Six. Six. Oh, so sweet.
When I was a kid, I cared deeply about Reggie hitting his 500th homer and climbing the ladder of all-time greats. Even with the all the bias of the fanatic, I knew there were some numbers that would never, ever fall. 660. 714. 755.
And even though a slew of sluggers have crashed the club in the recent era, only one guy knocked down those big three numbers, and Barry Bonds is the greatest hitter I’ve ever seen. In the eighth inning tonight, Alex Rodriguez launched a game-winning missile over the Green Monster for, get this, the first pinch-hit homer of his career. And it was also #660, tying him with Willie Mays for fourth on the all-time list.
But this was a scene within a scene. Alex began the game on the bench as Girardi stacked the lineup with lefties against right-hander Justin Masterson and his notorious platoon split. He had come off a brutal game in Wednesday’s extra-inning loss and surely wanted to get back on the horse. YES had already generated graphics showing the long homerless stretches that accompanied his previous milestones.
When Joe called on Alex to pinch-hit in the 8th, the score was tied 2-2 as the lefties created chances but never really broke through. Oh, the boos. Sustained, lusty boos rained down on Alex when he came up. He took some close pitches and found himself at 3-0. In the interview after game, he told Meredith Markovitz that Girardi had directed the Yankees to rethink their approach and take more advantage of just such counts. Alex said he heard Joe’s voice in his head right before the pitch…
He took advantage. Junichi Tazawa centered a 94 mph fastball and Alex lashed a blue dart right down the line. The ball didn’t clear the wall by a lot, but there was nothing cheap about it.
Andrew Miller (we don’t talk about pitchers becoming TRUE Yankees like we do with hitters, but Andrew Miller makes a pretty great Yankee, don’t you think?) capped three scoreless bullpen innings and CC Sabathia pitched just as well as you could hope a down-on-his-luck lefty could pitch in Fenway.
I hope there’s a kid out there who cares about this homer as much as I did when Reggie hit his.
i went pretty berserk when alex homered. i loved that it was a 3-0 count and was imploring him to swing and crush it over the monstah. it was a sight to behold!
i'm really happy for him!
I'm glad I saw it live. I just watched the replay three straight times. Man, Alex smoked that ball. Blasted it. The dude who caught it was booing vehemently with two thumbs down whilst holding the ball. I thought that was pretty funny..
What a great way to do it. Wish I was watching. I wanna hear Suzyn's interview, but ca't find it.
BTW, what did Flaherty say? First of all, he sucked, so who gives a farg what his 80 career HR mind thinks. Second, he's like vanilla ice cream on vanilla wafers in a hermetically sealed room. Sounds OK in the booth, but he is not the reason people watch or listen to baseball. Kind of like the George Will of ex players.
I celebrate for Alex too. That Boston fan who caught the ball on the fly, dancing after the catch, booing with thumbs down, but clutching the ball like the dead man's lever on a locomotive was one of the funniest sights so far this season.
It's just that I love Willie Mays, the way he was portrayed as I was too young to witness most of his career. Alex was the natural talent who was the best position player so many years, we never thought he was an enhancer. Until he was, the pressure to live up to those contracts that changed the sport, the revelation that maybe this guy was a little deviant of character. The ball and chain of finance that hobbles the Yankees future evolution. The lack of nuance. Obviously he can't help it. The story is as big as the Yankees, and only this team has the gravitas to bear the weight. So I swallow hard and celebrate.
Damn, I had some choice epithets in mind for Flash (as I mentioned in last night's thread), but "George Will of ex players" is harsh.
[3] Read George Will for a coupla weeks then come back and say it was boring. Some may come back angry, but that's the literal test of his being provocative... which is to say, he's no John Flaherty.
Great write up, Jon! I'm in L.A. visiting a friend--an old sports writer of all people--and heard about it because The Wife texted me the news. Then we saw the replays and heard the interview where Alex got choked up and then saw video of him crying on the filed at Fenway. The day before, I'd gone to dinner with my pal and another old sports columnist and told them that Alex would tie Mays in Fenway. For some reason, he's always done really well up there. Plus, how great, the massive boos, and then bitch slap them all just when they least expect it--a 3-0 pitch. How classic. The old goat. I wished I could have heard Sterlings call of the entire at bat. Is it out there at all? Not just the HR call but the whole ab?
Anyhow, good for Alex. I was like Jon--very invested in Reggie reaching 500 (and beyond). Obviously, Alex's accomplishments come with a lot of other stuff, but 660 is fuck ton of singers, man.