YankeesRedSox.com

I have been to two MLB playoff games in my life, neither of which took place at Yankee Stadium.  In 1986 I went to Game 2 of the Mets-Red Sox World Series.  I still remember that sickening feeling in my stomach as I walked out of Shea after that game and thought how the Red Sox were going to win the World Series. 

More recently I went to the 1999 ALCS between the Yankees and Red Sox at Fenway Park.  A friend who was a Red Sox fan and I secured two seats in the second row of the bleachers.  It was Game 4, the day after Pedro and the Sox obliterated Clemens and the Yankees to make it 2-1 New York.  The crowd was rocking and it promised to be an emotional game.

Sitting in dead center, my friend and I made a half-hearted deal.  If a home run came to us and it was hit by a Yankee, I would get it. If a Red Sox hit it, he would get it, no matter who caught the ball.  Considering where we were sitting, this seemed like a longshot at best.

But, in the ninth, the Yankees busted open a 3-2 game highlighted by Ricky Ledee hitting a towering shot to center- right at us.  We both jumped to our feet and got ready.  I could see the ball was coming right at us, maybe a little to my left, or right where my friend was standing.  He reached out with his left (glove) hand and the ball came down right into it.  But, he did not close his hand in time, and the precious ball, MY precious ball, rolled into the row in front of us where an elderly gentleman in a Red Sox jacket picked it up and threw it back onto the field.

The old guy was arrested, my friend swore he really tried to catch it and I was left in a sea of angry Boston fans.  I mention this because tomorrow I will have the pleasure of attending a Yankee home playoff game for the first time and I am wisely bringing another Yankee fan with me.  You just can't trust Red Sox fans to make the catch.