Game One

The World Series. The Fall Classic.

The first team to four wins is crowned champion.

I've seen them all in one form or another since 1975. 

I'd prefer to think of my happy World Series memories, some of which I've written about here on this World Championship Blog*.

*Of course it's not but I can dream (or just parody myself).

I think back on that first one I watched and Carlton Fisk's dramatic home run in Game 6. You know I didn't see that live since it was very late at night, but still. 

I think back on 1977 and Reggie (for which I was allowed to stay up late) and how I had to muzzle my excitement when it was all over so that I didn't wake my father up.

The next year produced Graig Nettles and Russell F. Dent. No, "F" isn't his real middle initial and nobody calls him "Russell." He's "Bucky."

It felt like it would be an annual event with the Yankees but, instead, the Orioles were the dominant team as the older Yankees stumbled before Thurman Munson died. Mad at Baltimore and, given I was a Steelers fan, I latched onto the Pirates and, to this day, the 1979 "We Are Family" team is still my favorite non-Yankees bunch, led by "Pops" Stargell (RIP).

The 80s were...tough. I loved seeing Tug and Schmidt and the Phils takedown the Royals in 1980. As for 1981? I don't hate the Dodgers as much as I used to. That's all I'll say.

Then came the wilderness. The Cardinals...Orioles...Tigers...and on and on into a wasteland.

Surely the Yankees could have grabbed a wild card along the way but it didn't exist. It was win the division or bust.

I watched the Twins beat the Braves in '91 (still the best World Series I've seen). I watched the Blue Jays win two straight.

I kept dreaming. It was waiting. It would happen in 1994.

The Yankees led the American League East in August. Jimmy Key was dominating. Paul O'Neill led the league in hitting. Don Mattingly was going to the playoffs! Yankees/Expos World Series! 

And then? Greed. The strike. No baseball. No World Series for the first time since 1904.

And when they came back in 1995, Mattingly got to the playoffs but no World Series. 

Then came the simply glorious ride of 1996. The clinching of the American League East against the Brewers in game one of a doubleheader that I raced across Croton Falls Road to get home to my apartment to see the end of (narrator: "He didn't make it.").

Then beating the Rangers. 

Then the Orioles.

Nobody will feel any pity on a Yankees fan but they were back in the Classic for the first time in 14 years. Now it was time to vanquish the 18 years between titles...against the Braves, who at that point was considered the Team of the 90s.

That would change. But not so fast.

Game 1. Oh I was so excited. So ready.

And it was 8-0 Braves after three. Final: 12-1.

But it's one game! Shake it off! Go get 'em in Game 2!

Atlanta 4, New York 0.

But things changed in Atlanta. The Yankees found some life and won Game 3 behind a gusty performance by David Cone. 

Then Game 4, which started with me (barely paying attention) in my college photography class. I absolutely did have an earbud in listening to the game and I'm not sure I remotely cared. But when the Yankees were down 6-0 it didn't feel worth it. They were going to go down three games to one.

Still...as I drove home, they chipped away. They got it to 6-3. I stood in amazement in my apartment as Jim Leyritz tied it in the 8th inning. It was heart-stopping but they won 8-6 and the series was tied.

Game five. Win this and they could wrap it up in New York. A nail-biting 1-0 win sealed it.

It leads us to 25 years ago tonight: Oct 26, 1996. Nervous. Anxious. I wound up spending the night at a friend's house in Yonkers as opposed to at home. I felt bad about that for some time.

Let's just say I don't anymore.

I needed to step away from my friends and others after the final out to let everything just flow. It meant that much.

Add in 1998 and 1999 and it's safe to say the Braves were not the Team of the 90s after all.

Then, on Oct 26, 2000, Luis Sojo hit a 400-hopper up the middle to drive in two runs in the ninth inning of Game 5. Not long after, Mike Piazza hit a ball that looked like would result in a tie game.

Not even close. The Yankees were champions again. I don't remember what team they played.

I can tell you why that 2000 World Series was the most miserable.

But that's for another time.

The Braves are currently winning.

The 117th World Series is underway.