Special Mo-ment

This picture of New York Yankee closer Mariano Rivera was taken by photographer Robert Gauthier of the Los Angeles Times. I love it because it shows the pitcher's eyes full of intensity and focus. With the Bronx Bombers on the verge of making a seventh World Series appearance in the last 14 years, I am positively giddy. But I am not yet celebrating because the last time the Yankees were at 3-1 they lost the last three matches of the ALCS to the Boston Red Sox. So I'm for taking care of business first. 

The last time I watched a World Series, New York lost. That was such an empty feeling as they just did not play well against the Florida Marlins to lose in six games. Seeing them win now and hopefully they go all the way is like a balm on a fresh wound.

Some have asked why I am so passionate about baseball and football. They were the sports I played and watched while growing up. I was a late bloomer for basketball ad playing the game, I only got better at it later on. 

Whenever the baseball season's on, I think of my late grandfather who introduced me to the game. He was a Yankee fan who grew up watching Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle. I inherited that love of the game and the team from him. That was augmented later on when I learned about the team's history through an almanac that mom got for me (she used to work for the US government). 

I followed the team through that long long drought that ended in 1996 when  Andy Pettitte, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, and Mo Rivera were only in the second season of their pro careers. And 14 years later, they're still chugging along and playing huge parts of this great ballclub. This season must be real special for them as it's in the new stadium where they had a season full of great memories.

This morning, I forced myself to clear up whatever was left from my lost belongings (due to Typhoon Ondoy). I lost all my Yankee books -- One Hundred Years, My Life by Paul O'Niell, and the Yankee magazines I saved from 2002-04. The stuff I saved from Sports Illustrated are gone too. My baseball cards from my teen years are worthless pieces of cardboard. My personalized autographed pics of former players Jason Giambi, Scott Proctor, Bernie Williams, and Kevin Brown are missing. What I still have are my five DVDs of Yankeeography and 100 Years of the New York Yankees.

I plopped one inside the DVD player and lost myself for a couple of hours. 

Let's go, Yankees!