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1997 -
The A's break out for three runs in the bottom of the 8th to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead that proves to be the final score. Jason Giambi - in just his second full season in the bigs - puts the A's in front with a two-run homer. The A's add a third run on an RBI-single courtey of Izzy Molina. Billy Taylor earns his second save on the young season by inducing a 1-6-3 double play off the bat of Bernie Williams.
1998-
Scott Spiezio's grand slam off David Cone highlights a 5-run sixth as the A's crush New York, 7-3.
In the lineup for the A's that day: Rickey Henderson (AL MVP 1990), Kevin Mitchell (NL MVP 1989) and Jason Giambi (who would win AL MVP honors in 2000).
2006-
A night after suffering a 15-2 shellacking at the hands of the Yankees - in the season opener, no less - the A's bounce back with a walk-off win to stun New York. Excerpt from Generation A's Fans (shameless plug alert):
I brought my co-worker Vince tonight. We were in section 127 under the overhang, which was perfect, considering the Bay Area’s month-long impersonation of Seattle. Christina and Greg took the evening off, leaving me to win this one on my own. We arrived a little late, with Rich Harden already in a jam; a clean-shaven Johnny Damon on third and Derek Jeter on second. But the young gun got out of it in style, striking out A-Rod, Gary Sheffield, and Jason Giambi in succession.
The mood wasn’t nearly as festive as last night, which could be expected if we were playing the Devil Rays, but come on, these are still the Yankees. Their fans were ever-present, but much more subdued, perhaps fatigued from cheering their team to two touchdowns the night before. I watched from the beer line as Nick Swisher homered to tie things up at one, and got back to my seat in time to see Mark Kotsay drive in Marco Scutaro with a sharp single to right.
The 2-1 lead was short-lived as the Yankees broke through with a run in the fourth and forged ahead in the sixth on a Jorge Posada base hit.
In the bottom half, Eric Chavez stepped up. “Come on, Eric, pretend it’s June and get a hold of one”, I thought to myself, as I reached for my beer. The roar of the crowd caught my attention and I looked up to see the ball heading towards the right-field bleachers.
Tied again.
And it stayed that way until the bottom of the ninth, thanks to some stellar pitching from the pen: Justin Duchscherer, Joe Kennedy, and Huston Street. Vince turned to me and said the A’s “are going to win it in this inning”. Great. He’s been to one baseball game in his life prior to tonight and already he’s throwing out predictions. Well, he was right. Milton Bradley led off with a walk and Jason Kendall laid down a beauty of a bunt to get him to second. After an intentional walk to Swisher, Scutaro took his turn at bat. A career .255 hitter, the Venezuelan often turns it up a notch in the clutch, and he delivered again with a shot over the head of leftfielder Hideki Matsui to bring home Bradley with the season’s first win.
(Editor's note - my book came out before I was introduced to AN; forgive the use of "clutch.")
