The Yankees Entertainment & Sports (YES) Network premiered Yankeeography (2009: Season of Pride, Tradition and Glory) yesterday. It was a great summary of the year that was in Yankee land.
It got me thinking about the highlights and lowlights from the 2009 regular season (and one from spring training). Here's my list:
Best game: August 7. The thrilling 15 inning, 2-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox was the game of the year for me. These two teams are usually slugging it out so the fact that the game went 14 full innings without scoring is just amazing. And after all of the pre-season struggles of Alex Rodriguez, it was an uplifting victory for him and the team, one that will become known as one of the great Yankee regular season games of all time.
Worst game: April 18. There were a number of clunkers, but the Cleveland Indians 22-4 drubbing of the Yanks in only the third game at the new Yankee Stadium was humiliating, particularly because it happened on national television.
Best series: May 15-18. The four-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins featured not one, not two, but three exhilarating come-from-behind victories.
Worst series: June 9-11. The three-game sweep at the hands of the Red Sox led to an 0-8 start against their bitter rivals and embarrassing questions about whether the Yanks would beat them at all in 2009, a question answered positively as the Bronx Bombers won the last eight out of nine games.
Best in-game moment: September 11. Derek Jeter passing the Iron Horse Lou Gehrig for the all-time hits record for the New York Yankees and receiving on-field hugs from his teammates, with more than 45,000 fans sticking out a long rain delay to cheer the Yankee Captain. Mariano Rivera reaching the 500-save mark was worthy of this spot too, but it took place at Citi Field.
Worst in-game moment: April 18. Hate to go back to that game again, but watching Chien-Ming Wang and the bullpen give up 14 runs in the second inning led me to turn off the TV in disgust, something I hardly ever do during Yankee games.
Best non-game moment: September 29. The moving ceremony before the game honoring Jeter and Mo for their outstanding accomplishments, featuring Mo's three sons coming out to celebrate their amazing dad's career and Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte showing nothing but love for their pals.
Worst non-game moment: February 17. The ARod press conference was painful to watch, not just because of the steroids topic, but because of his squirming and inability to answer basic questions about his steroid use directly. I don't know what was worse: his young and stupid excuse or trying to conjure up tears during an uncomfortable 38-second pause.
Funniest moment: April 13. Nick Swisher hurling a scoreless frame in a 15-5 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. As Joe Girardi said in the Yankeeography, he should have called Swisher in to pitch more games since he was the only pitcher with a 0.00 ERA.
Best new tradition: The pies in the face by AJ Burnett was something every Yankee fan looked forward to after a come-from-behind win. I also enjoyed seeing the players toss their batting helmets in the air like a bride tossing the bouquet.
Thanks to Googie man via en. Wikipedia for the photo.
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