Dripping with sweat and champagne, New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter found a relatively dry Reggie Jackson in the cramped visitors’ clubhouse Saturday at Fenway Park.
Jeter approached the Hall of Famer, a special adviser to the Yankees, as Jackson dispensed handshakes after New York’s 8-4 victory over Boston clinched its eighth straight American League East championship.
The Yankees’ current Mr. Everything received permission from Mr. October, then uncorked a new bottle and poured its contents over Jackson’s head. They hugged. Jackson kissed Jeter on the cheek and said, “You deserve this.”
That’s what Jeter and his teammates have been thinking for several weeks.
“We’ve been through a lot, and a lot of people counted us out,” Jeter said. “But everyone in here thought we could win the division. This is just the first step, but everyone here should be real proud.”
In baseball annals, this will look like just another ho-hum Yankees division title. It was anything but.
“This was one of the most difficult, without question,” Jeter said. “I don’t know if you can rate how gratifying each one is, because every one is a little bit different, but this is probably the most difficult one we have had.”
The once-invincible Bronx Bombers were nine games behind first-place Baltimore on May 7 and four games in back of the Red Sox as late as Sept. 10. The Yankees have won 16 of their last 20 to complete their improbable–but not truly unexpected–comeback.
New York sealed it with Saturday’s victory. After allowing a two-run homer to Manny Ramirez in the first inning and escaping a bases-loaded jam in the second, Randy Johnson (17-8) retired 13 of 15 batters before giving up a bases-empty homer to Tony Graffanino in the bottom of the seventh.
Johnson struck out eight and allowed only five hits in 7 1/3 innings for his fifth win in six starts against the Red Sox and his sixth straight victory overall this season.
“He’s pitched well every time we have faced Boston,” Jeter said. “Every game out seems like a bigger game for him and he does better.”
