It's a beatiful thing. I'm talking about new beginnings, a new season. See, when A-Rod came up to bat in the bottom of the 9th inning today, the Yankees down 7-6 to the Orioles, with the bases loaded and two outs, we had a different feeling than we normally do when A-Rod hits in those situations. We had a feeling of hope today.
We attribute it to this: it's a new season. Because if he had the track record of failing in the clutch that his reputation says he does ("A-Rod is A-Fraud"), we would have felt the feeling we had last year, a feeling a lot of Yankee fans admit to having - a feeling of dread when you see A-Rod up in a key spot. But because it is a new season, we still have the belief. We think he's going to do well this year, win a legit MVP this season, show all the haters and doubters that he is still the best in the AL. And you know what? It might have more to do with the money (he's playing possibly for a new contract) than anything else, but we believe strongly that A-Rod will have a monster year if he stays healthy.
We believed it even when he was one strike away from ending the game, a game that the Yankees were trying to win so hard. They came back from a 7-3 deficit because of Giambi's three-run homer in the 8th with A-Rod and Abreu on base. That made it 7-6 Baltimore.
Then, after two quick outs in the 9th off Baltimore reliever Chris Ray, Robinson Cano got a single. We got excited, because we knew it was coming. It always happens against the Orioles, doesn't it? Going back to 1996, and the Tino Martinez home run to win the game against the Orioles, or to that season's ALCS against the O's (the Jeffrey Maier home run), or even to Giambi's big Yankee moment (a grand slam to end the game against the O's as well). After Cano's single Jeter got a walk. Abreu got hit with a pitch to load the bases for A-Rod. With two outs.
One game does not change your career here, A-Rod. The haters will remind you of that tomorrow. I will, too. But for today you did your job. And I'm still a believer for another day.
Here is YouTube footage from a fan at the game (we love the semi-disbelief of the "Holy Sh*t! Holy Sh*t!"... it really sums up the happiness and shock, all at once):
And here is YouTube of the actual game footage of A-Rod's slam:
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Yeah, you know - yesterday was a day of crazy endings for some of NY's most maligned sports entities (the Knicks and A-Rod). What a wild Saturday....
Yo dawg, I was at this game and when it came off his bat the stadium went haywire.
I got pretty sick seats too, about 12 rows away from the crowd. But this and then Eddy Curry's game tying three pretty much gave me heart failure yesterday.