Poll: Favorite moment of the second half

Back in July you guys voted the Alex Rodriguez/Marcus Thames tag-team walk-off comeback against Jonathan Papelbon as the best moment of the first half of the season, and now it’s time to address the second half. Here’s a recap of some of the most memorable moments from the last three-plus months, with the poll to follow…

July 16th: Swish walks off in first game after George Steinbrenner’s death (video)
For the first time since 1973, the Yankees played a game without George Steinbrenner at the helm. The Boss passed away the day of the All Star Game, and when the team he loved resumed play a few days later, they did so after honoring his memory. Nick Swisher honored in George in his own way, by doing a mean Bobby Murcer impression. Swish got the Yanks on the board with a run-scoring single in the third, trimming Tampa’s lead to 2-1. Five innings later, with his team down one, Swish teed off on a Joaquin Benoit fastball, tying the game with a solo shot to right. The game remained tied an inning later, when the man of the hour stepped to the plate with runners on first and second and two outs. Swish ended the game with a walk-off line drive single to right, scoring Curtis Granderson and sending everyone home with a smile on a day that started with tears.

July 21st: Colin Curtis pinch homers for Brett Gardner (video)
Five days after Swisher’s dramatic game, Curtis hit the first homerun of his big league career. It was a three-run shot and the Yankees were ahead at the time, so all it did was extend the lead. Nothing special, except that he didn’t even start the at-bat. Brett Gardner did, but he got tossed after taking two straight strikes and arguing with home plate ump Paul Emmel. Lil’ CC came off the bench and inherited the 0-2 count, but he then took three straight Scot Shields offerings for balls to work the count back full. The fourth pitch was in the zone and Curtis put his A-swing on it, hitting it out to right. It gave the Yanks a bit more a cushion, but for a rookie to work that kind of an at-bat off the bench was something to behold.

Aug. 16th-20th: HOPE Week (videos)
This was not a single moment. It didn’t involve any meaningful games and yet everyone won. The Yanks held their second annual HOPE Week in late August, which the official site describes as “a unique week-long community program that will bring to light five remarkable stories intended to inspire individuals into action in their own communities.” They invited a host of amazing people to Yankee Stadium during the week for a once in a lifetime experience that didn’t celebrate the Yankees, but their guests. It was one of those times when even the most dedicated of fans put baseball on the back burner. If it didn’t tug on your heartstrings, then you just don’t get it.

Aug. 11th: A Texas-style comeback (video)
The Yanks were coming off two straight losses, including a tough walk-off defeat at the hands of the Rangers with the immortal Mariano Rivera on the bump. Texas jumped all over Javy Vazquez early and often the next day, and they started the sixth inning up 6-1 with Cy Young contender Cliff Lee on the mound. Derek Jeter lead the inning off with a triple and came around to score on a wild pitch, and the Yanks tacked on two more in the seventh thanks to a Lance Berkman double and a Gardner single. Thames closed the gap to 6-5 with a solo homer in the eighth, but any further comeback would have to come against wunderkind closer Neftali Feliz. Berkman walked to lead off the ninth, was pinch hit for by Granderson who moved over on a Gardner walk. A wild pitch but the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position temporarily, because Jeter singled in the tying run one batter late. Feliz as removed from the game but it did no good; that Thames guy came through again with a go-ahead single. Rivera pitched around a leadoff triple in the ninth to earn the save and give the team arguably it’s most impressive win of the year.

Sept. 17th: A-Rod teaches Uehara a lesson (video)
Things got pretty ugly for the Yanks down the stretch, and they opened their series in Baltimore having lost eight of ten games, coughing up their lead in the AL East. A-Rod got his team on the board early with a solo homer, but they couldn’t muster anything else until Orioles’ closer Koji Uehara was on the mound in the ninth inning. Down 3-1, Jorge Posada started the inning off with a monster 11-pitch at-bat, reaching on a single. Curtis Granderson moved him over to second with a single two batters later, but Mark Teixeira popped up for the second out. That brought A-Rod to the plate, but given how poorly things were going in Yankeeland it felt like just another tease. Uehara pounded him inside pitch after pitch, and it even looked like he got strike three on a borderline pitch. Instead the home plate ump ruled it outside, and the next inside fastball caught a little too much of the plate and A-Rod put a lot of hurt on it. The three run homer gave the Yanks a 4-3 and an eventual win, one they desperately needed.

* * *

Time to vote. If you don’t think one of those five moments above wasn’t the most memorable of the second half, them tell us about it in the comments! Here’s to many more wonderful memories in the coming weeks…