"It's great to be young and a Yankee."

I certainly am.

Ah, what a nice way to get back into the swing of things. This week of no baseball was relaxing, though, I will admit. I remember last year when I had the ACL replacement, the original surgery was scheduled for April 9 at 6am. I went in, and they did all the pre-surgery stuff and my blood pressure was like unusually high.

It was moot because I had to end up rescheduling the surgery for the following week--OPENING DAY FOR WHICH I HAD TICKETS!--and the nurses said that basically it would behoove me to work on getting the BP down.

So for a week, I didn't watch any baseball. I ate only tuna on wheat and bananas and told my coworkers that I couldn't stay til all hours. And it worked. Like, in spades. It dropped like 30 points or whatever it's measured in. The bottom line is that a week without baseball, while seemingly aggravating and vapid, can actually be good for your health. That and bananas. Score one for the healthcare employee.

This game, however, was NOT good for my health, so basically any positive effect this stress-free week had on me was voided by the tension filled back and forth win against the Rays.

It was a long week at work, but I was able to get to my softball game last night (and I swear to God, I really thought I was gonna faint from heat stroke. It was like 6pm but felt like it was noon the way the sun was beating down. Gatorade was powerless against the 95 degree heat.)

And after that ended (in a tie, dammit) I headed downtown, sore/tired/in need of beer/in real need of hydration, to meet up with BronxBombersBeat fellow blogger/coffee break buddy emeritus Brian.

Who, incidentally, was equally agitated throughout the game.

So between the heat, the physical duress, the absence of food in our stomachs, the beer, and the stakes of a 3 game series against a team mere inches behind us in the standings...(oh, and also, the wacko music at the bar. "As I Lay Me Down To Sleep"? Really?)...things were touch and go.

The Rays have a scary line-up, I guess. I think they're getting a little like the Bengals though, in the sense that it looks better on paper than it actually is. Or better in theory. Because sometimes their hitting is awesome, but I'm just not seeing any chemistry in the team.

They tacked up 2 quickly with ribbies from Aybar and Longoria. Swish put us on with a run-scoring single, Longoria comes back to put up another ribbie during his GIDP, and the Yanks are losing 3-1.

Cano and Posada hit b2b dings (one a low rocket that left the field in a hurry, the latter a moon shot that reprieved Posada mercifully from any baserunning. He's either getting slower, or he's just looking slower since the rest of the team seems to be getting faster. Maybe both.)

Tied game!

Swish essentially sighs, "Man, guys, I have to make up all the handshakes, provide all the giggles, and now this? Do I have to do EVERYTHING around here? Well. I AM an All Star...6th inning error notwithstanding."

He nails a bomb, we take the lead. 4-3.

(OH! Speaking of errors...I don't think it's fair that the vicious attack of the broken bat should have been ruled an error on A-Rod! It was either the ball or his head, and I think our 3B did not make an error in judgement when he opted to save his head and not field the ball. Just saying.)

Fatso loads the bases in the 7th, but "escapes" giving up 1 run and the lead. And the resident "guy sitting next to you at the bar rooting for the same team as you who provides pleasant conversation about sports for a few hours and then after the game's over and part ways you realize neither of you had ever bothered with introductions" says "Well, 1 run with no outs and bases loaded? You can't really ask for more than that."

YES YOU CAN. YOU CAN ASK FOR ZERO RUNS. For the life of me, I will never understand when people say that. Kind of like when people say "I could care less." Sense: None.

4-4 and Mo comes in, and I'm loving Girardi every single time he does this bold Anti-Torre move. (Oh, also...D-Rob struck out the side. Bears mentioning because I think that bucked him right up. Kid needed that. Big time.)

When Mo came in, they cut to the beginning of the game part, the part I missed because of softball, and I swear I got chills when I saw him putting the flowers on homeplate. He is EVERYTHING that's good and right and classy about the game. He embodies integrity.

And he also picked off Upton, which Upton batty and sent him into a mini roid rage in the dugout. Well f'n played, Yanks.

2 more outs, no prob. Yanks head into the bottom of the 9th where the stage was getting set for a dramatic comeback for the Boss and for Sheppard. And the need was established to avoid the 10th inning at all costs, because lo and behold Justin Chamberlain was warming in the bullpen, boiling my blood.

But fortunately the Yanks dodged that bullet.

The hero? Same name that was thrown around all night.

Nick Swisher.

God, they celebrated like they won the WS, it was awesome. Swish hamming it up, AJ aggressively (like, REALLY aggressively) smashing pie in the face, everyone hugging, everyone doing handshakes and throwing high fives and smiling and it was amazing.

They looked like a real family.

A family who was happy to have each other in the wake of the death of their father.

Take care, Boss.

The win was for you. A stressful one, a tense one, but ultimately a great one. I'm guessing maybe it was because the Yankees know how you love seeing some fireworks.