For years, Hideki Matsui was one of the symbols of a New York Yankees team that never reached the promised land.

Not any more.

In playing what could be his last game in pinstripes, Matsui made the most of his final curtain call, driving in record-tying six runs to power the Bronx Bombers to their 27th World Series title.

Much like his Yankee Stadium debut seven seasons ago, a performance that saw the Japanese slugger called “Godzilla” drive in four runs with a grand slam in a 7-3 win over the Twins, Matsui was the leading man in Wednesday’s victory, by the identical score of 7-3.

Lending even more credence to the idea that the ghosts of championships past have moved across the street, Andy Pettitte was the winning pitcher that cold April day so many years ago.

”It’s mind-boggling the things that happen here at the Stadium,” said Pettitte that day. ”It’s obviously a great moment for him. That was special.”

On a night when the pre-game chatter in the press box was about how the Yankees had to find a way to stop Chase Utley from ruining their season, it was the Phillies who never found a way to keep Matsui from ending theirs.

While it’s certainly true that Matsui never truly delivered the kind of numbers that were expected of him when the Yankees signed him, his career in pinstripes has earned a great deal of respect
from anyone who has ever come in contact with him.

Perhaps it was his first impression, which could be his last. Either way, I leave it to Tyler Kepner, who wrote so eloquently about Matsui on Opening Day, 2003.

“… Matsui unleashed his compact swing and drove it more than 400 feet. When he returned to the dugout, the fans gave Matsui a 30-second standing ovation until he appeared and lifted his helmet to them in a curtain call. Matsui called it the ”greatest moment” of his life.”

That was then. This is now.

But, as the Yankees prepare for Game 6 of the 2009 World Series on Wednesday leading the Philadelphia Phillies three games to two, there exists a chance of gaining at least some satisfaction for what happened in 2004 if they can again beat longtime, hated former Red Sock Pedro Martinez.

Taking a step back, beating Martinez, now the Phillies’ starting pitcher for Wednesday’s Game 6, wouldn’t entirely wash away the 2004 memory of losing to a much less loathed, yet still disliked Curt Schilling — Martinez’s teammate that year — who pitched the Red Sox past the Yankees in Game 6 of the 2004 ALCS.

On a few different levels, another Phillies’ world championship on Thursday, should it happen, wouldn’t equate to when Boston accomplished the previously unthinkable five years ago.

For one, the Phillies aren’t really a Yankee rival, let alone the Yankees’ biggest rival for many decades in arguably the greatest rivalry in all of sports, as the Red Sox have been.

And, coming back from a 3-1 deficit, as the Phillies are trying to do, doesn’t compare to Boston’s feat. That’s not to take away from what a great accomplishment it would still be, but it’s been done before, even in the World Series.

Also, it’s not as if the Yankees haven’t beaten Martinez in a big spot in the playoffs at home before. The year prior to Boston’s 2004 comeback, the Yankees rallied from a 5-2 eighth-inning deficit against a tiring Martinez who was left in too long, to win Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS on Aaron Boone’s heroic 11th inning shot deep into the New York night.

Still, there are some similarities between that Schilling victory and what could take place on Wednesday night at the new Yankee Stadium.

When the Yankees won Game 3 of the 2004 ALCS by the football-like score of 19-8, how many really believed, even among Red Sox fans, that the Bronx Bombers weren’t headed to the 2004 World Series?

Likewise, after the Yankees won two games in Philadelphia last weekend to take a commanding three games to one lead, the overwhelming consensus was that it would only be a matter of time before the Yankees would capture their 27th world championship in their long and storied history.

And, it still may be.

But, the Phillies, as they showed in their Game 5 home victory to send this year’s World Series back to the Bronx, have proven to be among the scrappiest and grittiest teams in all of professional sports, let alone major league baseball.

So, even if you’re the mighty Yankees, with your huge payroll and a roster chock full of all-star caliber talent, you had better come to play, if you want to put these Phillies away for good.

And, that’s where the reminder of the 2004 ALCS comes into play now.

The Yankees face that same opportunity on Wednesday night.

They still control their own destiny, at home, with a Game 6 starting pitcher in Andy Pettitte, who’s

pitched the Yankees to success in big postseason spots before.

And, of course, if the Yankees win Game 6, or even a Game 7, they and their fans will simply celebrate with 2004 being a distant memory.

But, because the Yankees couldn’t close the deal back then, they saw the Red Sox go on to win their first championship in 86 years instead of winning what would have been their own fifth title in nine years.

Now, as in the 2004 ALCS, because New York didn’t close out the 2009 World Series on the road when they had the chance to, the Yankees on Wednesday night at home, have to once again avoid all of the pressure of letting a postseason series that was in their control turn on them.

So, here the Yankees are, five years later, in a familiar and somewhat suddenly uncomfortable situation.

Instead of the old Yankee Stadium, it’s the new park in the Bronx. And, in place of the disliked Red Sock Schilling, it’s the even more despised former Red Sock Martinez trying to get his new team to a Game 7, and put all of the pressure on the Yankees to win in an all-or-nothing game on Thursday night.

Just like that other former Red Sock did on October 19, 2004.

Should Martinez accomplish what Schilling did, recollections of that night and of the way that season ended for the Yankees will return to the forefront. Even Yankees’ projected Game 7 ace starter C.C. Sabathia, would feel the weight — not his of his own 6-foot-7, 290-pound frame, but of not letting 2004, to only a slightly lesser degree, happen all over again in the Bronx.

Adding to that responsibility is that Sabathia, like Pettitte in Game 6, would be throwing on short rest, which is something didn’t work out well for Yankees’ Game 5 starter A.J Burnett on Monday, after he earlier shut the Phillies down on his full compliment of rest in a Game 2 win that evened the Series at a game apiece.

Martinez meanwhile, will be going on regular rest on Wednesday. On Monday, on his way out of the Phillies’ clubhouse, the day before the Phillies’ Game 5 win, Martinez coolly smiled and said simply, “See you manana.”

Now, it’s up to the Yankees to make sure that Martinez won’t say the same after Game 6.

Doing so would not only finally capture that 27th title which has eluded the Yankees since 2000, but it would also, at least in some way, make up for 2004.

Utley is exactly the type of gritty, rise-to-the-occasion player which has filled the Phillies’ roster the past two years, and those traits might be what ultimately carry the Phillies to their second straight world championship over a team which is widely considered better than the team which owns 2008 World Series rings.

Yes, that’s right, it’s the Yankees who have to take that title from Philadelphia, not the other way around, as it might have often seemed leading up to this season’s World Series.

Behind Utley, the Phillies served early notice that they won’t be intimidated in the least by any sort of Yankee postseason mystique.

For all the talk of how dominant Sabathia had been this postseason (and, he was) and how powerful the Yankees’ lineup is (and, it is), it seems that a certain thing was forgotten by many fans and media members about the team in the opposing dugout –- that Philadelphia, not New York, is the defending world champion, and that the fightin’ Phils, with a payroll of nearly S100 million less than that of their 2009 World Series counterparts, possess both the ability and all of the intangibles needed to overcome the mighty, favored Yankees.

The other main story in Philadelphia’s 6-1 Game 1 victory besides Utley’s heroics was that of the Phillies’ own ace starter, Cliff Lee, who finished a complete game as the only pitcher in baseball history to strike out 10 batters while allowing no walks and no earned runs in a World Series game.

Pitching on the grand stage as a Game 1 World Series starter in Yankee Stadium, it was Lee who showed up the Yankees and shut them down the way many thought Sabathia would stop the Phillies’ powerful lineup.

Lee certainly didn’t shy away from such an opportunity. “I’ve never been nervous in the big leagues,” he said, a few moments after winning the first ever World Series game played at the new Yankee Stadium, a victory which comes six months and twelve days after Lee won the first regular season game ever played in the same building, on April 16th, as a member of the Cleveland Indians.

After very nonchalantly sticking out his glove to catch a pop-up on the mound by Johhny Damon in the 6th inning as if he was shagging a fly ball during batting practice, and later in the 8th inning, fielding a bouncing ball behind his back, to retire Robinson Cano, Fox television announcer Joe Buck remarked, “His body language is like he’s pitching in spring training… Cliff Lee has made it look easy.” Tim McCarver jokingly added, “Yeah, he’s just getting his work in.”

That attitude typifies the Phillies and why they lead the World Series 1-0 as last year’s champions even though the Yankees are favored and thought of by most as being a stronger team from top to bottom.

As Utley said, it doesn’t matter in the Phillies’ clubhouse what others think of them or what they think of a team like the Yankees in comparison. “We have confidence, we know we have a good team,” Utley said.

Without Utley, who set a major league baseball record in Game 1 by reaching base in his 26th postseason game (matching his uniform number), the game’s final two innings (during which the Phillies tacked on four runs after Sabathia left the game), might have played out much differently, and Lee’s spectacular efforts might have gone to waste.

However, it didn’t matter to the clutch left-hand-hitting Utley that Sabathia hadn’t allowed a home run to a left-handed batter all season. Utley hit the ninth pitch of his third inning at-bat, sending a two-strike, 95 mph fastball into the right field seats for a 1-0 Phillies’ lead. Sabathia then retired the next eight hitters until Utley’s next at-bat. So, what did the ultimate gamer Utley, do then? He smacked another 95 mph fastball, this time, on an 0-2 pitch, even further than his earlier home run, into the right-center field stands, to put the Phillies up 2-0, in the sixth inning.

Before Utley, the only other left-handed hitter to homer twice off a lefty pitcher in a World Series game was legendary Yankee Babe Ruth, in 1928, off of the Cardinals’ Bill Sherdel.

It’s only one game, and this World Series is far from over. But, Utley’s play on Wednesday night exemplified the scrappy, determined nature of the Phillies, and why the Yankees may be on the verge of yet again, vastly outspending the rest of major-league baseball with free agent mercenaries like Sabathia, only to possibly fall short of a world championship yet again.

Recent history doesn’t bode well for New York in that regard. The last six World Series winners have all won Game 1, as Philadelphia did on Wednesday night. The team that started that trend? The underdog Florida Marlins, who sharing many of the same characteristics of Utley and his current Phillie teammates, fought their way to a 4-2 victory over the heavily favored Yankees, in 2003.

On Sunday night, the left-hander from Baton Rouge did the next best thing, and did his part to propel the 2009 New York Yankees into the World Series.

The Yankees haven’t been to the Fall Classic since 2003. That year marked Pettitte’s last season with the team that signed him as an amateur free agent in 1991. After being allowed to leave (or was pushed out, depending on who you talk to), to Houston for three seasons, he came back to the club in 2007. After going 14-14 a year ago, including a poor second half to the 2008 season, his returning this year was up in the air as well.

It was only after the Yankees had made their high-profile signings that they addressed bringing Pettitte back, which they eventually did. The team is fortunate they did so, because they are going back to the Fall Classic because Pettitte limited the Angels to just one run over 6 1-3 innings, striking out six and walking just one to earn his 16th postseason win, the most in baseball history.

There were 50,173 fans vociferously booing Joe Girardi when the skipper jogged to remove Pettitte in the top of the seventh, but it was quickly turned to a thundering standing ovation, as the tall southpaw tipped his cap to the largest crowd to see a Yankee game this season.

Mariano Rivera made things interesting in the eighth, when he allowed a two-out RBI single to Vlad Guerrero. It was the first earned run he had allowed at home in the postseason since Game 2 of the 2000 World Series.

But in the ninth, Rivera’s margin for error was expanded, as the Yankees scored two more runs in the bottom of the eighth, thanks to some sloppy defense by Los Angeles. He made short work of the Angels in the ninth, retiring the side in order to earn his 37th postseason save, also the best in MLB history.

The Yankee offense took advantage of the Angels in the fourth. After Derek Jeter worked out a walk to load the bases, left fielder Johnny Damon stepped up to the plate. It was Damon, as a member of the Red Sox and in all of his grizzled glory that quieted old Yankee Stadium in the second inning with a grand slam on Javier Vazquez’s first pitch in Game 7, 2004. He had failed in his first attempt with the bases loaded earlier in the night, but delivered in this at-bat, driving in two runs with a base hit up the middle.

Mark Teixeira hit a ball far enough in the hole that shortstop made Erick Aybar’s throw to second base a shade late to force Damon at second base. Then, Alex Rodriguez, whose first year in the Bronx was that miserable 2004 season, and who has been trying to make up for that and several other postseason failures since, drew a bases-loaded walk to make the score 3-1.

It was all the offense they needed.

***

There were three “Yankee Stadium” signature moments before the game, the first being a loud roar from the crowd when Tino Martinez was spotted in a luxury suite and shown on the immense HD screen in center field.

The second eruption came when Bernie Williams was announced as the thrower of the ceremonial first pitch.

The third was the thundering sound of “Welcome to The Jungle” played through the Stadium’s sound system, sending the Bronx into a frenzy.

Then Pettitte took over.

***

CC Sabathia was named the ALCS MVP, and will face Phillies’ left-hander Cliff Lee in Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday. The two pitchers were teammates on the 2007 Cleveland Indians, a club that blew a 3-1 ALCS lead over the Red Sox.

More at BaseballDigest.com.

His current team, the Houston Astros are in New York playing the Mets in their final three games of what has been a long and disappointing season for the Astros. They were expected to contend for a championship this year but like so many other dreams, it doesn’t always come true. Except, in Boone’s case, this year will forever be unforgettable. More on that, later.

No one who was alive and living in New York will ever forget that night in October, 2003, when, in the 11th inning of Game 7 of the American League Championship Series between the Yankees and their biggest rivals, the Boston Red Sox. Boone, the Yankees third baseman hit one of the more historic home runs in franchise and baseball history to send the Yanks to the World Series while continuing, for one more year, the Red Sox’ dreaded “Curse of the Bambino,” which would see the Boston unable to win a baseball World Series championship since the season they traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees, in 1920.

But, soon after his heroic moment, Boone was playing basketball in the off-season when he tore a ligament in his right knee, putting him out for the coming 2004 season and being dropped from the Yankee roster (while paving the way for the Yankees to trade for Alex Rodriguez as the new third baseman).

Boone’s hard luck with health was hardly over, however. The Astros had given Boone a one-year deal in December 2008 to be a backup infielder and pinch hitter for a team viewed as on the upswing in the National League but none of that mattered as Boone discovered during spring training this year that he had to undergo open-heart surgery to replace a bicuspid aortic valve. Now, we are talking very serious business. Boone had said at the time he had known about the condition since he was in college but it wasn’t viewed as an emergency situation by his doctors over the course of his 12-year career.

“Initially, my doctors thought I could delay corrective surgery for some time but because of some variations in my condition, they advised me to deal with the problem sooner rather than wait on it,” Boone said last night before the game. “I knew I would recover well enough to play baseball again. I didn’t know if teams would feel comfortable in giving me a job to play baseball again. I’m very thankful the Astros gave me this chance to come back this season.”

Boone had his surgery on March 26^th and returned to baseball on August 10, 2009, when he began his rehabilitation with the Corpus Christi Hooks, the Astros’ Double-A minor league affiliate. Boone’s goal at the time was to be back on the Major League roster by September 1, the date that major league rosters expand. Like any good storybook ending, Boone was indeed, activated on September 1, 2009 and added to the Astros’ roster. At the time, the then-manager of the Astros, Cecil Cooper had said, “He can pinch-hit, play tomorrow, there are a lot of options. I want to do it as soon as I can. I don’t want to wait too long, cut the suspense. I know he’s pretty anxious and everyone wants to see him out there.” Boone started a game at first base on September 2^nd, went 0-3, but it hardly mattered. The baseball lifer was back in uniform and playing after open heart surgery, just five scant months earlier.

As Boone looks back at his season and his career, he has no regrets.

“It’s good to be back and be in uniform and joining the team the last month has been rewarding,” he said. “I’m just so thankful that everything went well and here I am. I’ve definitely had my share of injuries throughout my career. It’s part of the game and they’re things that sometimes you have to go through.  All of your experiences combine to make you who you are. I wouldn’t trade anything and I’m just thankful I get to be back out here.”

Boone is a career .264 hitter with 126 home runs and 555 RBI over 12 seasons with five clubs. He is the fourth generation of Boones to play in the big leagues, beginning with his grandfather, Ray (1948-1960), father Bob, a major league catcher for 18 years, and brother Bret, a 12-year major leaguer.

He’s only gotten into nine games with the Astros with just 10 at bats, going hitless, but his view of this season isn’t based on typical baseball self-evaluation.

“I’m just trying to enjoy it,” he told me. “I really haven’t played much but for me, I think this year just being able to get to the point where I was able to come back is reward in itself. I’ve gotten my work in and I feel like I’ve gotten my body back to where I need to be. I’ll just try to enjoy these last three days of this season and see where we are as far as next year is concerned.”

Looking back on his career highlights, which include playoff and World Series games, All-Star teams, carrying on the Boone family legacy of major leaguers, and of course, the big home run, Boone surprises with his own description of his time on big league fields.

“There are so many little memories that I have,” he said. “Probably, on the surface to other people looking at me, these wouldn’t be a big deal but on a personal level, they’ve meant a lot to me. Just the opportunity to play this game for so long with so many great players and teammates and friends. I wouldn’t trade places with anyone.”

The home run?

“As a baseball player, being around fans every day, I’m reminded of it all the time and almost a day doesn’t go by during the season that somebody doesn’t mention it or notice me for it,” Boone said. “To have a small place in the history of that rivalry between the Yankees and Red Sox is, at the end of the day, pretty cool. I’ve learned to really appreciate it and it’s cool to be a part of it.”

Read more of Scott Mandel at www.sportsreporters.com

To set this up you have to go back to the bottom of the 8^th inning when RHRP Brian Bruney took the ball from Phil Hughes.  Hughes came into the game in the 6^th and threw a scoreless and hitless 1-1/3 innings.  Bruney was a mixed bag of tricks as he walked Mets third baseman David Wright to open the frame, and then induced OF Gary Sheffield to pop out to Derek Jeter.  Bruney subsequently walked Fernando Tatis, moving Wright into scoring position before striking out Fernando Martinez.

Seeing a chance to sweep their cross town rivals Girardi pulled out Bruney and handed the ball to his closer Mariano Rivera.

Rivera, who has been the Yankees stopper since taking the reins from John Wetteland after the 1996 season, was on the verge of making history.  Rivera was sitting on 499 saves with a chance to become only the second man in baseball history to record 500 saves.  The leader in the saves category is Trevor Hoffman who currently owns 571 of them.

After Wright stole third Rivera buckled down and struck out Omir Santos to end the inning.

The weirdness began as the Yankees came to bat.  Manuel realizing how bad his team needed this game against their home town foes brought in his closer, Francisco Rodriguez, to hopefully hold down the Bombers and keep the Mets within a run.  Unfortunately, Rodriguez ran into bad luck…..again.

On June 12, Rodriguez entered a game against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.  Rodriguez and the Mets were nursing an 8-7 lead.  Rodriguez retired Brett Gardner before giving up a single to Jeter.  He was able to strike out Johnny Damon with Jeter stealing second, and then intentionally walked first baseman Mark Teixeira in order to face Alex Rodriguez.

Things went according to script for the Mets as A-Rod popped the ball up into short right field.  He slammed his bat down in disgust and ran towards first base as second baseman Luis Castillo drifted under the ball.  He put his glove up, in went the ball, and then it came back out and landed on the grass at Castillo’s feet.  Both Jeter and Teixeira raced around the bases and scored the tying and winning runs on Castillo’s muff.  It was Francisco Rodriguez’s first blown save in 17 attempts.

The first batter Rodriguez faced in Sunday’s contest was Jorge Posada.  Posada blooped a pop up into short center field as shortstop Alex Cora and Castillo went back on the ball.  Cora looked at Castillo thinking he was going to get the ball and slowed down.  When he realized Castillo wasn’t going for the ball Cora attempted to get to it, but ball made its way to the grass giving Posada a gift single.

Rodriguez had to be cursing Yogi Berra, because it was déjà vu all over again.  He got Melky Cabrera to ground into a force play, eliminating Posada at second, but then allowed Cabrera to steal the bag on him.  Rodriguez then walked Brett Gardner, putting the Yankees into somewhat of a quandary.

The next hitter was Jeter, but behind him Rivera was scheduled to bat.  Attempting his best Houdini slight-of-hand Girardi tried to fool Manuel into believing the Yankees were going to have reserve catcher Francisco Cervelli bat for Rivera.  While Cervelli stood in the on deck circle stretching, and going through the motions of acting like he was going to hit Rivera sat in the dugout with a batting helmet and gloves on.  Somebody must have said something to him, because Rivera took off the helmet, but left the gloves on.  He was having a hard time keeping a straight face.

It was difficult to tell if Manuel was taking Girardi seriously or whether Rodriguez and Santos (catching) misread a sign, but as Jeter settled in to face him Rodriguez threw the ball over the outside corner of the plate for a strike.  Jeter backed out of the batter’s box and smiled, glancing toward the Mets dugout with a look of “are you kidding me?  You’re going to pitch to me?”

Apparently, sanity returned to the situation and Jeter was intentionally walked to load the bases.

Up walked Rivera who was making only the third at bat in his decorated career, and the second of this season.  It was a rare instant where the closer of one team was batting against the closer of the other team.  It was just another bizarre moment in an odd inning.

Rodriguez worked the count against Rivera to 2-2.  Rodriguez poured in a fastball, which Rivera fouled straight back.  Appearing more dangerous now, Rivera evidently rattled Rodriguez who then threw balls three and four, walking his opposite number and forcing in an insurance run.  It was Rivera’s first recorded RBI.

As Rivera trotted toward first and Cabrera crossed the plate to make it a 4-2 Yankees lead the Bombers dugout erupted into whoops and hollers.  It was though Rivera’s teammates had seen Santa Claus for the first time.  They were genuinely acting like a bunch of little kids reacting to what had just transpired.

The fact that Teixeira struck out to end the inning didn’t matter to him or the rest of the squad.  They put a fork into their longtime adversary and now it was Rivera’s turn to show why he is the greatest closer the game has ever seen.

Rivera induced Castillo to ground to second; he struck out Jeremy Reed looking and ended the game by also getting Cora to ground out to second.  As the ball nestled into Teixeira’s glove at first to record the final out Rivera sealed his name once again into the record books.

Teixeira was one of the first to reach him and handed Rivera the ball.

Posada, Rivera’s battery mate had a message for him.  “I told him he’s the best ever,” Posada told reporters later.  “The best I’ve seen. Nobody can even compare,”

Every member of the Yankees came out onto the field and gave Rivera a big hug and words of encouragement.  Some of them commented on Rivera’s historic at bat against Rodriguez.

“He looks good up there,” longtime teammate Andy Pettitte said to reporters after the game. “I think in Atlanta they gave him a take sign and he swung anyway.”

Even Rivera remarked on the at bat.

“I had one thing in mind—just try to do something,” Rivera said, before talking about his save. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely special.”

Manuel, whose team has been ravaged by injuries, had to say this about Rivera’s night.

“He’s one of the premier closers in my time,” Manuel told reporters. “I wasn’t applauding him tonight, but you do have to applaud that.”

Another first happened in this game as well.  Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang recorded his first victory of the season after staggering to a 0-6 start.  Wang allowed two earned runs on four hits in 5.1 innings of work.  He struck out three and walked three batters.  The loser, Livan Hernandez (5-3), actually pitched better than Wang.  He went seven innings and allowed three earned runs on three hits.  He walked five and struck out one.

The nightmare for the Mets didn’t end with this game.  After getting swept at home by the Yankees and losing five of six overall in interleague play the Mets had to catch a flight for Milwaukee to play the Brewers tonight at 7:08 pm EDT as part of ESPN’s Monday Night Baseball.  The Yankees fared much better, catching a bus for the Bronx where they will open a home stand on Tuesday night against the visiting Seattle Mariners.

Getting back to Rivera, anyone who has the chance to watch this remarkable talent play should take every opportunity to do so, because as much as Yankee fans will hate to admit it, Rivera’s career is winding down.  No matter how much he’d like to Mariano Rivera can’t pitch forever.  He has been at the top of his class for much longer than most closers are expected to last.  To be in the upper echelon for nearly 13 years is mind blowing.

How much more gas is in the tank?  Only God and Mo know the answer to that one.

Sabathia, who signed with the Yankees in the off-season for the richest contract by a pitcher in baseball history, didn’t make it out of the 5^th inning; a familiar sight to Yankees fans during the 2008 season.  The Yankees are counting on Sabathia to eat up major innings during the year.  However, Sabathia struggled with his command from the get-go and left the game after surrendering 6 earned runs on 8 hits.  The six were the most runs he had given up in a game going back to July 25, 2008 against the Cleveland Indians (32 starts).

Opening Day saw Vice-President Joe Biden throw out the first pitch to kick of the Orioles and Yankees 2009 campaigns; a high fastball catcher Chad Moeller had to climb the ladder to get.  He is the first sitting vice-president in history to do so at Camden Yard.  Afterward, the O’s took the field and Derek Jeter strode to the plate to face Baltimore starter Jeremy Guthrie.  Jeter got the Yankees first hit, singling up the middle, but was left stranded to end the inning.

Sabathia took the mound and immediately had trouble locating his pitches, especially his fastball.  He gave up a leadoff single to Brian Roberts and later uncorked two wild pitches, although the second one should have been handled by catcher Jorge Posada.  The two wild pitches equaled the amount he threw in 253 innings last year.  However, Sabathia was able to keep Baltimore off the boards for the first two frames.

In the third the Yankees took a 1-0 lead on a manufactured run, when Brett Gardner singled to left, and later scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Johnny Damon.

That’s when the Orioles went to work on Sabathia.

Baltimore scored three runs in the bottom of the inning when César Izturis singled, Roberts walked, Adam Jones tripled and Nick Markakis hit a sacrifice fly to score Jones.

The Orioles scored 3 more runs off Sabathia in the 5^th when Roberts doubled, and scored after Jones and Markakis hit infield singles. Third baseman Melvin Mora hit another infield single getting Jones to third and moving Markakis up 90 feet.  Sabathia intentionally walked Ty Wigginton to load the bases.   Jones scored on a groundout by Aubrey Huff with Markakis advancing to third.  Sabathia’s afternoon ended after he walked Luke Scott force in a run and reload the bases.

The Yankees bullpen took a beating as well.  After Jonathan Albaladejo threw a scoreless 1-1/3 innings in relief of Sabathia the Orioles tagged relievers Phil Coke and Brian Bruney for two runs each, capped by Izturis’ home run off Coke in the 8^th.

The Yankees other big time signee Mark Teixeira had a rough afternoon also.  Teixeira, who went 0-for-4 with walk, stranded four, including two runners on in the 8^th after the Yankees had cut the Orioles lead to 6-5 in the seventh.

After the game, Teixeira remarked to reporters about his poor showing.

“I didn’t get it done there,” he said, referring to his groundout with runners at the corners and two outs.

Teixeira, who was born and raised in Maryland approximately 30 minutes south of Baltimore, was lustily booed by the hometown crowd every time his name was announced at the plate or when he made a play on the field.

After the game, Sabathia summed up his afternoon this way.

“I was terrible. I battled from the first inning on,” he told reporters.  “At some point I’m usually able to find it. Today was just one of those days where I didn’t. When I have one of those days, this is the result you get.”

Yankee manager Joe Girardi took the game in stride.

“I guess we can’t go undefeated,” Girardi said. “Yeah, it’s one game. We didn’t execute today.”

Even with the loss the Yankees can point to some positives.  Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui homered and Jeter and Damon went 3-for-5 and 2-for-3 respectively at the top of the order.  So far Girardi’s flip-flopping of the Yankees shortstop and left fielder in the leadoff and No. 2 spot in the order is paying off.

The Yankees and Orioles have Tuesday off before battling again on Wednesday and Thursday to complete their 3-game series.

Notes: Sabathia didn’t record a strikeout for only the 5^th time in 253 career starts and Nick Swisher recorded his first official hit a Yankee by getting a pinch-hit double in the 8^th inning.

This admission directly contradicted what he said in an interview that aired on 60 minutes in 2007 where he told news anchor Katie Couric he never used any illegal substances to try and better his performance:

Couric: “For the record, have you ever used steroids, human growth hormone or any other performance-enhancing substance?”

Rodriguez: “No.”

Couric: “You never felt like, ‘This guy’s doing it, maybe I should look into this, too?  He’s getting better numbers, playing better ball.”

Rodriguez: “I’ve never felt overmatched on the baseball field. I’ve always been a very strong, dominant position. And I felt that if I did my work as I’ve done since I was, you know, a rookie back in Seattle, I didn’t have a problem competing at any level. So, no.”

OK, so we know now A-Rod wasn’t being truthful a year or so ago.

Now, put yourself in this guy’s shoes.  You are the poster boy for Major League Baseball.  In 2001 you signed the richest contract in baseball history to the delight of the player’s association who would now use that contract as a measuring stick.  And, even though you’re playing in Texas there is going to be the never ending comparison of your performance with your paycheck.

On top of all that, look who’s on the team with you; Ivan Rodriguez, Rafael Palmeiro, Randy Velarde, and Gabe Kapler.  Keep in mind that using steroids wasn’t illegal in 2001, 2002 or 2003.  So A-Rod does something stupid and gets caught up in the “everybody is doing it” syndrome.  Was it right? No. Was it stupid? Yes.

Can anyone actually look in the mirror and say they haven’t done anything in their life that secretly they’re ashamed of, but never got caught at?  So why should we be sanctimonious and condemn A-Rod for doing something that although wasn’t morally right, but wasn’t deemed cheating by the MLB until 2004?

At present, A-Rod says he is drug free and he hasn’t injected, ingested, rubbed on or supositoried any illegal substances into his body since the spring of 2003.  Other than the 2003 test, as far as we know, Rodriguez has never failed a test when given one.   We can speculate all we want about that, but until somebody can refute that statement we shouldn’t be inferring anything other than one failed test.

Let’s get back to that test.

The test was supposed to assure anonymity of those players taking the test, especially any of those who failed it.  Allegedly there were 104 names on the list of players who failed the drug screen, with Rodriguez being one of them.  He apparently had the banned substance Primobolan and testosterone in his system.  He told Gammons he didn’t even know what drug he got busted for.

“To be quite honest, I don’t know exactly what substance I was guilty of using.”

Also, there was no punishment for testing positive.  The test was given only to see if steroid usage in baseball was a serious problem, and if a certain percentage tested positive, then mandatory drug testing would be implemented.  The test revealed there was a problem, and mandatory testing was initiated, along with punishments for those who got caught.

The player’s association, according to the agreement, could’ve had had the results of the 2003 test destroyed per the association’s agreement with the MLB, but didn’t do so.  According to union president Donald Fehr federal investigators seized the results in 2004, which according to he and Commissioner Bud Selig seriously threatened the drug testing program, because the anonymity of the players couldn’t be guaranteed.

Well, since Saturday, I guess we can all figure out the end result of that concern.

In jumping around the news websites today I saw all the comments by readers calling for A-Rod’s head, polls asking if fans still want A-Rod on the team, or should he be in the Hall of Fame, and some self-righteous sportswriters calling A-Rod a bad citizen.  Before making a comment or voting one should ask themselves have I ever lied, cheated at something or hidden something in my past I knew was wrong.

I know I have, and I appreciate the fact that Alex Rodriguez came forward and took the blame on himself.  He only got caught in 2003, but he went so far as to say he used in 2001 and 2002 as well.  Nobody, but A-Rod brought that information up.  He didn’t blame baseball and he didn’t blame the player’s association.  He didn’t feel betrayed.  He looked into the camera and said he did it to himself.  He put his predicament squarely on his shoulders.  That took guts, more guts than some other big named athletes have done.

Ask yourself another question, who do you have more respect for, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro or Alex Rodriguez?

Should A-Rod go into the Hall of Fame when his playing days are done?  If I had a vote I would mark his name down on the first ballot.

He deserves to be there.