Parting shot. (Here Below).A FUNNY THING HAPPENED to us at the forum that housed the epic fifth game of the 2001 World Series. In a game that produced glittering pitching, huge suspense, and an incredible ninth-inning, two-out, game-tying home run, it was a unique off-the-field incident that produced the truly magic moment of the game. It happened in the top half of the inning in·ning n. 1. a. Baseball One of nine divisions or periods of a regulation game, in which each team has a turn at bat as limited by three outs. b. innings (used with a sing. . As the Yankees took their positions in the field, trailing by a run, a murmur murmur /mur·mur/ (mur´mer) [L.] an auscultatory sound, particularly a periodic sound of short duration of cardiac or vascular origin. anemic murmur a cardiac murmur heard in anemia. started drifting out from the crowded stands, and then slowly swelled into a chant: "Paul O'Neill Paul O'Neill may refer to:
It was incredible - a farewell to a favorite son - right-fielder Paul O'Neill. He was retiring after the Series, and fans were saying goodbye to him as it appeared likely that it would be O'Neill's last appearance in Yankee pin-stripes. O'Neill had never been a homegrown home·grown adj. 1. Raised or grown at home. 2. Originating in or characteristic of a locality: "Rock is homegrown music in the United States, evolved from blues and country and Tin Pan Alley" product or an immortal athlete. He had come to the Yankees in a trade and gave them nine solid years of hustle hus·tle v. hus·tled, hus·tling, hus·tles v.tr. 1. To jostle or shove roughly. 2. To convey in a hurried or rough manner: hustled the prisoner into a van. , intensity, loyalty, team spirit, and solid, if not superlative, performance. He was the team good guy, the kind of player that the fans wind up loving - and that's what they were conveying at parting. Paul O'Neill stood there before them his face moving oddly, his hands fiddling with his cap, spitting in his glove and rubbing the moisture into the pocket, eyes looking straight ahead, never turning toward the crowd. Too much the pro for that. The crowd never let up in their chant. After the third out, O'Neill started jogging jogging Aerobic exercise involving running at an easy pace. Jogging (1967) by Bill Bowerman and W.E. Harris boosted jogging's popularity for fitness, weight loss, and stress relief. toward the dugout dugout: see canoe. , his eyes trained straight ahead with the chant still swelling around him. Upon reaching the edge of the dugout, he finally looked straight up at the crowd. He removed his cap, pointed it at the crowd, then pulled it back to his head and skipped into the dugout and vanished. We have seen every Yankee icon in their farewell game - Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle, Berra, Martin, and Mattingly - all of whom were cheered to the echo. None received the strange and awesome goodbye that was conferred upon Paul O'Neill. |
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