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The end came with incredible drama. The team of destiny was within grasp of the championship, but their rivals named after the serpent had the final at bat and, pouf, we lost a heartbreaker.
The Diamondbacks' victory shouldn't diminish what our boys did. Baseball fans have to be philosophical.
Finally, in this long autumn of discontent, something inspiring, uplifting and fun happens. You won't find it in the world of politics. But you will by looking at the remarkable season of the New York Yankees.
The city so terribly wounded with the horrors of terrorism and left with unending sorrow stands proudly as a symbol of our national determination to come back from adversity and to triumph.
The Yankees' comeback, after being down two games to none in the series, with the Oakland A's, then the hottest team in baseball, was a classic. Never before had a team lost the first two games at home in a playoff series and then bounced back.
The Yanks then beat up Seattle, a team that won 116 games this season.
Then, in the series, coming back with homers in the bottom of the ninth with two out in games four and five and then winning in extra innings, were two of the most memorable fall classic games ever played.
I was working in New York City when the Yanks won the series in 1978. That was the year Bucky Dent's homer beat the Boston Red Sox in a one game playoff for the American League Eastern Division title.
It was a thrill being in New York at the time and I remember it being impossible getting around Manhattan the day of the championship parade, when downtown streets were filled with people and joy, and the World Trade Center towers stood in the center of the jubilation.
But I think as much about Niagara Falls this time of the year as I do of New York City. I usually take some vacation time around playoffs and series time and enjoy a few games with Niagara Falls Reporter publisher Bruce Battaglia.
We've only been watching and talking baseball together for about 45 years. But this year I'm on the DL with a torn rotator cuff. (It 's a tennis injury, but it's ruined my 95 mph fastball).
Yankees fans do stand out for their zeal and loyalty and Niagara Falls has produced some of the greatest. In many ways, the Yankees fans in the Falls are more noticeable than their counterparts in New York City.
The fans there are divided between the Yanks and Mets and the city has so many other diversions and distractions that the Yankees actually get more attention in the Falls.
Bucky Eodice's barber shop on Hyde Park Boulevard was a living monument to the Yankees in good times and bad. Bucky always managed to produce a huge, clever sign on the outside of his shop that captured the team's performance at any given time of the season and in bad years he offered hope for next year.
My old buddy Herbie Hull remains one of the finest Yankees fans ever. The retired Department of Public Works supervisor and one-time proprietor of Candy's Grill, a legendary 18th Street establishment and Yankees stronghold, has an encyclopedic knowledge of two fascinating subjects: Niagara Falls politics and Yankees baseball. Watching a Yankees game with Herbie is a joy.
Tommy Darro of the Convention and Visitors' Bureau might be more plugged into what's happening with the Yanks at any given moment than most of the sports writers in New York. Tommy has one of those special pagers that instantly feeds him information on the developments of every Yankees game, and his devotion to the cause should have earned him a mention on the Hall of Fame plaque his pal Phil Rizzuto finally got.
My brother-in-law Cy Talarico (his real name is Gerardo, but he got the nickname when his Little League picture appeared in the paper with one eye shut) remains one of the Yankees' most passionate fans. Cy has a great knowledge of the game and when the Yanks lose he suffers with them. Cy loved Billy Martin and stuck with the temperamental manager throughout his ups and downs with the team.
But of all the Yankee fans I've known none was better than the late Adam Wilson. When he died his devotion to the Yankees was properly noted in his obituary.
Adam was married to my cousin Marjorie. He loved her, their daughter Monica, his family, his native Scotland and, of course, his beloved Yankees.
He worked at Carborundum for more than 50 years and, while others sought vacation time in the summer and holiday season, Adam always booked a week off in October -- World Series week. He followed the Yanks with steady devotion in good years and bad. When they came back as champs in the late 70's after years in the second division, no one was happier than Adam Wilson.
He was too modest and soft-spoken to brag about his own abilities, but Adam was an outstanding athlete in his own right. He could bowl and golf with the best of them, and my father-in-law Joe Bellonte tells me Adam was an exceptional basketball player in his day.
Adam's proud of the Yankees' remarkable year. Like the city and nation, they represent the team that never gave up.
Next season this great Yankees team will change, a lot of new faces will arrive. But we should remember this team. They never gave up. The snakes were playing in their desert hole.