Let us now praise Johnny Damon, the ballplayer’s ballplayer, the crucial man in last night’s 7-4 Yankee win. In the first, he doubled and scored; in the fifth, he doubled and drove in a run; and in the ninth, he won the game. With two out in a 4-4 game that the Phillies had just tied with a dramatic Pedro 
Feliz home run over an unfocused Joba Chamberlain, Damon ended a nine-pitch at-bat with a single off Brad Lidge (top left). On the very next pitch he stole second (top center), and realizing that the infield had shifted far to the right to defend against Mark Teixiera, then scampered to an uncovered third base (top right) in a move that astounded nearly everyone watching. Two pitches later, Alex Rodriguez doubled to left (ah, left). Jorge Posada then drove in two more, Mariano Rivera brushed off the last Phillie hitter 1-2-3, and now it’s on to a possible clincher against the nearly untouchable Cliff Lee. Will the Yankees have to come back to the Bronx? We’ll see. Ten down, one to go.
