Last Night Felt Like 2010's "He Dropped The Ball" Game

Every World Series champion goes through a slump at some point in the season and the 2009 New York Yankees were no exception. In the middle of June, the Yankees looked like they were going to have it rough after they lost three three straight at Boston and fell 2 games behind the Red Sox. The Mets came into town and on Friday, June 12. The Yankees, desperately needing a win, were up 7-6 in the 7th when Phil Coke blew the lead and then fell behind in the 8th when Mariano Rivera gave up an RBI double to David Wright. With two outs and Derek Jeter at 2nd, the Mets elected to intentionally walk Mark Teixeira (remember Red Sox Owner John Henry's BS about the Mark Teixeira curse--dubbed the "MT Curse"?) and have Francisco Rodriguez go after Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod had a 3-1 count but on the 5th pitched he popped the ball up to second and the game looked over...

Crawford made the third out at third base--a cardinal sin (St. Pete Times)

...until Luis Castillo, trying to casually catch the ball with one hand, dropped the ball. A heads-up Mark Teixeira raced around the bases from first and scored on the play.  "HE DROPPED THE BALL!" was a play that Yankees fans would remember the rest of the season and the Yankee win seemed to be a big turning point.

The Yankees would lose 9 of 13 during this stretch but a win on a miscue helped to make sure the bleeding wasn't worse.

Last night felt a lot like the "he dropped the ball" game. A back-and-forth affair in a high-scoring, "must-win game" that ended on a cardinal sin. Castillo's was that he didn't use two hands to catch the ball and it fell. Last night, Carl Crawford made the final out at 3rd base on a laser beam of a throw from Greg Golson. One of the most exciting plays in baseball (a fast runner vs. an outfielder's arm) ended the game and propelled the Yankees back into 1st place.

The most amazing part of the play for me wasn't that Golson made the play (he supposedly is a really good defensive outfielder) or that A-Rod made the pick (he's good at that part of the game) or that Crawford went (seeing Golson flat-footed and not knowing his arm strength, he probably thought he would coast into 3rd), it was who was backing up 3rd base on the play: Brett Gardner.

Last night's game ender felt an awful lot like this dropped ball

Now less than 24 hours before, Gardner had made his own cardinal sin, making the third out trying to steal third base. A player as fast as Gardner or Crawford will almost always score from second base on a base hit so going for an extra bag in that stop doesn't seem like a good gamble. And when you get thrown out, you should be the object of scorn. And so Gardner was in the spotlight the night before, trying to explain his mistake and finally admitting that he made a bad decision.

But on Golson's throw from right-field (a throw which easily could have hit off of Crawford and bounced away or not have been picked by A-Rod and bounced away), Gardner was the first person backing up the play. It's not really his spot (that was Mariano's territory) and his presence there end up not being needed, but if you look back in all the shots from the end of the game and you can clearly see Gardner racing from leftfield to make sure that he was there in case a play needed to be made.

It's an example of a player who understood he made a mistake the night before that may have cost his team a win and one who would do anything to make sure they won last night's game. The Yankees may still not win the division, but if they do, last night's game will certainly be remembered for Crawford making the third out at third base.

A few other notes:

• Curtis Granderson's catch may be the better defensive play and I doubt it will be remembered as well, but a helluva catch from a guy who has helped to improve the Yankees' defense this season.
• Does Greg Golson make the postseason roster? It would make sense to put him on there as the 25th man. He can pinch run and at the end of the game with a lead, what outfield would be better (or faster) than Gardner, Granderson and Golson (the G Series or the G Unit--haven't figured out the nickname yet)? And they would have really good arms at both corners.
• I was reading on LoHud through the quotes from last night after the win and the most amazing one was Granderson saying that before the inning, Golson and Gardner were throwing across the field to each other to practice the long throw. Now that's smart. The New York Times Bats blog has more quotes and more on the anatomy of a game-winning play.
• Jorge Posada hit a bomb. ESPN ran the stat that Jorge was 0-10 in pinch hitting spots and had been really bad in close-and-late situations going into last night. Posada blasted that small sample size with an absolute rocket over centerfield. As ESPN New York wrote, Jorge saved the day. According to the Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN): "The last Yankee to hit a go-ahead, pinch-hit HR in extra innings was Matt Nokes on May 8, 1993 at Detroit."
• Ivan Nova's chance to start in the postseason or even make the postseason roster got rocketed with one bad inning last night. I don't see how the Yankees can hand him the ball in a start with any confidence and you would think they would rather have a veteran like Dustin Moseley or Chad Gaudin as the long man out of the bullpen. I wouldn't mind seeing Nova make it in that spot, but after a few shaky outings, I wouldn't blame Girardi for going with a veteran--especially with Andy Pettitte on schedule to come back.
• There's plenty more to talk about in the game and River Ave Blues and Yankeeist cover it as always. Despite the win, Jason @ IIATMS questions Girardi's decision-making.

Let us know your feelings about the game, the team, etc in the comments below. More later.