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.

October 16, 2003: The Aaron Boone Game

October 16, 2003: Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. Pedro Martinez vs. Roger Clemens. In his 1st game at Yankee Stadium since he tried to kill Don Zimmer, Pedro gets the hell booed out of him – and that's a lot of hell. But the Sox take a 4-0 lead over the Yankees in the 4th, before Joe Torre lifts Clemens and brings in Mike Mussina. Making the 1st relief appearance of his career, Mussina stops the bleeding.

Jason Giambi hits 2 home runs to make it 4-2 in the 7th, but David Ortiz – not for the first time, and certainly not for the last (cough-steroids-cough) – hurts the Yankees by blasting a home run, off David Wells. It's 5-2 Red Sox. On the replay, Wells can be seen yelling, "Fuuuuck!" He thought he had put the final nail in the coffin.''

Pedro gets the 1st out in the bottom of the 8th, but then… Derek Jeter doubles. Then Bernie Williams singles, scoring Jeter to make it 5-3. Pedro is over the 100-pitch mark. From pitches 1 through 99, he throws like Sandy Koufax; from pitch 100 onward, he throws like Sandy Duncan.

Lefthanded pitcher Alan Embree is warming up in the bullpen. Bringing him in would have put him up against the next 2 batters: Hideki Matsui, making a lefty-on-lefty matchup; and Jorge Posada, a switch-hitter but not as good from the right side.

Red Sox manager Grady Little goes to the mound, but Pedro talks him out of making a change. He decides to leave Pedro in.

Big mistake. And I knew it immediately, pumping my fist and yelling, "We got him! We got the son of a bitch!" Sure enough, Hideki Matsui hits a ground-rule double down the right-field line, moving Bernie to third. Still, Little does not pull Pedro. Jorge Posada hits a looper into short center, scoring the tying runs. Just 5 outs from the Pennant, and the greatest victory the Red Sox would have since, oh, 1918, and they have choked yet again.

Mariano Rivera pitches the 9th, 10th and 11th for the Yankees. He pitches the top of the 11th pretty much on courage alone. The Yankees need to win it in the bottom of the 11th, because the bullpen situation doesn't look good.

Tim Wakefield, the knuckleballer who won Games 1 and 4 of this series, is on the mound. Leading off the inning is Aaron Boone, the Yankee 3rd baseman.

You know where I was at this moment? I was going from place to place watching the game, and I decided to get on the Subway and head up to The Stadium. Win or lose, I felt I had to be there. But the Subway was crawling, seeming to take forever. I forgot that it was after midnight. Frustrated, I
got off at the 50th Street station of the A train.

Next thing I know, I’m standing in front of 220 West 48th Street, the Longacre Theatre. Do you know who built (in 1912) and owned this theater? Harry Frazee. The very man who broke up the Red Sox and sold off so many of their players to the Yankees, including Babe Ruth. What a place to be standing in as the Yankees and Red Sox battled for the Pennant.

In 1935, Clifford Odets' play Waiting for Lefty debuted at the Longacre. Sox fans were still waiting for Alan Embree, the lefty that Little refused to bring in for Pedro.

It was 12:16 AM, actually October 17, 2003, but since the game started on the 16th, it goes down in history as October 16.

I had my headphones on, and on WCBS 880, I heard Charley Steiner say this:

There's a fly ball, deep to left! It’s on its way! There it goes! And the Yankees are going to the World Series! Aaron Boone has hit a home run! The Yankees go to the World Series for the 39th time in their remarkable history! Aaron Boone down the left field line, they are waiting for him at home plate, and now he dives into the scrum! The Yankees win it, 6-5!

Together, Steiner and John Sterling yelled Sterling's tagline: "Ballgame over! American League Championship Series over! Yankees win! Theeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Yankees win!" Steiner: "I've always wanted to say that!"

The Longacre is at the northern end of Times Square. It sounded like a million car horns went off at once. People poured out of the restaurants and bars in the Square. People were slapping each other on the back, giving high five after high five.

By the time I finally got home, at around 2 in the morning, my hair was soaked with sweat, my eyes were aching from being up too late, my voice was shot from screaming, my hands throbbed from shaking and high-fiving, and my legs and feet throbbed from all the walking.

I've never felt better in my life.

Boone joined Tommy Henrich (1949 World Series vs. Brooklyn Dodgers), Mickey Mantle (1964 WS vs. St. Louis Cardinals), Chris Chambliss (1976 ALCS vs. Kansas City Royals), Jim Leyritz (1995 AL Division Series vs. Seattle Mariners), Bernie Williams (Game 1 of ALCS in both 1996 and 1999), Chad Curtis (1999 WS), Alfonso Soriano (2001 ALCS) and Jeter (2001 WS) as Yankees who have hit walkoff home runs in postseason play. (It's since been done by Mark Teixeira, 2009 ALDS; and Raul Ibanez, 2012 ALDS.)

And he joined Enos Slaughter (1946 Cardinals), Lou Boudreau (1948 Cleveland Indians), Bob Gibson (1967 Cardinals), Joe Morgan (1975 Cincinnati Reds), and, collectively, the 1978 Yankees (especially Bucky Dent) and the 1986 Mets as Red Sox postseason tormentors.

Jeter said, "We've got some ghosts in this Stadium."

In 2009, it sure looked like they'd made the trip across the street. Now, I'm not so sure.

Clemens, Wells, and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre walk out to the Babe Ruth Monument, and offer the Big Fella some champagne. Clemens slaps the plaque on the tablet, and says, "He's smiling! He's smiling! He's smiling, Mel!"

Grady Little was not smiling. He was fired as Sox manager within days, replaced by Terry Francona. He managed the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2006 and '07 seasons, and since 2014 has worked in the front office of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The next day's Daily News headline read, "THE CURSE LIVES." For the Sox… once again, it was "Wait Till Next Year."

No, no. Really. They meant it this time.

In 2010, the MLB Network listed this game at 6th on their list of MLB's 20 Greatest Games -- limited in scope, due to the availability of surviving videotape, to 1975 onward.

But in the World Series, against the Florida Marlins, it would be the Yankees who choked. They led 2 games to 1, but Joe Torre brought Jeff Weaver in to pitch the 10th inning, and in the bottom of the 11th, he gave up a walkoff home run to Álex González. (Not the player whose error was a part of the Chicago Cubs' meltdown in the Steve Bartman Game, but also a shortstop.)

Josh Beckett pitched a 3-hit shutout in Game 6, ending the World Series, and ending what turned out to be the last World Series game played at the old Yankee Stadium. It was a complete anti-climax to what had been a great season and a magnificent Pennant, and is the reason I cannot hold the Aaron Boone home run in the same esteem as the Bucky Dent home run against the Red Sox, 25 years earlier.

Boone got hurt in the off-season, leading the Yankees to trade for Alex Rodriguez. Injuries and a heart ailment ended his career after the 2009 regular season, after which he was an analyst on Fox’ postseason broadcasts as the Yankees won their 1st Pennant since his walkoff.

A lot can change in 19 years. We have now seen Aaron Boone become the Yankees' manager, taking us to the Playoffs 4 straight years, but never getting us closer to a Pennant than Game 6 of the 2019 ALCS. And, among the less pleasant things, we have seen the Red Sox win 4 World Series, breaking the Curse of the Bambino. And we have now seen them beat the Yankees in not one, not two, but three postseason rounds (if not "series").

But we have also seen them exposed as dirty rotten cheaters, multiple times, and continue to lie about it, meaning we can no longer chant, "NINE-teen-EIGHT-teen! (Clap, clap, clap-clap-clap)."

But we can still write "1918*."

*

October 16, 2003 was a Thursday. The National League Pennant had been decided the day before, when the team then known as the Florida Marlins won Game 7 of the NLCS against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, aided by an 8-run 8th inning in Game 6, which will forever be remembered, fairly or otherwise, as the Steve Bartman Game.

This was before the NFL seemingly had a regular-season game every Thursday night. But there were 3 college football games played:

* North Carolina State beat Clemson, 17-15 at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina.

* Louisiana-Lafayette beat New Mexico State, 26-24 at Cajun Field in Lafayette, Louisiana. Lafayette is the hometown of Yankee Legend Ron Guidry, and he graduated from the school under its former name, the University of Southwestern Louisiana. It became the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 1999, and have called their teams "the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns" since 2017.

* And Colorado State beat the Air Force Academy, cross-State rivals 30-20 at home at Hughes Stadium in Fort Collins.

The NBA season wouldn't start until October 28. But there were 10 NHL games played that night: 

* The New Jersey Devils, defending Stanley Cup Champions, and the Toronto Maple Leafs played to a tie, 2-2 at the Brendan Byrne Arena. Jay Pandolfo opened the scoring for the Scarlet & Black, then the Leafs scored twice. With goaltender Martin Brodeur pulled for the extra attacker, Sergei Brylin scored with 2 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. But neither side could find a winning goal.

* Across the Hackensack and Hudson Rivers at Madison Square Garden, the New York Rangers also couldn't find a winner in 65 minutes, or even a single goal. They played the Atlanta Thrashers to a 0-0 tie. The New York Islanders were not scheduled for that night.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 at the Bell Centre.

* The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 5-1 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa. (It's now named the Benchmark International Arena.)

* The Nashville Predators beat the St. Louis Blues, 4-1 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville. (It's now named the Bridgestone Arena.)

* The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 2-1 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Vancouver Canucks, 3-2 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Minnesota Wild, 5-2 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Buffalo Sabres, 4-1 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton. (It was then temporarily known as Rexall Place.)

* And the Philadelphia Flyers and the San Jose Sharks played to a 0-0 tie, at the HP Pavilion at San Jose. (It's now named the SAP Center.) 

October 11, 2003: Pedro Martinez Commits 3 Felonies During a Playoff Game

October 11, 2003: Pedro Martinez of the Boston Red Sox commits 3 felonies, all witnessed by 34,209 people at Fenway Park in Boston, and by millions of people on live national television:

* Count 1: Assault with a deadly weapon, on Karim Garcia of the New York Yankees, by hitting him with a pitch, and it would have hit him in the head had he not ducked.

* Count 2: Conspiracy to commit murder, against Yankee Jorge Posada, by pointing to his head, as if to say, "You're next."

* Count 3: Felonious assault (and possibly attempted murder) on Yankee coach Don Zimmer, by grabbing a 72-year-old man by the head and throwing him to the ground.

In spite of this, he is not arrested. The felonies, after all, occurred at Fenway Park, not Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees beat the Red Sox, 3-2, with Roger Clemens outpitching Martinez, and take a 2-games-to-1 lead in the ALCS. That's right: A little over 13 years after becoming the most recent MLB player to be thrown out of a postseason game, Clemens was the one who kept his cool.

The New York Post, in one of the rare instances in which I agree with it, labeled Pedro the Fenway Punk. Ever since, he has been the opposing athlete I have loathed the most. Which is why my favorite home run of all time is no longer the one that Aaron Boone hit 5 days later, but the one Hideki Matsui hit off Pedro to clinch the 2009 World Series -- which turned out to be Pedro's last game in the major leagues.

This was the day that Yankee Fans finally went beyond mere posturing, and began to hate the Red Sox and their fans as much as Sox fans hate the Yankees and their fans. This was the day the idea of the Mets' being Yankee Fans' team "they love to hate" went out the window. The Red Sox became, as they would say in English soccer, "The Scum."

*

October 11, 2003 was a Saturday. On the same day, the Chicago Cubs beat the Florida Marlins, 8-3 at Pro Player (now Hard Rock) Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, and take a 3-games-to-1 lead in the NLCS. Just 1 more win, and the Cubs will have their 1st Pennant in 58 years. But they needed another 13 years to get that 1 more NLCS win.

The NBA season didn't begin until October 28. There were 11 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-0 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

* The New York Islanders beat the Buffalo Sabres, 6-0 at the HSBC Arena (now the KeyBank Center) in Buffalo.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 2-1 at the RBC Center (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh.

*  The Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins played to a tie, 3-3 at the Wachovia Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Atlanta Thrashers beat the Washington Capitals, 4-3 at the MCI Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The Boston Bruins and the Florida Panthers played to a tie, 1-1 at the Office Depot Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.

* The Dallas Stars beat the Nashville Predators, 3-1 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center (now the Bridgestone Arena) in Nashville.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, and in the opener of CBC's broadcast of Hockey Night In Canada, the Montreal Canadiens beat their arch-rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-0 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Ottawa Senators, 3-2 at the Corel Centre (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa.

* The Calgary Flames beat the San Jose Sharks, 3-2 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* And in the nightcap of Hockey Night In Canada, the Vancouver Canucks beat the Edmonton Oilers, 3-0 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

And there were college football games played, including the following:

* The night before, in a rare matchup when both halves of the "Little Brown Jug" rivalry were ranked, Number 20 Michigan beat Number 17 Minnesota, 38-35 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* Number 1 Oklahoma beat Number 11 Texas, 65-13 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

* Number 2 Miami beat Number 5 Florida State, 22-14 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida. They had a rematch in the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day, and Miami won again.

* Number 3 Ohio State were upset by Number 23 Wisconsin, 17-10 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. Ohio State would beat Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl.

* Number 4 Virginia Tech beat Syracuse, 51-7 at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Virginia.

* Number 6 Louisiana State were upset by Florida, 19-7 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU would rise to Number 2, and beat Number 3 Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl.

* Number 7 Arkansas were upset by Auburn, 10-3 at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

* Number 8 Georgia beat Number 13 Tennessee, 41-14 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee.

* Number 9 Southern California beat Stanford, 44-21 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. USC would rise to Number 1, and beat then-Number 4 Michigan in the Rose Bowl, to win the National Championship.

* Number 10 Nebraska were upset by Missouri, 41-24 at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri.

* Notre Dame upset Number 15 Pittsburgh, 20-14 at Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh.

* Navy beat Vanderbilt, 37-27 at Vanderbilt Stadium (now First Bank Stadium) in Nashville. But Army lost to Louisville, 34-10 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York.

* And Rutgers lost to West Virginia, 34-19 at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, West Virginia.

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.