Stuck in the Moment

50,497 people walked through the turnstiles on 161^st Street in the Bronx on October 11, 2012 hoping to see something special and I was one of them.

Fast forward about three hours.  It was a crisp autumn night in the Bronx.  As the pitching duel continued, Yankee fans were crestfallen.  For nearly two full games the Bronx Bombers lively bats had been silenced by the Orioles no-name pitching staff.  Other than a RBI triple by the Captain (Derek Jetah, numba 2), the scoring column for the Yankees was dormant and a loss seemed inevitable.  The 2-1 deficit felt like it was a dozen; questions like “will they start CC tomorrow to try and prevent elimination,” became commonplace.  Defeatist attitudes flooded the stadium.  Dull chatter ruled the air waves as fans had the feeling this would be another year where a great regular season was overshadowed by meekly bowing out in the first round of the playoffs.  The mood was solemn.   

Then came the 9^th inning.  What’s Jason Nix doing at shortstop? Jeter’s out?  Jeter LET Girardi take him out?  As people fumbled with their phones trying to get information on what could lead to this unfamiliar occurrence, the viewpoint went from bad to worse within the stadium.  The end was near.

Bottom of the 9^th, last licks. Ichiro was leading off our potential comeback.  Lined out to left field…sigh.  A-Rod’s turn…wait a second, that’s not A-R… “Wow, that takes BALLS to pinch hit for A-Rod,” a fellow Yankee fan said.  I obviously agree.  Raul Ibanez huh?  I said to the guy in the adjacent seat, “this is kind of what he does.” Ball one.  I think to myself; just get on base, maybe we could get something going.  CRACK!!!!!  Stadium erupts. “HOLY SHIT!!! THAT’S WHAT HE DOES, THAT’S WHAT HE DOES, THAT’S WHAT HE FUCKIN’ DOES!!!!”  High fives & half-hugs galore. A2D’s Joe-Joe, a notorious Mets fan, was just as excited as us seasoned Yankee fans, one couldn’t help but get caught up in the moment.  Dejection in the stadium immediately turned into jubilation.  With one swing of the bat, a ball that flew 403 feet changed the season from doom and gloom.  It didn’t really matter what happened in the next two at bats because the stadium was buzzing and everyone was feeling it. 

The 10^th and 11^th innings went by amazingly fast.  One total hit and that guy ended up being part of a double play.  Top of the 12^th.  Two ground outs to first.  Ok, this was going to go as planned.  Mark Reynolds then rocketed a pop fly that easily would have hit a Boeing 747 flying over Yankee Stadium, I immediately said “wow that’s high, what the hell is Chavez doing?”  The ball lands on the ground halfway between the pitcher’s mound and home.  “Amateur hour,” said one of the Yankee fans…ok, that was me.  Weird plays like those make me nervous because they always seem to bite teams in the ass.  The next batter grounds to first on a play that was so eventful I momentarily felt the tide turning out of our favor, but alas, we were heading to the bottom of the 12^th tied.  Ibanez leading off, adjacent guy said “Wouldn’t THAT be amazing?”  As I nodded, CRACK!!!! Stadium erupts…AGAIN.  Everyone raises their arms in triumph, screaming at the top of their lungs.  I have to admit, I never saw the ball.  I didn’t have to, that atmosphere told me that it went into the right field stands, pandemonium. My normally robust vocabulary was rendered sophomoric.  All I could spew out were curse words and generalities.  A very astute and fairly articulate fan I had talked with throughout the game was left saying “That was fuckin’ amazing.”  Agreed.  In the post game interview, which most fans stayed for, Ibanez said of Alex Rodriguez’s reaction, "He said great job. A-Rod is a great teammate and great team player.  He's the first one on the top step congratulating you. It's about winning. It's about the Yankees and continuing. It was a great experience. We do it as a team. We stay after it.  I'm blessed to come up and have the opportunity like that. We do it together. It's about a team and about winning."

That’s the beauty of sports, a common goal, and a common experience.  All 50,000+ of the people in that building shared something that nobody can ever take from them.  We all felt like a team, we all felt like we won.  We witnessed history and we will never forget it.  As the stadium let out, fans flooded River Avenue with chants of Let’s Go Yankees and RAAAAUUULLLLL.  The walk to the train station was organized chaos with other random cheers breaking out sporadically.  Every fan was beaming like children on Christmas morning.  From the moment Ibanez’s second homerun travelled 390 feet, to the moment my train reached my destination, we were all left saying over and over, “that was amazing, that was awesome.”  I woke up this morning and stared at the ceiling still in awe from what I experienced.  I’m so glad I was there.

Every championship run has a magic moment.  Derek Jeter hitting a fly ball to the warning track only to have Jeffrey Maier reeling reach over the fence to reel it in, making it a homerun; Johnny Damon ultimately scoring by stealing second and then third because third base was uncovered due to a defensive shift.  Could this be that moment for the 2012 New York Yankees?  Could a 40 year old pinch hitter hitting not one, but two game shifting homeruns be the moment that propels them to a championship?  All of that remains to be seen, but for one night in the Bronx nothing else mattered except that moment…and I was there. 


P.S.  If you are a fan of America AND smart ass remarks watch the video below.  I didn't realize how close I was to getting kicked out until I saw the usher later on when returning to my seats and he said the following: "I don't have to see your ticket, how could I forget the first guy I was about to throw out of the stadium tonight?"