You remember what you were doing on
Oct. 16 (into the early part of Oct. 17) 2003, don't you? Because there's no way in hell I'll ever forget.
And while many people will forever associate that game with Aaron Boone (and, yeah, he deserves that), I think what a lot of people forget is that incredible 8th inning. Down by three runs, the Yanks mounted a comeback in what may have been the most adrenaline-filled half inning that I've ever had the pleasure of watching. The crowd was practically manic in its glee as it was all unfolding, but when you saw how
into it the players were, how much this mattered to them as much as it did to the fans and how they were all feeding off each other's excitement, it was pretty much the most perfect sports moment I'd seen till that point (topped only by what Mr. Boone did three innings later).
In all of that, the player I remember most was Jorge Posada. He comes up with the score 5-3, two runners on and the crowd practically unable to contain itself (I was watching in my parents' basement and I could literally feel my heart beat...in my eyes. Seriously, I probably came really close to giving myself a stroke that night), and you know everyone's thinking "home run." But he drops in this little bloop single. And both runners score. An the game is tied. And somehow he manages to get to second base and has this unforgettable cathartic burst of primal "YES"ness, like so:
In that moment, you saw that not only did the however many millions of Yankee fans want to beat the Red Sox so, so badly, this guy did too.
That is how I will remember Jorge Posada. And for that memory alone, he gets a lifetime of gratefulness from me.
Oh, okay. Maybe I'll remember him for this, too:
