They need to finish this series now. A big reason? Everyone will spend the next two days revisiting 2004 if the Angels win tonight.
I was there for every pitch in '04 when the Yankees blew their 3-0 lead to the Red Sox and the shift in momentum was ever-so-slight when the Sox won the Dave Roberts game to get within 3-1. But when they pulled out their 14-inning thriller in Game Five, the shift was palpable. By the time we all got off the train back to New York, you felt you were on a runaway. You could feel the Sox gaining control. The Bloody Sock game then gave you that feeling of destiny in your midst.
Three hours before Game Seven, I was on the field leaning up against the railing in front of the Yankees dugout. A few feet away, venerable Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan was screaming into a microphone doing a live hit for some ESPN show. He was saying there was no way the Sox could come this far and get Aaron Booned again. The Sox were loose, chatting and joking on the field. No Yankee cracked a smile. Few said anything. Game Seven was already over before either of Johnny Damon's home runs.
The point is clear. The Angels are reeling. Keep them down. If Girardi, A-Rod & Co. truly want this 103-win version of the Yankees to be different from the past four years, they have to take advantage of opportunity in October. They've been mostly brilliant so far in going 6-1. They need to take care of business tonight so they don't face an uncomfortable weekend.
---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)
tagged
ALCS | Major leagues | Yankees
