Been gone!

I've been gone for two days. Not that anyone cares, but you wouldn't believe the trouble I've seen.

That aside. Two outs, bottom of the ninth. Posada. Two-run ding-dong.

AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!

There are teams I've admired, teams I've rooted for. Four teams I've loved: Larry Bird's Celtics, Jake Plummer's Sun Devils, Pete Carroll's Trojans, and--head and shoulders above them all--the Yankees of Torre, Jeter, Rivera, and Bernie. What a ride.

Funny thing is, eight years ago this month, in a similar game, I sat in Arlington and saw the Yanks choke away a 9-2 lead to scratch out a 16-14 victory against the same Rangers. David Wells started, and he bitched about Yankee fielding so much that Torre and Jeter (who actually liked Wells, which wasn't easy) called him out to the extent that, two starts later, he pitched a perfect game.

These were the 1998 Yankees, maybe the greatest team ever, a team that could win a game 16-14, and come out the next day and win 2-1. With Yankee teams, post-2000, the Achilles heel has always been the seventh and eighth inning, the everlasting pursuit for Stanton, Nelson, Mendoza. Will Proctor, Farnsworth, Dotel fill the bill, set the stage for Rivera? Time will tell.

For now: Posada. To quote Vin Scully: Long fly ball, deep right field, SHE IS GONE!