There’s a flyball deep to left! IT’S ON ITS WAY, THERE IT GOES! AND THE YANKEES ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES. AARON BOONE HAS HIT A HOME RUN!
The curse was alive and well. Old Yankee Stadium was rocking. Aaron Boone circled the bases and jumped onto home plate. The Boston Red Sox and their fans had experienced more heartache. Ah – the good old days.
11 years ago today, Boone sent a fluttering Tim Wakefield knuckleball high and deep into the New York night in the eleventh inning, sending the Yankees to the World Series for the 39th time in their history. The home run was the culmination of a classic series – and a classic game 7 – which saw two former Cy Young Award winners square off against each other: Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens.
Clemens lasted only two plus innings, giving up four runs (three earned) along the way. Mike Mussina relieved him after a walk to Trot Nixon and a single to Bill Mueller. This is where the game might have turned around.
Jason Varitek would strikeout, and then Moose was able to get Johnny Damon to hit into an inning-ending double play. The Yankees began to chip away at Pedro.
Unsung hero of game 7 – Jason Giambi – ended up hitting two solo home runs, with the second one cutting the deficit to 4-2. After a David Ortiz solo homer off David Wells which made it 5-2, the Yankees were running out of outs. Derek Jeter started the rally with a one out double in the bottom of the eighth. Bernie Williams then laced a single to center, scoring Jeter. It was now 5-3, and Grady Little made his way out of the dugout.
With a rested bullpen, and lefty in Hideki Matsui coming up, the expected move was to bring in lefty Alan Embree. Instead, Little patted Pedro on the arm and left him in. The decision ultimately cost him his job.
Matsui hit a grounds-rule double down the right field line, which put runners on second and third for Jorge Posada. Posada found the outfield grass with a bloop hit, and just like that, the game was tied.
The Yankees would load the bases that inning, but couldn’t push across the go-ahead run. Game 7 moved into the top of the ninth as Mariano Rivera took the mound.
In one of the most memorable moments of his career, Rivera pitched three scoreless innings, giving up two hits and striking out three. He threw 48 pitches – an absurd amount for a closer. He was named the ALCS MVP, and deservedly so.
The game moved into the eleventh. Aaron Boone, who was acquired by the Yankees at the deadline that year, entered game 7 as a pinch runner in the eighth inning and was now about to have his first at-bat of the night.
Before anyone could even blink, Boone jumped on the first pitch he saw and sent it high and deep to left. Before it even landed, the Yankees were already pouring out of their dugout. Rivera ran out to the mound and collapsed, laughing and crying at the same time.
Boone became just the fifth player ever at the time to end a playoff series on a home run. Joe Torre, who would end up managing the Yankees for 12 years, said that this game was his all-time favorite.
Ask any Yankee fan who remembers watching it, and they’ll tell you it was their favorite as well.
Boone’s home run is below. The entire broadcast of game 7 can be found here.
