Yankees 5, Oakland 3

Tonight, for the first time in over a month, for three hours and twenty three minutes, all was right in the world--or at least in New York. 55,642 fans stood and screamed and sang and cheered their Yankees to victory in the American League Championship Series. Unlike last Thursday, when the crowd and the Yankee bats were subdued by a Presidential address and more heartbreaking patriotic ceremonies, tonight, all the stops were pulled out.

No marching band played, and the first pitch was thrown by two old Yankee reliables, Phil Rizzuto and Yogi Berra. The audience that sang along to the Star Spangled Banner sounded less solemn and church-like and more... well...more like they were at Yankee Stadium. It was the same in the seventh inning for God Bless America -- people sang like they were celebrating, not mourning, as the crowd and the Yankees proved that New York and America's spirit can be knocked down, but will always rise again.

The night began ominously, as Roger Clemens and his questionable hamstring took the mound and gave up two runs in the first two innings on hard hit balls, while Bernie Williams left two runners stranded in the first when he grounded into a double play. In that way, the game's beginning was frighteningly similar to Game One, which the Yankees had dropped to Oakland 5-3, also with Clemens on the mound. Catcher Jorge Posada had to work hard to block splitters in the dirt and routinely came up out of his crouch to snag balls sailing high and out of the strike zone. Manager Joe Torre had said prior to the game that he expected the Rocket might only be at 75%, but even three-quarters of Roger Clemens, when mixed with liberal doses of October energy from a Yankee Stadium crowd, was a match for the young Oakland A's.

Just last week the A's looked like a younger, stronger version of the Yankees, while the Yankees seemed old and tired. Joe Torre's decision to start his lefty veterans O'Neill and Justice against the lefty Mulder in Game One was second-guessed by armchair managers from Manhattan to Montauk. But the Yankees' experience and maturity proved to be an important edge in this do-or-die Game Five. The oh-so-young A's committed three errors in the game, and this time the Yankees made them pay for their mistakes. The three errors led directly to the two runs that were the difference in the game.

The Yankee scoring began in the bottom of the second, when down 2-0 and no one sure if Clemens could hang on, with one out Jorge Posada and Shane Spencer had back to back singles. Scott Brosius was hit on the foot by Mulder's first pitch to him, loading the bases for Alfonso Soriano. If Soriano was phased by the cacophony in the stadium, it did not show. He took the first pitch, something the hack-and-slash kid would not have done back in April. But it's not April anymore, and even the Yankee rookie has learned some maturity at the plate. Soriano lined a 2-RBI single into shallow center, evening the score at two runs apiece, and deflating the A's hopes that they might run away with the game. In what was an even bigger blow to the A's confidence, the next inning the Yankees notched the go-ahead run without recording a hit. Bernie Williams struck out, but catcher Greg Myers--who had just been inserted into the game for Ramon Hernandez, who complained of a sprained wrist--dropped the third strike, and when Bernie ran to first, botched the put out with a bad throw to Giambi. It should have been two out, no one on, but instead it was one out, one on for Tino Martinez. Why does it always seem like Tino gets drilled at times like these? He took a fastball in the back, pushing Bernie over to second. Jorge Posada then hit a long sac fly to center and Bernie moved to third. Shane Spencer then walked to load the bases for the second inning in a row, bringing Scott Brosius to the plate. Brosius was an offensive force for the Yankees this year, and has certainly been clutch in postseasons of the past. But thus far in the 2001 postseason, he has not been distinguishing himself with the bat. When a soft nubber to Chavez at third came off his bat, the crowd groaned. But Chavez couldn't handle the ball, and before he could pick it up, drop it, and pick it up again, Brosius was safe at first and Bernie, who had reached on an error, scored on the error. That brought Soriano up with bases loaded for the second time in two innings, but this time he grounded out, leaving the Yankees with a slim one run lead.

In the fourth Chuck Knoblauch hit a seeing eye single up the middle to lead off the inning. The lefty Mulder appeared to then catch him with a good pickoff move, and Knobby darted for second, but Tejada couldn't handle the throw from Giambi, leaving Chuck safe at second. Randy Velarde, DH-ing because of his good offensive record against Oakland, dropped a perfect sacrifice bunt down the first base line, moving Chuck to third. And the Derek Jeter came to the plate. On t he very first pitch he lofted a high fly ball into left field, giving Chuck plenty of time to tag up and score. But the A's were not dead yet. The Yankees have been largely successful this series in keeping reigning AL MVP Jason Giambi in check. Giambi, like the true star he is, rose to the occasion for this game, going four for four with four singles, two of them to score runners. But Giambi's RBI power was diminished by the Yankees efforts to keep the A's leadoff men off base. After Johnny Damon had started the game with a double, he and #2 batter Miguel Tejada went 0-for-6. Tejada's offensive contribution to the game was limited to being hit in the arm by a Clemens wild pitch in the fifth, the last inning where they would have runners in scoring position. Clemens' walks have a way of coming back to bite him, and he started the fifth walking the #9 batter, Staten Island native Frank Menechino. Damon flew out, but Menechino went to second on a wild pitch that went high off Posada's glove and back to the screen. That was when Tejada came to the plate. It's doubtful Roger intended to throw at Tejada, as the A's shortstop had struck out both of his previous at bats. But instead of having two out, one on, there were two on, one out, for Giambi.

It was a pivotal moment, an opportunity that the A's might have grabbed, had fate favored them a bit more. Mike Stanton came in to face Giambi and everyone, Giambi included, was thinking about the game-winning two-run homer he had gotten off of Stanton in Oakland back in August. A home run here would make the score 5-4 A's. But although Giambi swung on the first pitch Stanton threw, it was a line drive single, and not a homer. Menechino scored, but Stanton buckled down, recording two more outs to end the inning, and then giving the Yankees their first one-two-three inning in the sixth.

The Yankees got an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth and it seemed the magic was back. David Justice, who has struggled mightily this season and this postseason, pinch hit for Randy Velarde. Was it really the first pitch he took over the wall in right field, or does it only seem that way now, as if all previous pitches in this at bat, this month, this season, were irrelevant? It was not a majestic homer, but it was just what Justice and the Yankees needed--as it sailed just fair and just over the wall down the right field line, it seemed like yet another sign that tonight all the breaks would go the Yankees' way.

Ramiro Mendoza pitched an efficient 1-2-3 seventh inning and confidence swelled in both the Yankees and the crowd. Two runs was starting to look like it might be enough. Derek Jeter's highlight reel got a new addition in the eighth, when with one on and one out Terrence Long hit a foul pop that Jeter dove into the stands to glove. He disappeared behind the short wall, into the tangle of spectators, but the umpire peered into the mess and liked what he saw--raising his fist for the out. The crowd's chants for Jeter caused the young star in pinstripes to tip his cap when he returned to his position, but the crowd wanted more. "MVP! MVP!" they chanted, along with his name, even after the half-inning ended, trying to get him out of the dugout, until they were drowned out by the stadium's between-innings music. In the bottom of the frame, Chuck doubled with two outs, bringing Justice to the plate again and Jeter into the on deck circle. Chuck kept the pressure on, stealing third. Everyone wanted to see Derek in the batter's box, already screaming for him, but Justice struck out to end the inning.

By this time, Mariano Rivera had already put in one inning of stellar work, aided by the Jeter play, and the crowd was cheering on every pitch. The win seemed inevitable, and rather than worrying about a sudden turn of the tide, the crowd was busy tearing up confetti, preparing cameras, and screaming, screaming, screaming. When Menechino was lifted in favor of pinch hitter Eric Byrnes, with two men already down, people began to sing "Na na na na - na na na na - hey hey - goodbye!" It ended with a strikeout, and with fifty five thousand people singing, in unison with Frank Sinatra, the well-known words to "New York, New York." The celebration spilled out into the concourses, the escalators, the ramps of the stadium, with the chants of "USA! USA!" mixing with "Let's Go Yankees," renditions of God Bless America, and various chants dissing the Seattle Mariners.

The ALCS opens Wednesday in Seattle, and returns to Yankees Stadium for three games over the weekend. This is fortunate, since the crowd will need a couple of days for their throats and ears to recuperate. And when the Yankees return to the Bronx, whether up 2-0, down 0-2, or split, that tenth man will be ready.

This article originally appeared at YankeeBaseball.net.