"The Drop"

What can you say? I was speechless. All I could do was scream and hug other Yankee fans, only mildly taking pleasure in the Mets fans' despair. It was one of the most improbable finishes one would EVER see, and I was lucky enough to be there.

Luis Castillo had just dropped what would have been a game ending pop-up, allowing Derek Jeter and a hustling Mark Teixeira (busting it around the bases) to score, and the Yankees to win. Unbelievable. If you told me about, it I might not have believed it. Thankfully. and luckily, I got to see it for my own two eyes.

This is an ending that you will probably never see again. Sure you will see guys drop simple pop-ups, make silly errors, and have metal blocks. But you will NEVER see that end a game, allowing multiple runs to score, LET ALONE in a Subway Series between New York's two hometown heroes.

The game was a back and forth affair, the Yanks going ahead 1-0 early on a Robinson Cano homer. The Mets came right back when Joba Chamberlain walked the bases loaded, then walked one run in and issued a HBP to force in another. The Yankees then took the lead 3-2 after Mark Teixeira's bomb. After Brett Tomko's implosion left the score 6-3 Mets, Derek Jeter notched one for the home team to make it 6-4. In the bottom of the 6th, Birthday Boy Hideki Matsui clobbered a long 3-run HR into the second deck in right field to make it 7-6 Yanks. The Mets then scratched out two more runs, setting the stage for the improbable bottom of the 9th.

Another story is Joba Chamberlain. He was not long for this game. He had thrown 100 pitches by the end of the 4th inning. That is not acceptable, Joba has much better control then he showed. His problem this year has been the walk. Putting runners on base only sets you up for larger and more damaging innings to occur, especially when a team only has one hit off of up until that point.

The thing is, I feel humble about this "Win". It was a wacky way to win on a walk-off "pop-up". The atmosphere in the stadium alone was in and of itself enough tho warrant the price of admission. The Yankee fans had fun and left with disbelief, the Met fans too had fun, until the end of the game, they too leaving in a more negative disbelief. I wonder if these two still love each other after this game...