The Yankees are winning. The fans are standing and cheering. Phones and cameras out, trying to capture images of the closer as he jogs in from the pen. Heavy metal music echoing around the Stadium. Sound familiar?
The ninth inning at Yankee Stadium is an event again.
Not since Mariano Rivera has there been this much excitement and buzz in the final frame at the big ballpark in the Bronx. (And no, I’m not comparing the two as human beings. This is about what happens on the playing field between the white lines).
While nothing will ever truly compare to seeing Rivera slowly jog to the mound as “Enter Sandman” blares throughout the stadium, Aroldis Chapman‘s entrance is exciting in it’s own right. Add that to the fact that he constantly throws 100 mph, and the ninth inning feels electric.
I was sitting in section 119 last night, when all of a sudden, a siren began to ring out over the PA system. The bullpen door swung open, and out came Chapman. “Wake Up” by Rage Against The Machine began to play. I looked around, and immediately noticed almost everyone springing to their feet, phones in hand, focussed on the bullpen.
Chapman jogged in to the infield and walked the last couple of feet to pick the ball up. After a few warmups, everyone was eager to see the numbers from the radar gun. It was as if we were all instructed to look at the jumbotron after his first pitch, which came in at 100 mph.
“Oooh-ahhhh!”
Second pitch. 100 mph.
“Oooh-ahhhh!”
Third pitch. 101 mph.
“OOOOH-AHHHH!”
You get the point. With each pitch, I wanted to see if he could outdo the previous one. After two strikeouts, a double and an RBI single, Chapman fittingly made the final out – a comebacker to the mound which he tossed to Teixeira at first.
Andrew Miller also has a great entrance, with Johnny Cash’s “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” as his music, but this felt different. Maybe it was because it was Chapman’s first game as a Yankee, and his first game back from a 30-game suspension, but there was true electricity in the ballpark.
Chapman is one of the most unique talents in baseball history. Hopefully fans in the Bronx are treated to a lot more appearances and saves this summer.
