THANK YOU HEDY, THANK YOU! ...IT'S HEADLEY!

That title is loosely based on a scene from Blazing Saddles featuring Harvey Korman and Mel Brooks.  Whenever I think of Chase Headley, for some odd reason, I think of Hedley Lamarr.  I'm weird like that... go figure.

I've become fond of Chase Headley on the New York Yankees.  He makes me smile.  He's been a joy to watch, both defensively and offensively.  Tonight was big for Headley, his third walk-off game as a New York Yankee and it was thrilling, because as you know, every game counts now.

Shane Greene started and was magnificent.  You gotta love this kid and I'm excited about his future with the Yankees.   Greene went 6.2 innings, he gave up 3 hits and 0 runs.   He did not get the win.

The Yankees scored 2 runs tonight mid game.  One came in the 5th when Stephen Drew doubled and knocked in Chase Headley. 

In the 6th, Derek Jeter hit a solo shot to the leftfield seats. The stadium went nuts and they should have!

When Shawn Kelley came in, he gave up a 2 run homer to Jose Bautista to tie it up.  Unbelievable.  But something big happened in the 9th, and alot of it won't be publicized because the story was the walk-off tonight... but this is important;  The Yankees manufactured a run to win! SERIOUSLY! I know, right???

When Chris Young singled, he was replaced with speedster Antoan Richardson. Richardson then stole second and Brett Gardner bunted with 2 strikes moving the runner to 3.  Beautiful sacrifice.

Then, Headley came up and reached on a fielding error by Adam Lind and scoring was Antoan Richardson.  The Yankees win... The Yankees win!!!

It was a nice win and a necessary one.  And then I got to thinking. As I watched Derek Jeter hit a home run tonight, I made a statement in my head which I'll relay to you now;  I won't be mad about this season any more.  It is what it is.  

There is a very slim chance we make the wild card this year, and even if you do, and possibly make it to the World Series and win the whole thing or not... It doesn't change the fact that Jeter's retiring.  Watching that Gatorade ad today really hit home.


Even non-Yankee fans tweeted me about it:

I’m a grown man and not a @Yankees fan but that @Gatorade ad saluting Derek Jeter brought a tear to my eye. @BleednYankeeBlu #MANUP
— Vic Garcia (@MrVicGarcia) September 18, 2014

The fact of the matter is, Jeet is hanging it up. While it's sad, and while the Yankees didn't play up to their potential this year, the anger needs to disappear now. We need to honor the Captain.  Let's be grateful for the opportunity we had to see the Captain play all these years.  It was a joy.

So the anger stops on BYB.  We move forward. We celebrate the Captain from now until the season ends.  Hopefully that's through the playoffs and World Series, right?

Cross your fingers...

Final: Yankees 3 - Blue Jays 2

I leave you with this:



Go Yanks!

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