@ Molon Labe:
Must have been cool to be there!

Into the belly of the beast….

We made the trip up (from NC) to catch Game #3 at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday. The stadium is a gem, and the majority of the fans we encountered were delightful.

The long rain delay gave the natives a chance to imbibe a bit, and several became increasingly hostile. The “Yankees Suck!” and “You Took Steroids” chants were to be expected, but the roving gangs of drunk punks forming a ring around us and shouting “A**HOLE!” was uncalled for. On one trip to the rest room, one of the thugs swung a bag at me, striking me in the shoulder/neck/back of head. The Mrs. wouldn’t stay in the “Ladies” room to wash her hands due to the expletive-laced verbal assaults unleased upon her in there; not to worry, she had hand sanitizer.

Spike Lee and his buddy (an imposing bodyguard) was seated only a few seats over (row 10, behind the 1st base coach), and he took some abuse while just sitting there politely; I believe that his harassers were ejected.

In the Philly sports blogs this morning, there’s a report of a gang of punks (trying to) urinate on a Yankees fan last night. Shameful.

The “Standing Room Only” tickets may be a part of the problem. The riffraff can get in (comparatively) cheaply, then rove around looking for ways to amuse their feeble brains.

Corey, it was fine – I was worried the same thing as you, but they had enough room for everybody. Very intense, excited crowd – much louder than I’ve heard at Stadium games!

@ Evan3457:
True. I meant more along the lines of first time we’ve been in a WS clinching scenario since ‘01.

@ clintfsu813:
HAHAHA, exactly!

@ Corey:
It never ceases to amaze me. This is the same Marte that has been objectively TERRIBLE since he came to New York on 7/26/08. Who is this guy? Not that I’m complaining. I won’t hold my breath and expect the same level of success for the next two years on his contract but if he can still be this kind of Cinderella just a little while longer — just long enough for the Yanks to win one more game — I’ll be just fine with that. Then we can truly say that something good came out of that Nady trade.

Isn’t it amazing how good Marte has been in the playoffs? At the beginning of October, if someone came up to you and said Marte would be the best non-Mo reliever out of the pen, you would have called him crazy, right?

Hey lisa, how was Yankee Stadium? I was thinking about going, but I was also fearful of them saying the lower sections are full and denying my entrance.

Jorge deserves a shout-out too. He maintained concentration at the plate when it might have been easy to get caught up in the excitement after A-Rod’s hit. His single to drive in the last two not only provided a nice cushion, it took stress off Mo and knocked any remaining gas out of the Phils. Ledge needs to be on a suicide watch. He’s done for the series. One more. Just one more.

I like to think I gave you the idea to apologize

Well, closest since Game 7 of 2001. I would say 3 outs from winning it all is closer than 27.

But that’s just me.

With apologies to:

-CC Sabathia gutting it out on short rest when he had absolutely no command of his pitches, still giving the team 6.2 workmanlike innings;
-Derek Jeter getting a couple of hits, scoring the game’s first run and converting all of his defensive chances without incident;
-Damaso Marte coming in right after the Phillies pull to within 4-3 late in the game and getting Ryan Howard out, continuing his surprisingly sparkling October;
-Mariano Rivera getting 3 outs on 8 pitches and looking more dominating tonight than he has since the ALCS; or
-Alex Rodriguez forgetting a couple of cruddy AB’s earlier in the game and overall in the World Series thus far, seeing Lidge’s offering and pulling a solid line drive double to drive in the game’s winning run;

Johnny Damon gets all the credit in the world tonight. He was on base multiple times, scored multiple runs and battled Lidge when he was down to the Yanks’ final strike of the 9th inning. Those steals were tremendous as well.

True, Damon had a poor night in the field and showed yet again how his arm is weaker than a wet noodle, his AB in the 9th was AWESOME. Good for him. Frankly, that AB has a DVD-like quality to it in that if the Yanks do go on to win the ‘09 WS, that AB will be prominently featured on the video. I hope to be able to plunk down the money for the DVD in a few weeks…

Finally, a question: why the shift for Teixeira? He’s not a true pull hitter like Giambi/Big Papi and he’s slumping so badly that it’s doubtful he’d make solid pull contact against Lidge. If he HAD gotten a hit, I could’ve seen it being a little dunker to the opposite field. I don’t get why the Phils put on such an extreme shift with 2 outs and a man on.

Anyway, hats off to CC, Jeter, Marte, Mo, A-Rod and Damon. Those boys have put the team just 27 outs away from #27. That’s the closest we’ve been to the World Series since Game 6 of 2001. Here’s hoping the Yanks take care of business sooner rather than later.