A perfect day in the Bronx


My son Bob and I went to our first Yankees game in years because it was Yogi Berra day. It was Yogi's official return to the stadium after 14 years of feuding with Steinbrenner. Little did we know that it would be historic on more ways than that. After the first inning, I looked over at Bob and said "There was one ninth of a perfect game." I may have been the first person in the stadium to use that word. By the fifth inning, other people were starting to say the P word. By the 7th inning, every pitch was met with a tidal wave of cheers. By the ninth inning, every pitch was a heart-stopping event followed by an earthquake. The picture I took at the moment the game ended was a complete blur. The top shot seems to be about three seconds later. You can see the last batter just vacating the batter's box. The Montreal Expos' first base coach is leisurely walking to the dugout. Even the umps look a bit stunned. All of the rest of us were either running, screaming, or jumping.

This was the second time in my life that I was a witness to that kind of perfection. Thirty years before, I visited a bowling alley at a time my mother had started a game with 5 strikes. By the time she had upped the count to 12, the place just came to a complete halt. On the last roll, 9 pins went flying, and one teetered on the edge of the lane, but stayed standing. David Cone's day more than made up for that.


This picture was taken about 8 seconds after the end of the game.


Down the ramp, into the subway, and on the train home, the atmosphere was as joyous as any tickertape parade. Life should always be like that.

You might also enjoy my page of quotes about losing in baseball at http://faculty.quinnipiac.edu/libraries/tballard/losing.html

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Since the page was revised on October 23, 2003.