Tuesday, February 11, 2025
Tuesday, December 24, 2024
Star over Bethlehem
Above, Star over Bethlehem
Above, Dec. 1955, Christmas in Ardsley, New York
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Monday, December 09, 2024
Juan Soto joins the Mets….”The Yankees no longer get the player because they’re the Yankees.”…Mike Francesa, 12/8/24
"The Yankees no longer get the player because they're the Yankees."...Mike Francesa, 12/8/24, @13:53
Tuesday, October 01, 2024
John Sterling’s a rare gem, don’cha know?–Mike DiMauro, The Day (Eastern Connecticut),10/10/2011
“What, the Yankees should go out and hire someone who hates them? Or is more boring than geometry?...Let me just say this: I don’t care whether you like him. I like him. And Suzyn Waldman, too….It’s OK to enhance the product with some personality, you know…It’s baseball. Not “Meet the Press.”…10/10/2011
10/10/2011, “Sterling’s a rare gem, don’cha know?” The Day (Eastern Connecticut), Mike DiMauro, The Day Assistant Sports Editor
“Want to know the hard part? It wasn’t losing. [Yankees had just lost 2011 ALDS to Detroit Tigers] Showbiz, as John Sterling likes to say. Besides, when you witness your chest-thumping rival’s epic (quite epic, actually) collapse during a pennant race, a loss in the playoffs is a duller ache.
It’s just not particularly comforting at the moment to think about Yankee baseball next summer without Sterling. [“Randy Levine, the president of the Yankees, who is currently negotiating a new team radio contract with several outlets, would not comment on Sterling’s future but called him ‘a unique character and a real asset.’]
Let me just say this: I don’t care whether you like him. I like him.
And Suzyn Waldman, too.
So do millions of Yankee fans, otherwise known as the target audience. Sterling and Waldman are part of
every day from April through October, eccentric, eclectic, entertaining and everywhere the season takes us.
It was this line, though, in a recent feature in the New York Times about Sterling- writer Bill Pennington [“a New England native”] captured Sterling brilliantly –
that has me worried:
“Randy Levine, the president of the Yankees, who is currently negotiating a new team radio contract with several outlets, would not comment on Sterling’s future but called him ‘a unique character and a real asset.‘ The team has the right to approve all announcers chosen by its radio partner.”
A real asset? What is he, inventory? Gee, Randy. Don’t, you know, blow out your thesaurus or anything finding the right words
for a guy who has been part of every Yankee game for the last 23 years [as of 2011].
Sterling is like your favorite movie. You know the lines are coming. You know the inflection.
But you just can’t wait to hear them again.
It’s not just “Robbie Cano, don’cha know.”
It’s not just “you can’t predict baseball” or a rant about the rain. It’s theater. Like the way he introduces the engineer for the radio broadcasts: Carlos Silva. Sterling pronounces it “SEAL-vah.”
Here’s how it goes: I’m in the car. It’s 6:30. Cue the Yankee jingle. “Live from Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, it’s New … York … Yankees … baseball! And tonight, on a cold, damp, dreary, horrible night, it’s the first game of a three-game series between the Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles.
“Along with our producer engineer Carlos SEAL-vah …”
And I giggle.
Without fail.
And that’s the point. I giggle. So do all the other Yankee fans,
otherwise known as the target audience. It’s entertainment. And Sterling not only gets it, he delivers it.
It’s baseball. Not “Meet the Press.” Baseball. The toy department. Entertainment.
This is something that flies over the head,
quite majestically, of Sterling’s critics.
Pennington reported that Sterling “has spawned more than 100 Web sites dedicated to denigrating his emblematic calls and his anomalous broadcasting style.”
Let me guess: Those people gave up their careers teaching at Yale and need to pass the time.
Then there’s Phil Mushnick, a newspaper columnist at the New York Post, whose repertoire has shrunk to killing Sterling, Mike Francesa and ESPN. (Rinse. Repeat).
The Times [10/1/2011, “Voice of Yankees Draws High Ratings and Many Critics,” NY Times, Bill Pennington] reported that Mushnick “has written more than 270 articles about Sterling,” calling him a “narcissistic, condescending blowhard.”
Then the best quote of all:
“Yankees fans who like him
are people who just want someone to root for the team,”
Mushnick said.
What, the Yankees should go out and hire someone who hates them?
Or is more boring than geometry?
And it’s not like Sterling and Waldman never criticize the Yankees. They do it often. (Just wait till they fail to advance a runner).
And send up smoke signals the next time you hear criticism of the home team on the Shaw’s/WEEI Red Sox Radio Network, a carnival of nightly cheerleading (and Yankee game updates). Seriously. The only place you hear more nicknames is in a frat house: Youk, Petey, Gonzo, Pap, Scoot, Els, Salty and Tek.
It’s OK to enhance the product with some personality, you know. John Sterling makes you listen because of what’s coming. And what’s not.
Like one night this summer [2011]. We’re on vacation in Ocean City, N.J., sipping some euphoric nectar on the porch listening to the ballgame. Sterling is apoplectic that home plate umpire Jerry Layne is taking too long to call balls and strikes.
Suddenly, he breaks into song:
“Everybody’s hand in hand … waitin’ for Jerry Layne.”
It’s a takeoff on an old Sinatra lyric (“everybody’s hand in hand, swingin’ down the lane.”)
I’m sorry. But that’s perfect, brilliant
and the essence of John Sterling.
And I want him back for as long as he wants to do it.
I believe I speak for Yankees Universe on this.
And in this case, we should be the only ones who count.”
………………………………
“This is the opinion of Mike DiMauro.”
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Tuesday, September 24, 2024
John Sterling is back on Yankee radio tonight with Suzyn Waldman. Thank-you so much, John.
On WFAN radio, 660AM, 101.9FM. Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, Orioles at Yankees. It's a whole new world....
Tues., 9/24/24, "It's a JUDGIAN blast! Aaron Judge hits number 56! Here he comes: Here Comes the Judge!" John Sterling Calls twitter
Above, 9/24/24, John Sterling calls twitter
Final score at Yankee Stadium: Baltimore Orioles 5, Yankees 3
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Below, two additional views of "Judgian blast:"
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Sunday, August 11, 2024
Craig Carton tapped to do play by play for 3 games in Yankee radio booth, August 10-11, 2024. Decision on full time Sterling replacement to be made in off season
A decision on Sterling’s full time replacement will be made in the off season. Hearing Craig Carton doing play by play in the Yankee radio booth on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024 must mean someone realized that “doing play by play in the minors” is irrelevant to having any job in the two-person Yankee radio booth. In the case of choosing John Sterling’s replacement for play by play, the person needs to be a natural talker, preferably someone who’s already succeeded in talk radio, who’s thus going to be at ease participating in give and take in the booth with analyst Suzyn Waldman. Further, he isn’t going to have a fake, “chirpy” delivery during play by play as others do in an attempt to compensate for the fact that they have no personality and no confidence. With the exception of Craig Carton and Rickie Ricardo, none of the others trying out for Sterling’s replacement belong on radio at all. Craig sounds perfect w. Suzyn. What isn’t known is how much they’d be willing to pay Carton and what other job prospects he may have.
…………………………………….
Added: Decision on full time Sterling replacement to be made in off season:
7/15/24, “WFAN taps Craig Carton to call 3 Yankees games in August alongside Suzyn Waldman,” The Athletic, NYTimes.com
“A new but familiar voice will soon rejoin WFAN — and in a way he hasn’t been heard before.
The station will tap Craig Carton to work alongside Suzyn Waldman on three New York Yankees broadcasts next month, Carton announced on the station Monday alongside hosts Evan Roberts and Tiki Barber.
He’ll be on during the series at home against the Texas Rangers from Aug. 9 – 11. Carton said that the Yankees had called him directly about the gig.
“It’s a great honor,” he said. “It’s a great privilege.”
Carton left WFAN last summer to focus on his morning talk show with Fox Sports 1.
Carton said he won’t be over the top.
“I want to be clear about that,” he said. “I’m not going to do something that’s clownish. I got to leave the crazy home run calls to the memory of John and his greatness of all of the years. But I’ll do my best. I’ll make sure that it’s unmistakably me and it’s just awesome.”
He added that he hopes he brings the Yankees a bit of luck. The team has struggled of late, going 8-18 over its last 26 games. It lost its final game of the first half Sunday in brutal fashion, getting walked off by the Baltimore Orioles after committing a pair of errors. Still, the Yankees are just a game behind the O’s for first place in the American League East.
“All they really need is a little positive juju,” Carton said. “Like a good luck charm, if you will. The (New York) Mets had the rally pimp in April. They had Grimace in June. They had some fat guy dancing to ABBA, I think, now. That has worked for them.”
A week ago, the New York State Broadcasters Association announced that Carton would be inducted into its Hall of Fame this year. Waldman has been working with a rotation of play-by-players since John Sterling retired in April. Sterling had been calling Yankees games for 36 years. He had paired with Waldman for 20 seasons.
As for whether Carton would ever consider being the Yankees’ radio play-by-play man full-time, it didn’t sound like much of an option.
“There’s got to be a lot of zeros in that check,” he said.
Carton added he’s not sure exactly how far he’ll go if he feels the need to criticize the team while calling the games.
“Here’s the real question,” he said. “At some point, if you see something like Giancarlo Stanton walking to second base, you might have to be critical. I’m wondering, does my phone ring on the way home from the Yankees?”
Since Sterling’s retirement, Waldman has worked games with Justin Shackil, Emmanuel Berbari, Rickie Ricardo and Brendan Burke. The expectation is that WFAN will use the rest of the season to try out different play-by-players and
make their decision on a full-time replacement in the offseason.
“I am a very blessed human being,” Sterling said in a statement at the time. “I have been able to do what I wanted, broadcasting for 64 years. As a little boy growing up in New York as a Yankees fan, I was able to broadcast the Yankees for 36 years. It’s all to my benefit, and I leave very, very happy. I look forward to seeing everyone again on Saturday.””
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Added: For Yankee Radio Booth fans only, written in Oct. 2011:
Oct. 15, 2011, "John Sterling, Suzyn Waldman, and the Yankee Radio booth," by Susan
John Sterling has called every Yankee post season game from 1995 to the present along with 162 regular season games from 1989. He has seen most if not every pitch thrown in regular and post season for 23 years. A recent NY Times article quotes Michael Kay saying Sterling does 162 games a year and that seems like a lot to Kay who does about 125. While stating he's done about 3800 games the article doesn't make clear that Sterling has done 156 post season games. No one else has done that. TV doesn't do that.
- Yankee radio and its voices have provided continuity for fans through entire seasons, Sterling since 1989 and through post seasons starting in 1995 and Sterling and Waldman since 2005.
- Alternatives include those who would define the team as Bud Selig has prescribed since 1996 (cit. #2 at end of this post). Or someone "more boring than geometry."
- Columnist Mike DiMauro on the Times John Sterling article:
- "Then the best quote of all:
"Yankees fans who like him are people who just want someone to root for the team," (Phil) Mushnick said.
- What, the Yankees should go out and hire someone who hates them?
- Or is more boring than geometry?
And it's not like Sterling and Waldman never criticize the Yankees. They do it often. (Just wait till they fail to advance a runner)....
It's OK to enhance the product with some personality, you know.- John Sterling makes you listen because of what's coming. And what's not."...
- 'Not being a Yankee fan' means something different than not being a fan of most other teams.
- It isn't like this with other markets and teams but it is in NY and nationally with the Yankees.
- The fan experience of the Yankee Radio booth is on hold until the tabloid reporter leaves. Suzyn and John are such pros at smoothing things over a casual listener might not realize something unpleasant and even disrespectful just happened.
- Widespread bias against the Yankees or anyone is stealing. Stealing from players, the team, their life work and lastly it steals from fans.
- This is a violation of the first law of radio, which is that it's a one to one medium, one person talking to one other person. Or allowing us to listen in on a one on one conversation.
- Joe Castiglione is one of few others out there who seems like a natural talker where you're not always worried he's going to trip over himself.
- The Yankee TV side, the YES Network, is like a junior ESPN.
- I hope both John and Suzyn remain on Yankee radio as long as they want. If something different happens, I probably won't be listening.
- Citation 1, NY Times article on Sterling, 10/1/11
- (162 reg. season games x 23 years is 3726. Plus 156 post season is a total of 3882.)
- Citation 2, a total of 4 items on spreading a culture of negativity around the Yankees:
- Joel Sherman finds the Commissioner's office to be the source of much anti Yankee negativity. From his 2006 book about the 1996 Yankees, "Birth of a Dynasty," p. 311:
- a powerful push by central baseball to convince fans that the disparity between the financial "haves" and "have-nots" was destroying the competitive balance of the sport. The Yankees came to embody the big-market superpowers. They were demonized for buying championships.
- Thus the Yankees of this era do not receive near the amount of credit they deserve for what they accomplished."...
- Second from the NY Post on negativity, parag. 3:
- “...It is staggering the amount of negative noise that comes in New York (from media and fans) when your team spends that much money, has their expectations and has their history. It is bad anywhere, but in New York it is so much louder and so much more relentless. To stay the course, to stay yourself, I really admire that.”"
- ----------
- MLB Network host compares Yankees to dictators abusing human rights:
- 7/31/10, ""Betsy July 31st, 2010 at 4:52 pm
- like countries tramping down on 3rd world nations (or something like that).""

- (This is the line Bud Selig wants MLB media people to beat into the ground. ed.)
- "Chris Russo to Bud Selig: You must be happy the Yankees lost today"
- How about that?
- ----------------------------
- Citation 3, two Mike Lupica articles:
12/5/2010, "Shame on Yankees for dropping ball and insulting Derek Jeter during heated contract talks,"
- Mike Lupica, NY Daily News
- were delighted to get in the papers
- Not just delighted. Thrilled.
- It is Jeter who has honored all the ideas about the Yankees that the Yankees sell, constantly."...
- 5/19/11, "Yankee brass handled the Posada situation so poorly, you long for the George Steinbrenner days," Mike Lupica, NY Daily News. (page 2 of article)
- Citation 4, Yankee attendance in 1998, and "nobody will come to the Bronx" 9/28/1998:
- per home game through August (1998)."...
- And,
- ----------------------------
- 3/16/09, Goldman Sachs leads group loaning $105 million to cover final cost overruns at new Yankee Stadium, Sports Business Journal, "Yankees get new Loan for Ballpark," by Daniel Kaplan
- 10/20/08, "Yankees, Cowboys, and Goldman form sports services company" Reuters
- "The Yankees formed YES in 2001 and launched the network the following year. Yankee Global Enterprises, the team's parent company, owns about 35 percent of the network, with the remainder controlled by Goldman and Providence Equity Partners, and an investment group headed by former New Jersey Nets owner Ray Chambers."
- ---------------------------
- #6, Suzyn Waldman citations
- "Right from the late 1980s when she landed in the world according to George M. Steinbrenner.
"I like my women to spend my money and look real pretty," Steinbrenner bellowed during their first face-to-face meeting in 1988. "I don't like them to be pilots, policemen or sports reporters."
- Waldman had traveled to Tampa on her own dime to interview the Yankees' principal owner. In a letter, she convinced him she was worthy.
That's how this relationship began. Early on, long before she became the Yankees radio analyst, he critiqued her work, canvassing his favorite Manhattan saloon keepers and asking: "What do you think of that girl?" In times of trouble, Steinbrenner was there. He became a coveted source, providing the kind of access and info other reporters did not normally receive."...
- Yankee Team Broadcasters, MLB.com: Suzyn Waldman bio is number 5
- Citation #7, Yankee leadership, 2 Ken Davidoff articles
- From speaking to employees up and down the organizational food chain, you still get the sense that
- organization lacks clarity today. The power flows, very unevenly, through these four outlets:
- 1. Hal Steinbrenner. He has worked hard in the last year to establish a relationship with Cashman and the baseball people, commuting to Yankee Stadium from his Tampa home nearly every week. But he is human, unlike his dad, in that he can't get his tentacles over everything.
- 2. Hank Steinbrenner. The "advisory-board" comments -- there will be no advisory board, Cashman confirmed Wednesday -- provide further proof that Hank is a highly entertaining fraud. As long as he's got his last name, however, Hank won't be ignored altogether.
- 3. Felix Lopez. The husband of George Steinbrenner's younger daughter Jessica, Lopez has exploited Hal's and Hank's limits to gain a surprising amount of power over the Tampa-based operations. Lopez is known as such a bully and a boor that he makes Hank Steinbrenner look
- like a gentleman and a scholar, in comparison.
- 4. Randy Levine. The head of everything in New York, including the Yankees' role in YES and the new Yankee Stadium, team president Levine used to be predictable in that he would carry out George Steinbrenner's wishes. Now, with The Boss largely resting in the background, Levine sits as more of a wild card.
- Second Davidoff article:
- "There's already enough tension and lunacy around the organization.
- a couple of weeks off to rest his ailing elbow....
Tough, tough times for the Yankees. "This is where you're tested as a team," Girardi said.
- In that case, the people who run this operation need to study harder....
Successful industries, be they baseball, banking or bagels, place their personnel in a position to succeed. And calibrate their expectations accordingly.
Both on and off the field Monday, the Yankees failed at that skill. They can blame only themselves for the intensifying storm surrounding them....
At 20-19, three games behind the Rays in the American League East, the Yankees feel like a team in crisis. Of course, most teams carry that aura when the results stink....
And what in the name of Thurman Munson was Yankees brass thinking when it interrupted Derek Jeter's day to discuss the comments he made Sunday about Jorge Posada's Saturday boycott?...
- Speaking of not being surprised, you could have set your watch to Jeter's comments on Sunday.
- Of course Posada received preferential treatment from the team captain. Of course Jeter wouldn't have been so effusive had this been Alex Rodriguez or Nick Swisher pulling themselves out of a game against the Red Sox an hour before first pitch.
This is who Jeter is. He isn't much of a captain. The Yankees knew this when they agreed to bring back the iconic shortstop last winter for an over-market deal. So as long as Jeter isn't planning a rally on Posada's behalf,
- it probably would've been better to ignore Jeter's comments."...
- About baseball and radio. I copied the article when it came out. (The link is inactive):
- It's an intimate act, calling a baseball game, involving trust, respect and appreciation.
- ============
- 10/10/11, "Sterling's a rare gem, don'cha know?" The Day, Mike DiMauro
- The (NY) Times reported that Mushnick "has written more than 270 articles about Sterling," calling him a "narcissistic, condescending blowhard."
Then the best quote of all:
"Yankees fans who like him are people who just want someone to root for the team," Mushnick said.
- What, the Yankees should go out and hire someone who hates them?
- Or is more boring than geometry?
And it's not like Sterling and Waldman never criticize the Yankees. They do it often. (Just wait till they fail to advance a runner)....
It's OK to enhance the product with some personality, you know.
- John Sterling makes you listen because of what's coming. And what's not.
Like one night this summer. We're on vacation in Ocean City, N.J., sipping some euphoric nectar on the porch listening to the ballgame. Sterling is apoplectic that home plate umpire Jerry Layne is taking too long to call balls and strikes. Suddenly, he breaks into song:
- "Everybody's hand in hand ... waitin' for Jerry Layne."
It's a takeoff on an old Sinatra lyric ("everybody's hand in hand, swingin' down the lane.")
- I'm sorry. But that's perfect, brilliant and the essence of John Sterling.
- And I want him back for as long as he wants to do it.
I believe I speak for Yankees Universe on this.
- And in this case, we should be the only ones who count.
This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro."
- --------------------
- More on radio and baseball generally:
8/26/2009, "Radio is what sold me on baseball," Hossrex, Dugout Central (I copied this material from Dugout Central in 2009. (The original link is inactive now, so I use the link on my blog).
Hossrex: "There’s something classic about baseball,
- there’s something classic about radio, and there’s
-----------------
- Misc. citation
1/7/10, "Roger Clemens will obviously wear a Red Sox cap if he goes in the Hall of Fame," Rob Neyer, ESPN
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Tuesday, June 18, 2024
Mariano explains to Arod how to throw a cutter-June 2024, Yankee Stadium
6/10/24, “Pitching lessons from the great @MarianoRivera!! #yankees #mlb,” AROD twitter, via Pinstripe Alley
Above, Yankee Stadium, 6/10/2024, AROD twitter
From Pinstripe Alley, 6/16/24:
Both Mariano Rivera and Alex Rodriguez were at Yankee Stadium last weekend [Fri. 6/7/24-Sun., 6/9/24] for the team’s much anticipated matchup with the Los Angeles Dodgers. While there, A-Rod met up with his former teammate and got him to record a video on how to throw the cutter. Rather interestingly, Rivera says that most pitchers who we say through cutters are actually throwing sliders, because they’re not releasing it like a fastball.
He also showed how he threw a sinker, taught to him by Mel Stottlemyer.”
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Wednesday, May 29, 2024
Los Angeles Angels scoreboard thanks John Sterling for the memories, 5/28/24
May 28, 2024, “On the scoreboard between innings here in Anaheim. Nice touch.” Erik Boland twitter
Above, 5/28/24, from Erik Boland twitter
Final score 5/28/24, Angels 4, Yankees 3
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Added: Speaking of memories: One for them, one for us:
10/19/2009, ALCS game 3 vs Yankees in Anaheim, Angels win 5-4 in 11:
ALCS game 3, game tied 4-4. Mo entered the game with the winning run on 2nd. He made a throwing error to third on a bunt. Eventually bases were loaded with no out. Rivera got out of it with no runs scoring. Ground balls never left the infield. A sac fly would have won the game. The Angels did win in the 11th after Mo was gone. getty photo. Final: Angels 5, Yankees 4.
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10/25/2009, ALCS game 6, Angels at Yankees, Angels dugout, 9th inning, getty. Final score, Yankees 5, Angels 2. Two innings by Mo.
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Saturday, April 20, 2024
Empire State Building to be lit 8-9pm tonight in honor of John Sterling retiring as longtime voice of NY Yankees
4/20/24, “Tonight, from 8-9PM we will be lit in @yankees Pinstripes in honor of John Sterling’s Retirement,” Empire State Building twitter
Above, 4/20/24, Empire State Building twitter
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Added:
4/20/24, “John Sterling honored by Yankees for 36 seasons and 5,631 games as radio voice,” AP
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More:
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Friday, March 29, 2024
New York Daily News back page: Juan Soto and Gleyber Torres, Fri. 3/29/24, Yankees beat Astros 5-4 in season opener
Above, Friday, March 29, 2024, NY Daily News back page: “Juan Soto, known more for his hitting than fielding, celebrates with Gleyber Torres after Bombers beat Astros 5-4 in season opener, thanks to Soto’s clutch 9th inning throw that nails Mauricio Dubon at plate.”…via Back Page Guy NYDN
…Final, 5-4 Yankees over Astros in Houston
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Saturday, February 24, 2024
Andy Pettitte in Tampa is among guest instructors at Yankee Spring Training
2/20/24, “Plenty of former @Yankees in camp. Willie Randolph, CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte [age 51], Bernie Williams, and Nick Swisher.” Otis Livingston, @CBSNewYork
Above, 2/20/24, Andy Pettitte in Tampa with looks like Hal Steinbrenner
……………………………….
2/20/24, “Former Yankees lefties [Sabathia and Pettitte] watching bullpens this morning,“ Erik Boland twitter
…………………………………
Added:
2/25/2019, “Pettitte gained an official title with the organization on Monday [2/25/2019], as he was named a special advisor to general manager Brian Cashman.“...mlb.com
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Added: Andy is cheered by postseason crowd in chilly New York, October 25, 2009. ALCS game 6, Final 5-2, Yankees over LA Angels...(Baseball Reference, scroll down)
Andy Pettitte waves to crowd, ALCS game 6, 10/25/09, ap
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Added: As foretold: 13 years earlier, Oct. 24, 1996 World Series game 5, winning pitcher Andy Pettitte in 1-0 shutout, Yankees v Braves in Atlanta, Yankees 1, Braves 0: Andy: 8.1 IP, 96 pitches. Losing pitcher, John Smoltz:
Above, Oct. 24, 1996, World Series game 5, score 1-0 Yankees, bottom of the 9th, one out, Joe Torre relieves starting pitcher Andy Pettitte, you tube.
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Two days later, 10/26/1996, World Series game 6, Yankees defeat Braves 3-2 and win 1996 World Series. MLB video:
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