry Coleman, broadcasting for the San Diego Padres (though lately the Padres had been letting him come for Old-Timers' Days).

Other notable absences among the living legends: Roger Clemens (who was not then in the good graces of Yankee management), Rickey Henderson (though I didn't miss him, either), Bucky Dent (not sure why, he wasn't working in pro ball), Jim Leyritz (it was probably best that he stayed away, due to his legal troubles), Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry (thankfully, neither was in legal trouble at the moment, but Darryl was working for the Mets, and Doc was following nephew Gary Sheffield around, as Sheff was three homers from 500), Aaron Boone (playing for the Washington Nationals), Mel Stottlemyre (who was ill with melanoma), and Tommy Henrich (Ol' Reliable was 95 years old, and had been too frail to come to The Stadium for the last 10 years or so).

I didn't like the "old-time" uniforms the players from the pre-renovation era (1923-73) wore. Yogi and Whitey both complained, Yogi saying, "It's too yellow."

I wasn't sure who would sing the National Anthem. Since the Montreal Canadiens, the Yankees of hockey, closed the Montreal Forum with a video recording of the great French-Canadian opera singer Roger Doucet, who had sung for them, and for baseball's Montreal Expos, until his death in 1981, I figured the Yanks would put the late Robert Merrill up on the DiamondVision.

Instead, they had the band from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point play it live and play it straight, with no singer. That was somewhat fitting, since the first Stadium National Anthem was by the U.S. Marine Band, conducted by none other than John Philip Sousa, "the March King."

But who to throw out the first ball? They got the right person: Julia Ruth Stevens, the 92-year-old daughter of You Know Who, connecting him to The House He Built one last time. And she threw it to Jorge Posada. He was injured and couldn't play in the last game, so this made sure he wasn't left out of the festivities.

As for the game: The Yankees were trailing the Baltimore Orioles 1-0 in the top of the 3rd inning, when Yogi and Whitey joined Jon Miller and Joe Morgan in the ESPN booth. An Oriole got a hit to make it 2-0, and Whitey said, "Oh, shit!" His mike wasn't quite cut off in time.

But in the bottom of the 3rd, Jon asked Yogi about DiMaggio, and you know Yogi, he's the good-luck charm: While he was talking, boom, Johnny Damon hit a home run to make it 3-2 Yanks.

It would have been very fitting for Damon to hit the last home run in Yankee Stadium. Like Babe Ruth, he was a Red Sock who became a Yankee under controversial circumstances.

In the 5th, with the score tied at 3-3, perfect-game pitchers Cone and Wells were interviewed. Again, 2 Yankee legends interviewed, home run. This time -- José Molina, the guy who'd caught most of the games since Posada got hurt. His brother Benjie hit one in the Angels' 2002 World Series win. His brother Yadier hit one to give the Cardinals the 2006 Pennant over the Mets. Now, José went into the history books: The last home run at Yankee Stadium, the last in a long line of Yankee "unlikely heroes."

Pettitte started, but he didn't have his good stuff. He didn't get out of the 6th, but he went down as the last winning pitcher at Yankee Stadium.

Derek Jeter went 0-for-5, but was the last Yankee to bat at The Stadium. When manager Joe Girardi took him out with 1 out to go, he got a great sendoff from the fans. Still, it was weird to see the last play at Yankee Stadium and not have Derek Jeter on the field. I was hoping the last out would be a pop-up to him, so he would, technically, be the last player at Yankee Stadium. (The first would be the Yankee starter in the first game, Bob Shawkey.)

The starting lineup for the 1st game, April 18, 1923, keeping in mind that uniform numbers were not adopted until 1929:

CF Whitey Witt

3B Joe Dugan

RF Babe Ruth

1B Wally Pipp

LF Bob Meusel

C Wally Schang

2B Aaron Ward

SS Everett Scott

P Bob Shawkey

And the finishing lineup for the last game, September 21, 2008:

28 LF Melky Cabrera

14 SS Wilson Betemit

53 RF Bobby Abreu (Cabrera took 53 the next season)

13 3B Alex Rodriguez

11 CF Brett Gardner

12 1B Cody Ransom

24 2B Robinson Canó

12 DH Iván Rodríguez

26 C José Molina

(42 P Mariano Rivera)

Yes, "Pudge" Rodríguez was briefly a Yankee.

The bullpen was great: José Veras was shaky, but Phil Coke bailed him out, and he and Joba Chamberlain were nearly perfect. When Mariano came out for the 9th, it was the last truly electric moment in The Stadium. He practically begged Girardi to be on the mound for the last inning. He got his wish, even though it wasn't a save situation.

He got the 1st 2 outs, and then, facing Brian Roberts, who'd given the Yankees trouble the last few years, got him to hit a weak grounder to 1st base. Jason Giambi, who'd gotten a hit and an RBI in this last game, had been removed for defensive purposes. The replacement 1st baseman fielded it and ran to the bag for the final out. The last player at Yankee Stadium, forever be in the history books in this special role: Cody Ransom. (Roberts would close his career with the Yankees in 2014.)

And, on WCBS -- I had ESPN muted and the radio on -- John Sterling, for the last time in The Stadium, said, "Ballgame over! Yankees win! Theeeeeeeeeeee Yankees win!" (At least he didn't say, "Yankee Stadium over!")

The scoreboard after the last pitch.

Hence, the time of day for this post.

Then the sound-effects man cued up Frank Sinatra singing "Theme From New York, New York," and it was over.

Almost. Midway through the 3rd go-around of the song, the current Yankees went out to the mound, and Jeter had a microphone, and thanked "the greatest fans in the world." (Yeah, a lot of teams say that, but... come on.) And he asked the fans to take that spirit across the street to the new Stadium. And then the Yankees took a last lap around The Stadium. In English soccer, they call this a "lap of honour."

I thought that night was going to be a very hard night for me. But, except for concerns that the Yanks might lose the last game, and that the last home run would be hit by an opponent, both of which turned out to be unfounded, I was fine.

I guessed I'd gotten my emotions out of my system on July 20, when I attended my last game there, a 2-1 win over the Oakland Athletics, also won by Pettitte. But, on the morning of September 22, ESPN had a tribute on SportsCenter, and in it, Yogi Berra said, "I'm not gonna miss this place. It's part of me. It ain't over even when it's over."

That got to me.

The Yankees played their 1st game at the new Yankee Stadium on April 16, 2009, and got clobbered by the Cleveland Indians. On November 4, they won the World Series there, beating the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 6. But that very day, a few hours earlier, the demolition crew began taking down the outfield bleachers at the old Stadium. Demolition was finished on May 13, 2010. In 2012, Heritage Field opened on the site, with 3 baseball fields, including one whose infield was roughly where the old infield was. In 2022, it was renamed Elston Gene Howard Field, in memory of the 1st black man to play for the Yankees.

Brett Gardner turned out to be the last player on the Yankee roster who had played a home game at the old Yankee Stadium, last playing for them in 2021.

*

September 21, 2008 was a Sunday. These other Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Mets lost to the Atlanta Braves, 7-6 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-1 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Washington Nationals, 6-2 at Nationals Park in Washington.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Florida Marlins, 5-2 at Dolphin Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-0 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

* The Houston Astros beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-2 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers, 10-5 at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 8-1 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

* The Chicago Cubs beat their arch-rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-0 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim beat the Texas Rangers, 7-3 at Rangers Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Colorado Rockies, 13-4 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 1-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. This was the only game of the day to go to extra innings, and Rich Aurilia singled home the winning run in the top of the 11th inning.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-3 at the Oakland Coliseum.

And on this NFL Sunday:

* The New York Giants beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 26-23 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands. John Carney kicked the winning field goal with 8:39 left in overtime.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the New England Patriots, 38-13 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 15-6 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

* The Baltimore Ravens beat their replacements in their former hometown, the Cleveland Browns, 28-10 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Washington Redskins beat the Arizona Cardinals, 24-17 at FedEx Field (now Northwest Stadium) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 38-14 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

* The Tennessee Titans beat their replacements in their former hometown, the Houston Texans, 31-12 at LP Field (now Nissan Stadium) in Nashville.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Oakland Raiders, 24-23 at Ralph Wilson Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Indianapolis Colts, 23-21 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Josh Scobee kicked the winning field goal with 4 seconds left.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Chicago Bears, 27-24 at Soldier Field in Chicago. Matt Bryant kicked the winning field goal with 4:21 left in overtime.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Green Bay Packers, 27-16 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Carolina Panthers, 20-10 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Denver Broncos beat the New Orleans Saints, 34-32 at Invesco Field at Mile High (now Empower Field at Mile High) in Denver.

* And the next night, on Monday Night Football, the New York Jets lost to the San Diego Chargers, 48-29 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Detroit Lions, 31-13 at Candlestick Park (then named Monster Park) in San Francisco. This was the year in which the Lions completed the NFL's 1st-ever 0-16 season.

* And the Seattle Seahawks beat the St. Louis Rams, 37-13 at Qwest Field (now Lumen Field) in Seattle.

September 10, 1999: Pedro Martinez Strikes Out 17 Yankees

September 10, 1999: Pedro Martinez pitches perhaps the best game anyone has ever pitched against the New York Yankees. And nearly loses.

The Yankees went into this game, at the old Yankee Stadium, the 1st of a 3-game weekend series against their arch-rivals, the Boston Red Sox, 6 1/2 games ahead of the Sox in the American League Eastern Division. The Yankees had 23 games left; the Sox, 22. If the standings held to the end of the season, the Sox would get the 1 Wild Card berth then available to AL teams. So while they needed to solidify their Playoff position, winning the Division didn't matter much. But they still wanted to put a scare into their rivals.

And no pitcher at the turn of the 21st Century, not even Randy Johnson, was as scary as Pedro Martinez. Like Bob Gibson a generation earlier, he wore Number 45, and relied on both great control and pitching inside to intimidate hitters, and both worked. Unlike Gibson, however, Pedro (given the commonality of his surname, he was usually identified by his first name, much like a Brazilian soccer player) actually did intend to injure batters, and sometimes did. He aimed at the head, the hands, the back, the ribs. As I said after his actions in Game 3 of the 2003 AL Championship Series, the New York State institution he belonged in wasn't in Cooperstown, it was in Attica.

He came into this game with a 20-4 record. The Yankees' starter, Andy Pettitte, was 12-10. Sure enough, he started the game by hitting the Yankees' leadoff hitter, 2nd baseman Chuck Knoblauch. Knoblauch was then caught trying to steal 2nd base, thrown out by the Boston catcher, former Yankee Mike Stanley. In the bottom of the 2nd inning, designated hitter Charles "Chili" Davis hit a home run into the right-field Bleachers. The Yankees led, 1-0, and Pettitte held that lead through the 5th inning.

But to that point, Davis had the only Yankee hit; and, given that a player hitting a home run is officially, but not actually, a "baserunner," Knoblauch was the only baserunner that Pedro had allowed.

Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Pettitte began the top of the 6th inning by walking the Sox' best hitter, shortstop Nomar Garciaparra. The next batter was Stanley, who hit a home run to make it 2-1 Boston.

After allowing a double to Wilton Veras and a walk to José Offerman to start the 7th, Pettitte was replaced by Jeff Nelson, who got out of the jam. After getting the 1st out in the 8th, Nelson was replaced by Mike Stanton. In the 9th, Stanton gave up a triple to Veras and a single to Offerman, making it 3-1 Sox. Pedro struck out the side -- 3rd baseman Scott Brosius, pinch-hitter Darryl Strawberry, and Knoblauch -- in the bottom of the 9th, to end it.

Pedro struck out 17 batters, the most strikeouts any pitcher has ever had against the Yankees, including the last 5 he faced. He allowed 1 hit, the homer to Davis. If Pettitte hadn't allowed that home run to Stanley, maybe manager Joe Torre would have let him stay in the game, and he might have beaten Pedro, 1-0.

As a Yankee Fan, the part that bothered me was the fans in the Yankee Stadium Bleachers who were cheering for Pedro and waving Dominican flags. You want to be proud to be Dominican? Fine. You want to cheer for Pedro? Do it in Fenway! This is Yankee Stadium: The Pinstripes are our flag!

The Sox won the next game, 11-10; and the next, 4-1. They were now just 3 1/2 back with 21 to play. The Yankees ended up winning the Division by 4 games, but the Sox did get the Wild Card berth, and the teams were on a collision course for the Pennant.

*

September 10, 1999 was a Friday. These other Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Mets lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Darren Dreifort outpitched Al Leiter. For the Mets, Rickey Henderson went 0-for-4.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-4 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Mike Bordick won the game with a home run in the bottom of the 12th inning. Cal Ripken went 4-for-4 with an RBI. For the M's, Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-3 with a walk, Edgar Martinez went 2-for-4 with a home run, and Alex Rodriguez went 2-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBIs.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 7-2 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Wade Boggs, a Tampa native playing out the string with his home-region Rays, did not play.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Florida Marlins, 4-2 at Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-6 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox, 14-6 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 11-5 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Anaheim Angels beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-2 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Texas Rangers, 7-3 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Houston Astros beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-4 at the Astrodome in Houston. Carl Everett won it with a home run in the bottom of the 13th inning, having already hit one in the 2nd. Sammy Sosa, on his way to finishing the season with 63 home runs, went 0-for-6.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 15-3 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-1 at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) in Phoenix.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Montreal Expos, 10-3 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium). Phil Nevin went 2-for-4 with 2 home runs and 5 RBIs. Tony Gwynn went 1-for-3 with an RBI.

* And the Atlanta Braves beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-2 at Candlestick Park (then known as 3Com Park) in San Francisco. John Smoltz started for the Braves, but their bullpen blew the lead, then they came back to win. Barry Bonds went 1-for-3 with a walk.