Yankees 11, Royals 5

Was thinking tonight of "The Bronx is Burning," especially of one great performance:

Oliver Platt as the Boss: Platt's performance was one that improved as the series went along, culminating in the wild last few days of the 1977 World Series. These, remember, were the days in which 1) the Yankees took a 3-1 Series lead over the Dodgers; 2) Reggie hit a meaningless home run in Game 5, after Don Sutton essentially telegraphed a fastball with a 10-3 Doger lead; 3) various news reports indicated that Reggie would refuse to report in '78 if Billy were the manager; 4) Steinbrenner, in response to the media reports, giving Billy a two-year extension; 5) Reggie's performance in Game 6: three swings, three home runs, four runs scored; four homers in four consecutive swings of the bat, an event unprecedented in the history of the sport.

Whenever I watch a re-creation of something on film, I'm always left asking, But what about X? What about Y? "The Bronx is Burning" came as close as any historical movie I've known to deal with X and with Y; it seemed to anticipate my next piece of knowledge and seize upon it. What was dramatized better than anything was Billy Martin's managerial genius in the closing weeks of the season and into the playoffs and finally the series: his benching of Reggie in the final game of the playoffs (leading to Reggie's crucial pinch-hit against Doug Bird in the eighth inning, the move Billy waited 2 1/2 hours to make); then his handling a pitching staff that was reduced to three pitchers (not three starters, three pitchers), Guidry, Torrez, and Lyle--who from Game 2 of the ALCS onward together won the seven games necessary to win the trophy with the little flags, Guidry winning two, Torrez two, Lyle three.

Oliver Platt, if it's possible of an actor in an eight-episode series, grew into Steinbrenner as he went along, culminating in his re-creation of Steinbrenner's interview with Howard Cosell before Game 6, his minute-long list of platitudes for Cosell before saying, "Now, as to your question . . ." On point, manifestly.

Anyway.

A-Rod, two more homers. Will Boras ask for 35 million?