"While The Storm Clouds Gather..."

When Ronan Tynan launched into the forgotten first verse of God Bless America, there couldn't have been more than 500 people left in the stands at Yankee Stadium. It wasn't even September 11th anymore.

Despite a rainy and raw September evening that led to an hour and twenty six minute rain delay, the stands were jammed when the game began. The fans got what they came to see in the third inning when Derek Jeter sliced one down the first base line, which looked like an instant replay of the hit he collected to tie Lou Gehirg atop the Yankees all time hit list. Like he did on Wednesday, he tipped his cap to the stands and pointed towards his parents, but this time he was also greeted by each of his teammates at first base.

At that point, the Yankees were leading 3-1 and Andy Pettitte looked to be on his way to his 5th straight victory. Andy worked escaped a bases loaded jam in the fifth inning with the Yanks still ahead 4-3 thanks in part to a spectcular defensive play in which he deflected a tapper from Nolan Reimold and made a twisting throw to complete the force at home.

The lead didn't last long as Damaso Marte was tagged for 4 runs in the 6th inning, sending a large chunk of the crowd towards the exits. The rain delay that started in the top of the 7th inning not only sent essentially all of the fans home but most of the Yankees regulars as well. When play resumed, the Yankees fielded a team that was more likely to have taken the field in Scranton at some point this season than in the Bronx.

The Yanks lost but no one really cared. The things that would have made this game forgettable under ordinary circumstances will make it more memorable in retrospect.

Friday Afternoon Link Party

It's Friday and I'm pressed for time, but here are a few links to explore before the preview for tonight's game goes up. You don't want to see how they were made:

Our pal Joe at RAB explores the tendency for people to criticize the effort baseball players seem to put forth, inspired by this post at the Yankee Universe.

Tim Marchman takes a pretty thorough look at how many hits Derek Jeter might end up with when it's all said and done. Craig Calcaterra reacts to the final two paragraphs of Marchman's article which implies that Jeter still has something left to prove and suggests he doesn't.

Big League Screw has a great piece on Alfredo Aceves that tracks his journey from Mexico to the Majors and declares him "The Most Interesting Man in the Bronx". Well worth the read.

"My feeling is you ought to be ashamed of yourself if you get physically tired of playing baseball because it shouldn't be that physically taxing" If this doesn't illustrate the difference between baseball and football, I fear nothing ever will.

There are a lot of ways to show how awesome the Yankees offense has been this year. Here is one. And here is another.

Be glad you didn't have to sit through "The worst hall of fame speech... ever".

The Yankees will be honoring those who lost their lives during the attacks of September 11th with a ceremony before the game tonight.

New Stadium Insider has the low down on the weather and how it might affect tonight's game.