Opening Day Success
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by user Dool325
Yankees win! Theeee Yankees Win! From the moment when Cory Lidle's wife and son stood next to an emotional Jason Giambi during the opening ceremonies, a certain feeling in the air made itself manifest, an aura that can be described not just as Yankee mystique, but Yankee mystique coupled with the building frustration (from Mr. Steinbrenner's office down to the Section 39 Bleachers) of six years of "failure." Something was there to tell everyone that this year could be special.
This year certainly seemed special enough, though not in a good way, when Carl Pavano took the hill to throw out the real first Yankees pitch of 2007. Then, it felt just like any hot day in August 2006 when Alex Rodriguez promptly dropped an easy pop-fly followed by a strikeout of his own in the bottom half of the inning with two men on base. One batter later, however, something happened that didn't happen last August. Alex Rodriguez was picked up by a teammate. Jason Giambi sent a 3-1 pitch from Devil Rays ace Scott Kazmir into right-center to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. This is going to be a good season.
Three innings and two infield errors (Jeter, Phelps) later, the Yankees are still clinging to a 2-1 lead when Posada unloads on a Scott Kazmir changeup to give the Yankees some somewhat needed insurance. Carl Pavano then follows suit in the bottom half of the inning by giving up a leadoff homerun of his own to Elijah Dukes (who?) of the Devil Rays. Pavano continues to get shelled by the perennial A.L. East cellar-dwellers until Joe makes his first of many long walks out to the mound to stop Pavano from squandering the Yankees' lead any further. 5-3 Devil Rays, enter Yankees bullpen. We may as well play Enter Sandman for each one of these guys. Bruney, Henn, Vizcaino, Farnsworth, Rivera. The combined line: 4.2 IP, 0 ER.
Bottom six: Melky Caberera enters the game to replace Johnny Damon who suffers from sore calves (old habits die hard) and is promptly hit by a pitch to load the bases for who else? Mr. Derek Jeter. Single up the middle, my dog could have called that. We're tied at 5, April 2nd feels like October 22nd. Skip ahead to the 7th to see Alex Rodriguez rip a single right past Tampa shortstop Ben Zobrist, much to the delight of "patient" Yankee fans. Alex then steals second and is knocked in by another Jason Giambi RBI single. Suzyn Waldman is ducking under the desk in the WCBS radio booth in order to avoid getting caught up in John Sterling's wild excitement. Yankees 6, Devil Rays 5.
One inning later and Alex Rodriguez follows up a Bobby Abreu RBI single with a two-run shot to left-center for some serious insurance in a big spot. Welcome back, my friend. The rare A-Rod curtain call: Yankees 9, Devil Rays 5.
Enter Sandman. The first few notes are the only part of the song distinguishable before the loudspeaker system at Yankee Stadium is drowned out by the roar of Yankee fans, both at the game and in their living rooms everywhere. Dioner Navarro strikes out swinging. Was that a changeup? Elijah Dukes strikes out swinging. Did he even see that ball? B.J. Upton strikes out looking. Is it October yet? Yankees win. Theeeee Yankees win! New York, New York plays in the heart of Yankee fans everywhere. A perfect way to kick off the quest for number 27. Oh, and might I add, Kansas City 7, Boston 1.
