September 19th, 1993 - "The game is NOT over"

September 19th, 1993 - Yankees Host Boston
"The game is NOT over."

A game not only saved for posterity in my scorebook journal, but hanging on my wall, over my couch, for years until a fall shattered the glass frame. But it will be back up! A wonderful panaromic Stadium shot that I picked up a few years later, and it wasnt until I did some Holmesian deduction did I realize it was indeed this game I had attended in the photographic vista. And a "historical one" to boot, as these things go.

The shot is taken from along the first base line, taking in the field, the outfield, our bleacher lair...I snagged this in the mid-90s when I worked for a poster and framing company. It was not dated, but due dilligance, checking my scorecard against the looming scoreboard in the background told me this was the game. I have since confirmed this information in an ad for the panorama.

Anyway, the card is a mess. Not only was it a rainy day, for some reason I kept score with a RED MARKER. There seem to be zero games before, and none since, where I did something so outlandish as keep score with a red marker or pen. Though, sadly, red has appeared on some archaic scorecards in the form of being blood. The rain made the red ink run all over, there are smudges everywhere - its a real mess. But it is striking, and easy to find when I want to leaf through and show it and point at my framed picture up there. I have considered framing this scorecard and hanging it next to the panaroma, but have not gone through with it yet. Too busy drinking.

Sox scored 2 in the first inning, pretty much bringing on the rain. These games started at 3 on these Saturdays - the good old game of the week - and I ermarked "rain delay" from 3:18 through 4:22. The picture above my couch has 4:30 on the clock, top of the second, with Boston's Bob Zupcic at the plate, Jimmy Key on the mound. Zupcic ended up tripling in the at-bat, bringing more rain in the form of boos.

Someone wrote the attendance at the top, 55,672 (about as big a crowd as you can get - sure the Yankees were thrilled at the extra concessions during the early rain delay), and that crowd was earmarked as "45,672 Yankee fans, 10,000 assholes." Red Sox fans were all over, including a "gang of morons" in the bleachers with us.

"Big Ass Umbrella Confusion" was written. These were the days when umbrellas were allowed in...or could this have been an umbrella day that actually saw rain? An annoyance was umbrella day on a 95 degree scorcher, when umbrellas would pop open to be used as parasols. Soon they were handed out after the game, as people were more likely to use them as weapons or projectiles as anything.

More jokes that make no sense, or are not funny, on here. "Its Godzilla!" is one. Must have been someone of Asian persuasion out there, cause I also see "Yokozuna sucks!" on here. Cheap humor yes, but we were young and unpolished. "Hey, didnt we blow you up 50 years ago?" was the obligatory offensive comment of the game.

A bleacher virgin asked "how come there are no fights in the bleachers" and we answered "we used them up during the Blue Jay series." But later on, with an arrow pointing to the 8th, there is record of "a scuffle out here."

In the very first inning, with Tim Naehring (who actually went on to run some teams farm system, I forgot which) on first, Mo Vaughn tried to walk with 3 balls on him. We hooted and laughed as he was called back, and called him names. He pretty much shut us up with a 2 run bomb right afterwords. "Tries to walk with 3 balls...would have been preferred" was hastily jotted down as the ball clanged around in the seats and Vaughn (now quite a NYC real estate magnate) lumbering around the bases.

"Where's Mel Hall when you need him" someone wrote during the game, while the Yankees trailed. If that was asked today, someone could rightfully answer "Jail." The card was passed around like a sorority sister, I wrote that everyone took a turn. I even marked down when I kept score....I kept the bottom 3rd, all of the 4th, top of the 8th, and the 9th. Someone named Chris kept the first 2 1/2 innings. Sadly, these were the days where not everyone had a colorful nickname.

"The dykes dont douche" someone scrawled. I remarked that someone "threw money" and even drew a $ with two squiggly lines off of it, like flying money. I later stole this trick, when I was mad or called cheap, I would throw money around in exasperation or rage.

"This pennant race interferes with the Gang Bang" someone groused, cause by then our silly ditties were rendered not as important. When it looked like the Yankees were going to lose, "lets go home and break some shit" was jotted. Meanwhile, with the Yankees chipping away original Cowbell clanker Ali sat there peacefully, not playing the bell, and someone bellowed in his direction, "um, Ali, this is what you call a rally."

When it did rain, it really rained. A heavy downpour. Gorilla Monsoonish conditions. I pull the card from the protective sleeve in my binder and feel a decades worth of murk in it.

The Sox had a 3-0 lead heading into the 7th inning, behind rook Nate Minchey, who had only 5 starts all year and 15 in quite the nondescript career. Minchey came out after giving up a leadoff poke to Paul O'Neill in the 7th and a Matt Nokes single, making way for one Ken Ryan.

Ryan and good old Tony Fossas cleaned up, then handed it over to Greg Harris for the 9th, the Yankees down 3-1. Four hits and 3 runs later, the Yankees win the game!

As described earlier, we all thought the last out was made, but a fan found it a good time to run onto the field. The umpire claimed time was called even though the ball was popped up for the proverbial home run in the silo, and caught for what we thought was the final out. While we threw our garbage around in resignation and snarled epitaphs, the Godlike voice of Bob Sheppard rang through the misty evening....."the game is NOT over...."

Here was Whalerfans description, from a Bleacher Creature message board a decade or so later....

"The Yankees could never get that fu-k Scott Fletcher out. And if I remember correctly, the Yanks won a game once vs. the Sox when a fan ran out on the field while Mike Stanley was making the final out. The ump called time, Stanley got a hit and Donnie Baseball got the GW single. It might've been 93 or 94. Not sure, though.

And we ended up winning. One of THE FIRST magic moments I was out there for. I remember on the subway ride out of there turning to whoever and saying "that is something I will never forget."

Thank you, Whalerfan. As for me, 17 years later here I am typing about it, soon to be on my couch underneath that picture, beer in hand, sardonic grin on my visage. Take that, Bosux! The game is not over, bitch!

Your arbiters for this wild affair were Drew Coble, the late and lamented Durwood Merrill, John Hirschbeck, and Tim Welke. The gametime was 3:29, and you can tack on that rain delay too while you're at it.

Thanks for reading!