Discussion: Where Were You When Boone Went Deep?

By Moshe Mandel On March 9, 2011 · 36 Comments · In Former Players, History

Today is ‘s birthday, and I thought it would be fun to celebrate the occasion by trading war stories about the night that Boone vanquished the hated Red Sox and sent the Yankees to the 2003 World Series with one swing of the bat. I’ll get things started.

I was a sophomore in Queens College at the time, and one of my professors saw fit to schedule a midterm that night. I finished the exam at about 9:15 and headed out to my father’s car, as he had come to pick me up and take me home. When I got in, he gave me the bad news: the Yankees were down 4-0 in the 4th, had just been knocked from the game, and was entering with two on and nobody out. In a way, this was a good thing, as I had missed all of the excruciatingly bad stuff and got to see the exciting comeback. Of course, I did not know it at the time, which made for an mind-numbing 3 hours.

Mussina got a strikeout and a double play to escape from the jam, and my father pulled into our driveway just as took Pedro Martinez deep to cut the deficit to 4-1. I settled down in front of the television alone, as is my wont in elimination games. The innings began to disappear and the Yankees seemed to be running out of time, and I could feel the knot in the pit of my stomach tightening with each successive out. The bottom of the 7th came and played with my emotions, as Giambi homered again to cut the lead to 4-2. However, the Yankees put two on with two out, and I destroyed a remote against the wall when flailed at strike 3 to end the threat. When gave up a homer to to make it a 3 run game again, all seemed lost.

Then came the 8th inning. misplayed Jeter’s double, Bernie singled, Grady Little went insane, Matsui doubled, Grady Little remained insane, Posada blooped a double into short center field and I, like many Yankees fans, was euphoric. A Yankee victory seemed inevitable at that point. However, the Yankees left the bases loaded in that inning, and then both teams traded zeroes through the top of the 11th. pitched all three innings for the Yankees, a herculean effort that looked like it was going to be wasted, as the Yankees entered the 11th with Boone, , and a struggling slated to hit and Jose Contreras warming in the pen.

And then, out of nowhere, Boone sent a shot deep into the October night, over the left field fence and into Yankee lore. I could try to explain that moment, that feeling of pure joy and euphoria, the kind of feeling that leads a 20 year old to yell out on the top of his lungs and just laugh uncontrollably while standing alone in a room with the sounds of Yankee Stadium and the glow of the television as his only companion. But any such description would come up short, and I’m sure most of you experienced it yourself on that fine autumn night. Chime in below with your own recollection of that night, and to hear Boone’s version.

Tagged with: 2003 • Aaron Boone • ALCS • New York Yankees

36 Responses to Discussion: Where Were You When Boone Went Deep?

says:

March 9, 2011 at 3:04 pm

Loge Box 503, sitting four rows in front of a bunch of loud Red Sox fans who didn’t say a word after 8th inning. I’ve been to two WS clinchers (technically three, but 2003 was on the wrong end), and whole bunch of other kickass games, but this was the greatest of them all.

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- Moshe Mandel says:
  
  March 9, 2011 at 3:09 pm
  
  That’s awesome. One thing I left out: I had tickets to game 7 but traded them for tickets to Game 6 because I had the exam. So I was there in the freezing wind the night before, when Pettitte and Co. lost to Burkett and Co. Ugh.
  
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- Larry Koestler says:
  
  March 9, 2011 at 3:21 pm
  
  Like Jordan, I too was sitting in the Loge that game, though I don’t remember what box. I was on the third-base side, between home and third.
  
  To this day it remains the greatest sporting event I’ve ever been in attendance for. Stayed at the Stadium for what felt like an hour afterward, screaming “New York, New York” at the top of my lungs over and over again and ensuring that I had absolutely no voice whatsoever for several days following.
  
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J-Doug says:

March 9, 2011 at 3:11 pm

In my dorm room at U Albany, alone because nobody likes to watch playoff baseball with me (it’s not a pretty site). Thanks to the way FOX structures its commercial breaks I’m not even sure I saw him make contact, but I’ll always remember the aftermath.

I already blew a midterm, moping after the Cubs loss instead of studying, and I’m not even a Cubs fan. I had another midterm two days later. I have Aaron Boone to thank for my A in that course and, by extension, for my perfect GPA in Political Science.

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- Moshe Mandel says:
  
  March 9, 2011 at 3:27 pm
  
  I’ll watch non-elimination games with people, but I only watch elimination games with other devout fans, or alone. I can’t handle watching a game that could end my team’s season with someone who is not invested and is just yapping about other stuff.
  
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  - Harry Gottlieb says:
    
    March 9, 2011 at 7:18 pm
    
    Heh, I know this feeling all too well… Lots of my friends hop on the bandwagon and want me to update them on the season come playoff time…
    
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Patrick Pearson says:

March 9, 2011 at 3:19 pm

I was in section 53, back row under the Dunkin Donuts sign. I’ll never forget walking out of the stadium and onto the walkway for the 4 train above River Ave which was filled with people chanting, “1918!” in unison. Gives me goosebumps thinking about the moment, I’ve never hugged more strangers in one night.

Bes part? My dad went to the bathroom at the half innning and ran out when he heard the cheers. He missed it! haha

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- Moshe Mandel says:
  
  March 9, 2011 at 3:29 pm
  
  Ah, all you bastards who actually got to attend the game. I’ll always hate my professor for that.
  
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xoxYANKEES says:

March 9, 2011 at 3:26 pm

I too was a sophomore in college on that glorious night. I went to a friend’s off campus apartment and we watched there. The game had so many highs and lows — I’ll never forget it. Looking back, I always remember the shot by Boone in slow motion. A friend and I were apparently subconsciously moving closer and closer to the TV because we were on the couch when Aaron stepped into the box but were inches away from the TV screen (hugging, jumping, and screaming) when the ball went over the wall. My phone rang within seconds and my best friend (who unfortunately went to another school) and I literally had a 15 minute phone conversation that was completely incoherent — endless screaming and laughing. I went to school in Connecticut — smack in the middle of a huge NYY and BOS divide — so walking into my dorm later with my Yankee gear on was a great night cap on an amazing night. I got a mixture of high fives and death looks. This night was one of the best sports moments of my life.

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- Moshe Mandel says:
  
  March 9, 2011 at 3:28 pm
  
  My brother called me right after it happened, and we just yelled at each other through the phone for a while. It was such a crazy experience.
  
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says:

March 9, 2011 at 3:29 pm

Chicago, first semester, second year of law school. During that postseason, obviously, that entire city was going insane about the Cubs. Along with that came this crazy sense of anticipation that it would be a Cubs/Sox World Series. Cubs fans, in a sense, seemed to see themselves as ‘Nation-Midwest,’ the fanbase had a lot in common with the Sox’ fanbase around then. Not to mention that, like everywhere else, anyone without a personal rooting interest in that ALCS was rooting for the Sox.

So, Game 7… Cubbies had already blown their NLCS, so at least that noise had died down, but the Cubs fans were all rooting for the Sox as some kind of weird proxy for their team. Watched the game in the apartment of some guys I went to school with, with a bunch of people from school, maybe 12-15. Maybe there was one other person there rooting for the Yanks, but I remember being the only one. Few Sox fans there, the rest rooting for the Sox just because. I sat in one spot the entire game, except for the random beer and/or bathroom run in between innings. They had a big, empty room, white walls, with a big TV in it, so we were all in there. I sat near the back wall, against the side wall, with my knees pulled up against my chest, kind of rocking forward and backward with nervous energy. I remember taking a lot of shit early in the game, but then people all kind of getting quiet as the Yanks mounted their comeback and they gave us some free baseball to watch. I couldn’t even really say much of anything when the Yanks came back to tie the game because I was still so nervous, I think the beer-runs just felt a little less like marches toward inevitable pissed-offness. When that ball came off of Boone’s bat, though, I freaking exploded. All that energy pent up all night – in one motion I was in the air, jumping around, hat in my hand, cheering. Then I remember calling my buddies and my dad and everyone just being delirious. We went to our weekly “bar review” (school had a party at a different bar every week… cute, I know) and I remember being in this totally random city and seeing random strangers in the streets or in the bar with Yankees hats or shirts on and high-fiving and talking with them. Everyone was just so insane after that game.

The next day I noticed the bizarre remnant of that night: I’d apparently been chewing on my arm while I was sitting on the floor all pent-up all night and I’d literally taken a patch of hair off my arm. Totally gross, but still it was a funny reminder of that night for a couple of weeks.

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MJ says:

March 9, 2011 at 3:33 pm

At home, in my old apartment on 79th street & York Avenue, pacing up and down in my living room while on the phone with my (now ex-) girlfriend, watching the game “together.” The funny thing is that she lived just a block or so away. I just couldn’t bear to watch that game with anyone else within 100 yards of me.

I don’t exactly remember the first few innings and, in truth, my only memories of the game begin with the rally in the 8th inning. I’ll never forget Posada’s manic fist pumping as he reached second on that double to CF. Once that happened, I remember every single detail of the rest of the night.

Although I was at home alone that night, I couldn’t speak for three full days afterwards. I screamed and yelled so much (and talked on the phone with at least a dozen people) that I was hoarse until the following Monday.

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Leonardo says:

March 9, 2011 at 3:37 pm

I was a Freshman at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Ma. I was in my dorm, Mulledy Hall Room 68. There was a group of us sitting around the floor, some on the edge of beds, everyone completely focused on the game. I remember my roommates friend from home was over for the weekend. He sat on a chair directly to my left, and as Roger Clemens exited the game in the 4th, he completely absentmindedly asked someone who would start the first game of the World Series for “us.” Us, meaning the Red Sox of course. Needless to say the amount of confidence he had in asking such a question, was incredibly annoying. I was surrounded though, literally everyone in the room except me was rooting for the Sox (along with 2 lone Met fans), so I just took a long swig from my beer and continued watching. I had only known these people for a couple of months, and this kid, I didn’t know at all, I needed to be civil. Anyway, it was crazy. Everything that happened after Clemens left, all the way up to the home run. The eerie thing for me, is how completely silent everything became when he hit it. I had all this emotion pent up, that I couldn’t really show because there was no one around to share it with. Either way, we stuck it to them good!

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JayL says:

March 9, 2011 at 3:47 pm

I was a junior in high school in NH. All my friends were sox fans and I had been watching the game with them. Since it was high school a number of them had to head home before the game was over. I remember that night going from sulking and depressed and jeered at by my friends all night. When the yanks tied the game up they started to trickle out. By the time Boone hit that shot I was alone in my living room. I remember that the broadcast was late coming back from commercial, and it snapped back as Boone was swinging, so there was no time for anticipation, just pure euphoria as the ball seemed to sprout wings and fly into the night. I don’t think I ever even saw it land, I was too busy jumping around and calling my friends on their cell phones to return the insults I had been dealing with all night. Obviously that was one of my favorite moments as a Yankee and a baseball fan.

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Jonathan says:

March 9, 2011 at 3:50 pm

In bed, in the dark, with a clock radio on my chest. My wife was asleep and I had it turned down low. Awesome.

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- Moshe Mandel says:
  
  March 9, 2011 at 3:51 pm
  
  I love that. Did you yell? or do one of those silent “OMG my whole body is bursting with excitement” type things?
  
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  - says:
    
    March 9, 2011 at 4:07 pm
    
    Yeah I agree, that’s fantastic. How could you possibly react so quietly/with so little movement than the wife wouldn’t wake up?
    
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    - Jonathan says:
      
      March 9, 2011 at 7:47 pm
      
      Naturally, my quiet scream of joy woke her up. I gave her the good news and she rolled over and went back to sleep.
      
      Do you know how hard it is to keep John Sterling quiet? Wait, you don’t have to answer that.
      
      Reply
Bobby M says:

March 9, 2011 at 3:50 pm

I was at home, watching the game with my mom, dad, and brother. I was only 12 at the time.. but remember that moment as vividly as any in my entire life. Having been in Massachusetts my whole life, I suffered through ridicule for liking the Yanks.. Boone certainly made school fun the next day!

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Stephen says:

March 9, 2011 at 3:50 pm

I was in my living room standing up with my hands of my head praying for a win that 1/2 inning because it was over for us as soon as someone other than Rivera took the mound.

Then I was running down the hallway as my dad was running up the stairs…our family then did a “Yankees walkoff-style” jump up and down in the kitchen whilst screaming like idiots haha.

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- Moshe Mandel says:
  
  March 9, 2011 at 3:52 pm
  
  I think all of us were praying. I remember dreading the 12th inning.
  
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says:

March 9, 2011 at 3:57 pm

If i recall correctly, I was on my way to a business meeting in Tampa, FL that day. Had plane troubles all day. It was really a sucky day overall. But got to the hotel a little after the game started and spent the rest of the night working and watching the game. Not a real exciting story.

I did get a noise complaint though. I went bats**t crazy in the 8th, like most did, and got a call telling me that other people were being disturbed. heh.

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HyShai says:

March 9, 2011 at 3:58 pm

I was by an Exxon station filling up with gas with my father in the drivers seat and he pumped up the volume so i could hear it through the door. I did a dance around the pump. Good Times!

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Andy in Sunny Daytona says:

March 9, 2011 at 4:01 pm

I was in a bar/nightclub here in Daytona Beach which was being run by a fellow Yankee fan. About 90% of the people there couldn’t have cared less about the game. 2 minutes after Boone hits the homer, my buddy calls the owner of Daytona Budweiser (distributor) and gets us tickets to Game 5 in Miami (damn you Boomer for having a fragile back).

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says:

March 9, 2011 at 7:06 pm

I was in my mom’s basement. (No, seriously)

She and my stepdad had gone to bed before the game was over (Sox fans, but not diehards or anything). The next morning, I’m getting ready for work and she said something along the lines of “I’m sorry the Yankees lost and you have to go face all of those Sox fans at work.” I told her not to worry, I’d be fine since the Yankees came back and won. She didn’t believe me.

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Harry Gottlieb says:

March 9, 2011 at 7:24 pm

I was 15 at the time. It was the night of Hoshana Rabba, when there is a long Torah-reading in the synagouge… The more the game went on, I couldn’t help not knowing what was going on so I slipped upstairs into the women’s gallery where I met one of my friends listening on the radio… He kept on shutting it off during commercial breaks so when it actually happened, we hadn’t been listening since it was right after the break. So all of a sudden we hear screams from the street, so he turns it back on and we hear Sterling’s and Steiner’s historical joint “THHHHEEEEEE YANKEES WINNNNN!!!” We wanted to scream out loud of course, but then we remembered where we were, so we just ran outside and joined the celebration in the street…

The long walk back home that night was the sweetest of my doggone life…

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- Moshe Mandel says:
  
  March 9, 2011 at 7:29 pm
  
  Heh. Mishne Torah. I skipped it, much to the chagrin of my father. He was not pleased.
  
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  - Harry Gottlieb says:
    
    March 9, 2011 at 7:50 pm
    
    This was my favorite moment as Yankee fan up until A-Rod’s bomb off Nathan (but that’s probably due to it being more recent; over time, Boone’s homer will probably recapture the top spot because it was obviously a much more important moment on a team level, whereas A-Rod’s was more important on a personal level for him).
    
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lenNY's Yankees says:

March 9, 2011 at 8:13 pm

I was just 13, and my dad had gone to bed after the 11th inning. I sat alone in my TV room at the edge of my couch for all of extra innings and stood for pivotal pitches. When Boone launched the first pitch of the 13th, I felt everyone in my neighborhood needed to hear about it. So I yelled to make sure they did. Oh yeah, I was in Hanover, N.H. – a branch of Red Sox nation.

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Steve S. says:

March 9, 2011 at 8:21 pm

I was home, watching with my bulldog Jake. Am I the only one who thought the Yanks were going to win that game the entire night?

I’m often wrong about these things (I was even more confident they’d beat FLA) and I’ll freely admit I was a nervous wreck before the game began. But once the game started, I had a Torre-esque zen-like confidence the entire night. Largely based on the fact that I had seen Boston blow these games my entire life, and figured they’d find a way to screw this one up as well. When Boone hit the HR, I was just like “Oh, finally” and went right to sleep.

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Adam says:

March 9, 2011 at 9:00 pm

This was one of my more memorable experiences watching the Yankees and sports in general, although I’m sure it sounds ridiculous. I was a freshman in college at a bar in Providence (they let everyone in bars there) and I ended up hanging with a handful of Yankee fans who there to stay away from my obnoxious buddies who were all belligerent Sox fans. Things were fine until the end of the game and a few of the Yankee fans I was with worked up a little liquid courage started mouthing off until the whole thing escalated into an all out fight in the bar. Things got crazy and the bouncers got a hold of me and was dragging me out the bar when just as I was about to be literally tossing me out the door I saw Boone hit the dinger. Not my proudest moment, but it was certainly memorable.

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JayDub says:

March 9, 2011 at 10:59 pm

I was in 8th grade at the time and was the only die-hard Yankee fan at my San Diego school. My dad is from New York and still has his 1951 WS program. I remember pacing around the house telling my dad that the game was over. He kept saying, “never count the Yankees out”–as you can imagine he grew prouder of his prophetic words as the game progressed. I was in the middle of one of my pessimistic diatribes when Boone went yard and to this day, I have never seen my normally-stoic father get so excited over a baseball game. My mom wanted me to go to bed, but I resisted and my dad and I watched the replays over and over late into the night. One of my fondest father-son memories ever.

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The Captain says:

March 9, 2011 at 11:49 pm

I was 17 years old, first semester in my senior year in high school.

I remember that I watched the entire game, at home, mostly by myself because my dad went to bed some time around the 8th inning because he was old.

I let out a big shout after Jeter’s double in the 8th, woke my parents up with the yell following Bernie’s single to the point that my old man came downstairs to watch the rest of the 8th inning with me, high fiving and fist pumping like maniacs through the completion of it. After that ended, he left again and I was left to muffle yells, pump my fist, hang my head, hide my eyes, and fire the TV controller into the couch multiple times until the bottom of the 11th.

I remember not having much faith in Boone, but I let out another huge scream as the ball left his bat, bringing my old man downstairs again just in time to catch him cross home plate. We stood there, yelling and high fiving for a few minutes until he went to bed again. I, on the other hand, did not go to bed at all. I just sat there for the rest of the night, watching all the celebrations, interviews, and replays, knowing that I witnessed something special, and feeling like a better fan for it for watching every pitch of every inning from beginning to end.

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Matt Warden says:

March 10, 2011 at 7:38 am

I was sitting in my dorm room at the University of New Hampshire. I was surrounded by 5 of my closest college friends (who were all Sox fans of course). The collective groan produced from that hit was truly divine.

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Craig says:

March 10, 2011 at 2:06 pm

One of the top three nights of my life – if not No. 1.

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