In one inning, the Yankees hearts were torn out and the Dodgers' hearts were restarted.
The Yankees began the game in glorious form. A flurry of homers from expected, and unexpected, sources. The early 5-0 lead inspired confidence and hope. Fans began to believe in the impossible.
In the other dugout, fear and uncertainty were creeping in. The thought of returning to LA was in the air. And worse, the idea that they could blow this and be scapegoats forever. Doubt was surfacing. You could read it in the players' faces.
And then it happened. The worst inning of baseball in Yankee history. Physical and mental errors in a "must win" game of the World Series. All Boone could do, like the millions fans watching, was observe in disbelief and agony.
When it was over, a 5-0 lead had become 5-5. One of the biggest comebacks in World Series history.
The team in the dugout along the third base line was jumping like kids on a trampoline, while the other was asking for aspirin and chicken soup. A kind of Covid had struck them.
It was over. You could see it in their faces.
And this fan, for perhaps the first time all season, got it right.
He knew it was over and he walked away from baseball.
I still don't know the final score.
I would disagree only, Dauntless Leader, is saying that was NOT all that Boone could do.
ReplyDeleteWhat he desperately needed to do was to go out to the mound after Betts' little grounder made it 5-1, bring everyone around him, and tell an absolutely obscene joke. Or say maybe, "Hey, I thought I was supposed to cover first!" Something. Anything...
I think this loss was worse than the 1981 series loss. This one is even worse because our Bronx Bums beat themselves. Reggie Jackson said he thought that his team "got beat" in 1981. We know this for sure, that's two games this series that our Bums gave away. In fact, this was the worst Yankee playoff loss that I can remember. I cannot remember ever seeing the Yankees completely self-destruct like that.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen anything like it. I'll never forget the utter ass-beating the Reds gave the Yanks back in 1976, total domination. But this, this was brutal. Brutal and preventable. The keyboard can't convey my disgust and dismay that I'm feeling...
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