May 9, 2006 - Yankees Vs. Boston @ Yankee Stadium - Yankees 3 Boston 14
What began as a stadium jam packed full of fans of the Bronx Bombers ended almost quietly in a virtually crowdless stadium Tuesday night as the Boston Red Sox put a hurtin' on the New York Yankees that they won't soon forget. It was to Sox fans what an all you can eat buffet is after your cousins lame wedding. It was larger and deeper and more delicious than one could have imagined; the umping was pretty close to awful, the Yanks were clearly rattled, Torre scowled for three hours straight, A-rod was clumsy, Foulke delivered the most amazing coincidence of a pitch which struck Bubba Crosby in the exact same spot Trot Nixon was hit by Ron Villone minutes earlier, Papi slide in safely at home plate, ALEX GONZALEZ hit his first homer with the Sox and Bernie Williams got bounced and came within an inch of setting off a powder keg by hitting said lame ump with his batting helmet.
Things looked good for the Yankees in the bottom of the first with Giambi's two run homer but it was too early to get comfortable and they never would. Alex Rodriguez tried making sweet love to a line drive in the top of the third inning to kick off the unspooling of Yankee control. A wild pitch and a chugging train ride to home plate left them ahead after only one inning and the Sox never looked back. Mike Lowell's sweet little free handed #### to close out the third inning was his way of showing A-rod how third base is handled. Unimpressed, Rodriguez would do his impression of a curb a few innings later for his second error of the game, just to spite him.
The mojo play of the game can be credited to the Yankee fans themselves - arguably the worst bunch of scum and fair weather patronage imaginable - as they booed Big Unit was he walked from the field. Booed him loudly. Just moments before the big lanky 42 year old who had appeared so visibly shaken for the better part of the first three innings looked moist eyed on the mound. I thought he was going to cry as the scowling pitching coach and entourage came to him to take the ball away. When he slunk off the field his head dipped a little lower as "people" screamed their disapproval. I turned to my viewing companions then and said "can you remember us booing one of our own off the field?" They couldn't. Yankees fans are the worst part of the whole organization. Well, you brake it, you bought it. Boo him off the field all you like - he's yours and I'm sure he didn't just learn that you only like him when he wins. Tell you what Yank fans, we'll trade your busted Unit for our broken Boomer.
The umping was questionable - pitches were strikes or balls depending on who was at the plate. Both Jeter and Bernie Williams had words for the ump; the later ejected and a quick pan to the ump showed him red faced and ready to explode. Manny homered - everyone gets a taste of the action - who could believe Alex Gonzalez's three run homer? Nobody that's who. The young un's were rotated in before it was over it seemed only Jeter and Varitek remained on the field as representatives of their original line-ups. By the end, the same baseball lovin' Yankee fans who booed Johnson from the stage left to go home early and beat the traffic and complain to one another. Rem Dog joked at the end that "if you live within a few blocks and want to see half an inning we've got plenty of seats." They sure did. Plenty.
Tonight, game two of this three game series we have the mojo; the edge. Mussina faces not just the prospect of giving us game two, but of getting the coldest reception a professional sport fanbase has to offer.
