MARCO!!! SCUTARO!!!

Man, last night was a breath of fresh air!!! Our Little Napoleon led the troops to victory over the Evil Empire. Torre must not have gotten the memo that Napoleon escaped from Malta and was wearing #19 for the A's last night.

After being annihilated and humiliated on National TV the night before, the A's came out and pounded against the Yanks fortress until it broke.

First it was King Richard the Lion-Heartthrob.

After walking Damon to start the game and giving up a double to Jeter he struck out the modern day Murderers row in order.

First Sheffield, then A-Rod. Next went the crest fallen, Jason of Giambi, and for a finale he K'd the mighty Godzilla on three pitches to start the 2nd.

I bet that won't happen many more times this year, if at all. In the immortal words of Bill "The" King (Paraphrased), "When you enter into the field of baseball, a wonder not yet witnessed shall befall your eyes."

Of course the Evil Empire's paid off deputies had some role to play in this game. If not for a blown call or two by the, Sherrif of "Not-a-Strikeout-Ham", that favored thier favorite son, Derek of Jeter-fame, the game would have remained scoreless into the bottom of the third.

Every patron of Left Field felt that Nick of Swisherdom owed us a run.

First, when playing buckshort, Jeter's line drive went over his head.

Then, with Jeter on base from the afore mentioned walk he misplayed Gary of Sheffield's liner to left to allow the first run of the contest to score.

He stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the third, the answer back inning!!!

After seeing a few offerings from, Mike "The Merciless" Mussina, he sent a charge into a ball that cleared the outer walls and delighted the crowd.

That shot spurred momentum to the rest of the team as they went on to take the lead with one swift blow from the Earl of Kotsay.

Back and forth this contest went, like the ancient battles of Boris "The Hun" Becker and Ivan "The Franc" Lendl.

Jason of Kendall got his second assist in as many nights at the expense of Alex "De" Rodriguez and The Duke came through to add salt in the wound by striking out the reigning MVP on a fabulous toss.

Eric "Chavez-Chavez" made sure that if the rains came the game would be tied by striking a glancing blow that barely squeaked by the outer tower in right.

Jorge "The Ugly" tried to spoil the Evening for the locals when he barely missed sending the Patriarch to the showers. Luckily the Tower in left was not as kind as it has been to the Oppositions Catcher in year's past. His Glancing Blow sailed wide left.

This all set the stage for an A-Mazing conclusion and the reappearance of Little Napoleon  from Malta.

Sir Milton "Berle" Bradley braved the rain and 4 pitches from the Proctologist to work his way to first.

Jason of Kendall then came up and executed a perfect sacrifice of his at bat in order to move Sir Milton into scoring position.

That is when the Yankees made the fatal mistake that would cost them the match.

They decided to walk Nick of Swisherdome in order to face the small replacement SS who was waiting on deck. Little did they know that he is exactly who the A's wanted to bat.

On ball two, the drums of war began to beat. The Left Field patrons began to chant Marco's name.

MARCO---SCUTARO!!!! MARCO---SCUTARO!!!

Ball three wide to Swish...

MARCO---SCUTARO!!!! MARCO SCUTARO!!!!

The fourth wide one came and Nick of Swisherdome took first...

MARCO---SCUTARO!!!! MARCO SCUTARO!!!!

With rain pouring and the crowd screaming Marco stepped up to the plate, almost smiling!!!

With one swing of the bat a shot rang out to left field. The Great Godzilla took flight. I don't know if it was the rain, the drums beating in his ear, or the power of Oaktown Mojo, but the ball narrowly averted his gallant effort and the A's were victorious!!!!

The rain soaked patrons reveled in thier victory and the shortest man on the field stood taller than Randy "The Giant".