Five Reasons Why God is a New York Yankees Fan
I firmly believe God is a New York Yankees fan. Over the course of my own life, I have seen too much evidence to suggest anything different, never mind what transpired before I was born. The New York Yankees, with their 26 World Series titles, are either loved or despised by baseball fans; there is no middle ground. But even the most fervent New York Yankees hater has to admit that too many times it has looked like there has been some sort of divine intervention on the Bronx Bombers behalf for it to be a coincidence. That being said, here are my top five reasons why God must be a New York Yankees fan, in chronological order.
Reason number one- The 1941 World Series.
Too many strange things happened in this New York Yankees- Brooklyn Dodgers match up to be explained away by anything other than God had begun to follow the team from Gotham. The New York Yankees had just completed a regular season that saw Joe DiMaggio construct a 56 game hitting streak and lead New York to the pennant by 17 games over Boston and Ted Williams, he of the .406 average that very same year. In the first of their many Subway Series, the New York Yankees won Game One in large part because Brooklyn shortstop Pee Wee Reese decided he could make it to third on a foul pop up in front of the Yankees bench in the seventh inning. When he was easily thrown out, the Dodgers rally was gone and the New York Yankees went on to win 3-2 in front of over 68,000 fans. One of those must have been God, because in Game Three, with the Series tied at one game apiece, 39 year old Dodger righty Freddie Fitzsimmons was cruising along with a shutout into the eighth inning. The New York Yankees also had not surrendered a run, and when Fitzsimmons was struck on the leg by a wicked line drive in the eighth and forced to leave the contest, the New York Yankees took advantage and pushed across a pair of runs. The New York Yankees wound up winning by a score of 2-1 and took the Series lead. What happened in Game Three must have raised some suspicion about God’s allegiance to the New York Yankees, but His body of work was so limited to that point that I am certain nobody put it together that soon. With the Dodgers leading 4-3 and the Yankees down to their last strike with no one on base, disaster struck for Brooklyn. Tommy Henrich struck out, but Brooklyn catcher Mickey Owen dropped the third strike and Tommy reached first. The Biblical floodgates then opened and the New York Yankees pounded out hit after hit to score 4 runs. Their 7-4 win turned what was about to become an even series into a 3-1 advantage for the New York Yankees, who won 3-1 the next day, clinching their ninth World Championship. Game Four became known as the “Dropped Third Strike Game”, but if people had realized what was really happening perhaps it would have been known instead as the “God Has Struck Game.”
Reason number two- Don Larsen’s perfect game.
After 1941, the New York Yankees won the World Series in ’43, ’47, and from 1949 through 1953. In 1956, a year after the Dodgers had finally beaten them for the first time in six tries, the New York Yankees and Brooklyn met again. The Dodgers jumped out to a 2-0 series lead, but 40 year old Enos Slaughter, who had hit 2 home runs all year and had been only recently acquired by the New York Yankees, hit a 3 run homer to win Game Three. When the New York Yankees won Game Four 6-2, it set the stage for the greatest pitching performance in the history of the World Series. It came from the most unlikely of sources; Don Larsen was a right hander who had gone 3-21 with the Orioles in 1954. You read that correctly, he was 3-21! The New York Yankees acquired him in 1955, and he pitched well enough to win 9 games, and then 11 in 1956. However, Larsen had been absolutely ineffective in Game Two, blowing a 6-0 New York Yankees’ lead and not getting out of the second inning. When he took the mound for Game Five, nobody could have guessed what was about to happen. Well, maybe Someone did. Larsen threw the only perfect game in World Series history. He won 2-0, with the help of a fabulous running catch and home run from Mickey Mantle and with the benefit of a called third strike for the last out of the game that was a bit high. Umpire Babe Pinelli called out Dale Mitchell to complete the masterpiece and the New York Yankees would go on to win the Series in 7 games. Larsen played 3 more seasons for the New York Yankees, but never won more than 11 games in a season. He was traded to Kansas City in 1960 and when he left baseball his lifetime record was 81-91. As improbable as it was that Larsen would pitch a perfect game in that spot, it is just as strange that in 1998 New York Yankees’ left hander David Wells would pitched a perfect game. Wells had attended the same high school in San Diego as, you guessed it, Don Larsen. And who do you think had thrown out the ceremonial first pitch prior to Wells’ gem? Right again, Don Larsen. Coincidence? Sure.
Reason number three- The 1962 World Series
This would come to be known as the Series that wouldn’t end. The New York Yankees had a 3-2 lead in games over the Giants when the World Series returned to San Francisco. However, it rained for three consecutive days, forcing Game Six to be postponed each time until it was played five days after game Five. God apparently didn’t need his previously used forty days and nights of rain to figure out a heavenly ending for this Series, and when the Giants won Game Six by the score of 5-3 to force Game Seven, He had obviously come up with one. The New York Yankees were clinging to a tenuous 1-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth in the deciding tilt; the Giants had Matty Alou on third and Willie Mays on second with two outs. Future Hall of Famer Willie McCovey came to bat, and New York Yankees’ manager Ralph Houk, for some reason, left Terry in to pitch to him. Terry was the same hurler who had given up Bill Mazeroski’s walk off Game Seven home run in 1960 to lose the Series on a day when God was obviously asleep at the switch. But God was fully into the 1962 affair. Inexplicably, Houk let Terry pitch to McCovey with first base open. Willie promptly hit the most scorching line drive you have ever seen, but right at second baseman Bobby Richardson, who gloved it for the last out. A foot either way and the ball would have scored two runs, making the New York Yankees losers. Perhaps things would have been different had Jesus Alou been on third.
Reason number four- Bobby Murcer wins a game for his friend.
When New York Yankees’ captain and catcher Thurman Munson was killed in a plane crash on August 2nd, 1979, his best friends on the team were Lou Piniella and Bobby Murcer. The day of Munson’s funeral in Ohio, Murcer had delivered one of the eulogies. That night, when the New York Yankees played the Baltimore Orioles, manager Billy Martin told Murcer that there was no need for him to play, after what he had been through. But Murcer told Martin that something was telling him that he needed to play. With the Orioles leading 4-0 in the nationally televised contest, Murcer came up in the seventh inning and hit a three run homer to pull the New York Yankees to within 4-3. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth and the winning runs on base, Bobby Murcer was due to bat. Tough left handed reliever Tippy Martinez was on the mound, but Martin, who would normally have pinch hit for the left handed hitting Murcer, let him bat. Murcer lined a hit to the opposite field, winning the game for the New York Yankees. He never used the bat again, instead giving it to Munson’s widow, Dianne. A plaque in Yankee Stadium honors Murcer’s accomplishments that night with the words, “Dedicated to Bobby Murcer, who with two swings of his bat, won a game for his friend.” It remains to this day the most emotional scenario I have ever witnessed in sports, and could not possibly have played out as it did without some help from above.
Reason number five- Aaron Boone’s home run in 2003.
With the New York Yankees trailing Boston in Game Seven 5-2, and on the verge of losing the American League Championship Series to their bitter rivals, weird things began to occur. Pedro Martinez had been breezing along, but ran into trouble in the eighth inning. Just when it looked as though manager Grady Little was going to pull Pedro, he went to the mound, spoke to his ace, and left him in. Catcher Jorge Posada then tied the game with a bloop double. The contest went to extra innings, and the New York Yankees came to bat in the bottom of the l1th frame against knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. Aaron Boone, who the New York Yankees had acquired at the trading deadline, then came up and hit Wakefield’s first pitch into the left field seats to set off a wild celebration. One of the color analysts for the game was Aaron’s brother Bret, who was unable to speak as his sibling rounded the bases. The New York Yankees would lose the World Series to the Marlins, and then finally lost to the Red Sox in 2004, blowing a three games to none lead. But hey, even God needs to take time off every now and then.
Reason number one- The 1941 World Series.
Too many strange things happened in this New York Yankees- Brooklyn Dodgers match up to be explained away by anything other than God had begun to follow the team from Gotham. The New York Yankees had just completed a regular season that saw Joe DiMaggio construct a 56 game hitting streak and lead New York to the pennant by 17 games over Boston and Ted Williams, he of the .406 average that very same year. In the first of their many Subway Series, the New York Yankees won Game One in large part because Brooklyn shortstop Pee Wee Reese decided he could make it to third on a foul pop up in front of the Yankees bench in the seventh inning. When he was easily thrown out, the Dodgers rally was gone and the New York Yankees went on to win 3-2 in front of over 68,000 fans. One of those must have been God, because in Game Three, with the Series tied at one game apiece, 39 year old Dodger righty Freddie Fitzsimmons was cruising along with a shutout into the eighth inning. The New York Yankees also had not surrendered a run, and when Fitzsimmons was struck on the leg by a wicked line drive in the eighth and forced to leave the contest, the New York Yankees took advantage and pushed across a pair of runs. The New York Yankees wound up winning by a score of 2-1 and took the Series lead. What happened in Game Three must have raised some suspicion about God’s allegiance to the New York Yankees, but His body of work was so limited to that point that I am certain nobody put it together that soon. With the Dodgers leading 4-3 and the Yankees down to their last strike with no one on base, disaster struck for Brooklyn. Tommy Henrich struck out, but Brooklyn catcher Mickey Owen dropped the third strike and Tommy reached first. The Biblical floodgates then opened and the New York Yankees pounded out hit after hit to score 4 runs. Their 7-4 win turned what was about to become an even series into a 3-1 advantage for the New York Yankees, who won 3-1 the next day, clinching their ninth World Championship. Game Four became known as the “Dropped Third Strike Game”, but if people had realized what was really happening perhaps it would have been known instead as the “God Has Struck Game.”
Reason number two- Don Larsen’s perfect game.
After 1941, the New York Yankees won the World Series in ’43, ’47, and from 1949 through 1953. In 1956, a year after the Dodgers had finally beaten them for the first time in six tries, the New York Yankees and Brooklyn met again. The Dodgers jumped out to a 2-0 series lead, but 40 year old Enos Slaughter, who had hit 2 home runs all year and had been only recently acquired by the New York Yankees, hit a 3 run homer to win Game Three. When the New York Yankees won Game Four 6-2, it set the stage for the greatest pitching performance in the history of the World Series. It came from the most unlikely of sources; Don Larsen was a right hander who had gone 3-21 with the Orioles in 1954. You read that correctly, he was 3-21! The New York Yankees acquired him in 1955, and he pitched well enough to win 9 games, and then 11 in 1956. However, Larsen had been absolutely ineffective in Game Two, blowing a 6-0 New York Yankees’ lead and not getting out of the second inning. When he took the mound for Game Five, nobody could have guessed what was about to happen. Well, maybe Someone did. Larsen threw the only perfect game in World Series history. He won 2-0, with the help of a fabulous running catch and home run from Mickey Mantle and with the benefit of a called third strike for the last out of the game that was a bit high. Umpire Babe Pinelli called out Dale Mitchell to complete the masterpiece and the New York Yankees would go on to win the Series in 7 games. Larsen played 3 more seasons for the New York Yankees, but never won more than 11 games in a season. He was traded to Kansas City in 1960 and when he left baseball his lifetime record was 81-91. As improbable as it was that Larsen would pitch a perfect game in that spot, it is just as strange that in 1998 New York Yankees’ left hander David Wells would pitched a perfect game. Wells had attended the same high school in San Diego as, you guessed it, Don Larsen. And who do you think had thrown out the ceremonial first pitch prior to Wells’ gem? Right again, Don Larsen. Coincidence? Sure.
Reason number three- The 1962 World Series
This would come to be known as the Series that wouldn’t end. The New York Yankees had a 3-2 lead in games over the Giants when the World Series returned to San Francisco. However, it rained for three consecutive days, forcing Game Six to be postponed each time until it was played five days after game Five. God apparently didn’t need his previously used forty days and nights of rain to figure out a heavenly ending for this Series, and when the Giants won Game Six by the score of 5-3 to force Game Seven, He had obviously come up with one. The New York Yankees were clinging to a tenuous 1-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth in the deciding tilt; the Giants had Matty Alou on third and Willie Mays on second with two outs. Future Hall of Famer Willie McCovey came to bat, and New York Yankees’ manager Ralph Houk, for some reason, left Terry in to pitch to him. Terry was the same hurler who had given up Bill Mazeroski’s walk off Game Seven home run in 1960 to lose the Series on a day when God was obviously asleep at the switch. But God was fully into the 1962 affair. Inexplicably, Houk let Terry pitch to McCovey with first base open. Willie promptly hit the most scorching line drive you have ever seen, but right at second baseman Bobby Richardson, who gloved it for the last out. A foot either way and the ball would have scored two runs, making the New York Yankees losers. Perhaps things would have been different had Jesus Alou been on third.
Reason number four- Bobby Murcer wins a game for his friend.
When New York Yankees’ captain and catcher Thurman Munson was killed in a plane crash on August 2nd, 1979, his best friends on the team were Lou Piniella and Bobby Murcer. The day of Munson’s funeral in Ohio, Murcer had delivered one of the eulogies. That night, when the New York Yankees played the Baltimore Orioles, manager Billy Martin told Murcer that there was no need for him to play, after what he had been through. But Murcer told Martin that something was telling him that he needed to play. With the Orioles leading 4-0 in the nationally televised contest, Murcer came up in the seventh inning and hit a three run homer to pull the New York Yankees to within 4-3. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth and the winning runs on base, Bobby Murcer was due to bat. Tough left handed reliever Tippy Martinez was on the mound, but Martin, who would normally have pinch hit for the left handed hitting Murcer, let him bat. Murcer lined a hit to the opposite field, winning the game for the New York Yankees. He never used the bat again, instead giving it to Munson’s widow, Dianne. A plaque in Yankee Stadium honors Murcer’s accomplishments that night with the words, “Dedicated to Bobby Murcer, who with two swings of his bat, won a game for his friend.” It remains to this day the most emotional scenario I have ever witnessed in sports, and could not possibly have played out as it did without some help from above.
Reason number five- Aaron Boone’s home run in 2003.
With the New York Yankees trailing Boston in Game Seven 5-2, and on the verge of losing the American League Championship Series to their bitter rivals, weird things began to occur. Pedro Martinez had been breezing along, but ran into trouble in the eighth inning. Just when it looked as though manager Grady Little was going to pull Pedro, he went to the mound, spoke to his ace, and left him in. Catcher Jorge Posada then tied the game with a bloop double. The contest went to extra innings, and the New York Yankees came to bat in the bottom of the l1th frame against knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. Aaron Boone, who the New York Yankees had acquired at the trading deadline, then came up and hit Wakefield’s first pitch into the left field seats to set off a wild celebration. One of the color analysts for the game was Aaron’s brother Bret, who was unable to speak as his sibling rounded the bases. The New York Yankees would lose the World Series to the Marlins, and then finally lost to the Red Sox in 2004, blowing a three games to none lead. But hey, even God needs to take time off every now and then.
