What has been your favorite Yankees post season moment in your lifetime?
Paul Semendinger – Without a doubt, and there have been many great moments I have enjoyed (among them being Bernie Williams’ homer off Randy Myers, Game 6 of the 1996 World Series, Joe Girardi’s triple in that game, The flip by Jeter, Hideki Matsui in 2009, Didi’s big Wild Card homer, Greg Bird’s blast off Andrew Miller… there are so many!), but, without a doubt, the singular best post season memory of my life, now and forever, was watching Reggie Jackson hit three balls deep into the night on October 18, 1977 and watching the Yankees win the World Series as part of that epic performance. REG-GIE! REG-GIE! REG-GIE! I smile every time I think of that night. I always will. It was The Best!
Lincoln Mitchell – It is still this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS6HGwoRrkY I have many post-season memories, but Chris Chambliss’s home run is the one that made me a Yankees fan for life. I had begun following baseball in 1975 and started rooting for the Yankees around then. Seeing them win the pennant this way at a very young age hooked me.
Derek McAdam – One of the first memories of baseball I have was watching the Yankees win the World Series in 2009. Shane Victorino grounded to second baseman Robinson Cano, who threw to first baseman Mark Teixeira to win the World Series for the first time in nine years. I remember Joe Buck enthusiastically saying, “The Yankees are back on top!” The smiles on Alex Rodriguez, Teixeira, Cano and so many others were absolutely majestic as they won their first ever World Series. Of as today, it is the only World Series I have seen the Yankees win in person and has by far been the highlight of my career.
Andy Singer – This one is easy for me. I was in 7th grade when the 9/11 attacks occurred. Baseball was the closest thing to normalcy that many of us felt in the weeks that followed. I was lucky enough to live on a block surrounded by close family friends, and I watched more than a few playoff games that October in the family room across the street that had what seemed like the biggest TV I had ever seen in someone’s house. A large group of us were huddled around the TV, hoping that the Yankees could find some magic after falling behind 2-0 to the A’s in the ALDS. Moose was in trouble, clinging desperately to a 1-run lead when Terrance Long whacked a hard shot to RF. Shane Spencer made one of the worst throws you could make in that situation, and it looked like the A’s we’re going to get a run and all the momentum they needed to take the series. All of us were shouting at the TV. Out of nowhere, Jeter came into the frame like a blur, grabbing the ball and in one motion flipping it to Posada to nab Jeremy Giambi at the plate. I’ll never forget all of us high-fiving, hugging, and there may or may not have been an air horn that made an appearance. To this day, the Jeter Flip is one of the more vivid memories I have of watching baseball. The other most vivid memory involves the current Yankee manager, but I’ll save that for the off-season if the Yankees win it all. Either way, the Jeter Flip is my favorite playoff memory.
Matthew Cohen – October 2, 1978. The Bucky Dent Game. My favorite moment was not the home run (although it was close).
The game was played on the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah. I was watching with an eye on the clock because we had to go to temple. We drove to temple and I was listening in the car on the way. When we finally found a parking spot, the Red Sox were down to their final batter, Carl Yastrzemski. We were running late and my mother yelled, “Come on, we’re late, we have to go!” My father (who was actually a Giants fan) looked at her and said, “It’s the final out, we’re going to wait and see what happens.” Of course, Yastrzemski popped out to third to end the game. The Yankees went on to beat the Dodgers in the World Series.
I’ll never forget my dad standing up for the rights of a young Yankee fan that day.
Patrick Gunn – My favorite postseason moment is actually a more recent one, it’s Brett Gardner’s two-run single against Cody Allen against Cleveland. No, it’s not the flashiest play, but it was the moment when the Yankees officially, to me, completed their epic comeback against a team that many thought was the best in baseball. And that was for good reason, given that Cleveland had just set a MLB record for the longest winning streak. This hit ended the Indian’s season and it came out of something that Yankees team – and this team currently – had stood for: grit. Gardner forced a twelve-pitch at-bat after being down 1-2 in the count and roped a single to right field that allowed two runners to score (one coming home on an error) that all but wrapped up the Bomber’s comeback. It may not be something most fans remember, but it’s a moment that will always stick with me.
Honorable mention: Raul Ibanez’s home run off Jose Valverde to tie the game vs. the Tigers in the 2012 ALCS. This moment is special because, after several years of the Tigers bullying the Yankees, Ibanez finally broke through against Detroit. The hit came in a losing effort, but it was still one of the Yankees’ best moments this decade.
Jacob Gaba – Although the Yankees have won three World Series in my lifetime, I only remember 2009. I was a ten-year-old, Derek Jeter admiring, kid who didn’t fully understand the meaning of winning that title. I was happy, but I didn’t understand the history and the context of that Yankees team. I haven’t experienced the same dominance that my mom and grandfather experienced when they were growing up (they are the ones who got me into the Yankees). I appreciate getting to see that 2009 World Series victory more and more every day as I spent my teen years watching the Yankees falter and then come out of an enormous rebuild. There’s just nothing like seeing your team win the World Series.
Ethan Semendinger – 2009. Without a doubt, 2009. Hideki Matsui, my idol, came up so big. There was tremendous joy for me in watching my hero deliver big hit after big hit. I was so happy the Yankees won, but I was more happy that the hero was Hideki. I knew that the 2009 World Series would be his last as a Yankee. I just knew, in my heart, that he wouldn’t return. I was so sad about that, so the joy I felt in watching him succeed and be the MVP of the World Series was something special. (I cried the next year when he was given his ring as a member of the Angels. Matsui was just so special to me.)
