Happy New Year! Let’s make the first post of the year about the decade that just past. Everyone is talking about their top moments, why not have NYBD add their top “New York Baseball Moments of the Decade” in order of my favorite. One warning, these aren’t all positives, for either side of town.

1. 2000 Subway Series: Best overall moment. How can you not appreciate something that took 44 years to return? Who would have thought after the 56′ World Series the next time the Yankees squared off against a New York opponent there would be a DH, free agency, and it would be a team not called the Giants or Dodgers. Worthy of the top spot in my opinion and happened the first year of the decade as well!

2. Aaron Boone’s Homer in Game 7 2003 ALCS: Thought about giving it the top spot, but settled for number two. Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS was a classic game, right up there with other big time games in my short time watching baseball (86 NLCS Game 6, 86 WS Game 6, 96′ WS Game 4). The Yankees were dead, and buried, as the Sox were counting down the outs till they finally broke the curse, then Grady Little struck, Mariano Rivera pitched three scoreless innings, and Aaron Boone deposited a knuckleball into the left field seats. I actually felt the Sox pain that night.

3. Piazza’s Post 9-11 Home Run – Very rarely does a regular season game hit the top list. Obviously 9-11 was bigger than baseball, but the electricity at Shea that night could be felt through my car radio. Piazza always had a flair for the dramatic and his Karsay homer may be the most historic regular season home run that didn’t result in a team making the playoffs- outside of record breaking moments of course.

4. Game 6 and 7 of the 2004 ALCS - Yankees Collapse – This was at the height of the Yankees arrogance as they believe anyone could put on pinstripes and succeed. Their spending was well intentioned, but this would begin a stretch of about four years where slow pitch softball lineups dominated the Bronx. To their credit they still made the playoffs, but it was a lot of money to spend on first round busts. In any event, the nights of Game 6 and 7 of the ALCS brought chills to any baseball fan, outside of those rooting for the Yankees, as we saw history unfold before our eyes. Every team down 3-0 can point to the 2004 Red Sox as motivation. This series was why you have to love the game of baseball.

5. Game 4 & 5 of the 2001 World Series – Surreal is the only word I can think of to describe it. Arizona should have won that World Series in five games, not seven, but Tino Martinez, and then Scott Brosius, had something to say about it. I don’t know if Byung-Hyun Kim ever recovered from those game tying homers. The Brosius one was even more incredible because there was “no way” I said the Yankees could pull off another two out comeback. I was wrong. Some Yankees fans tell me losing this series still sticks in their craw, even after winning in 2009.

6. Mets 2007 Collapse – I was worried all summer about that Mets team. They weren’t putting away the flawed NL East. The Braves lingered, and the Phillies were winning playing slow pitch softball on a nightly basis. I did breathe a sigh of relief when they hit 7 up with 17 to play. Boy was I wrong, as the Phils swept the Mets at Shea, and the Amazin’s never recovered. I continued to cite a comeback was “mathematically impossible”, but we all know how this ended up. The franchise has still yet to recover from this debacle.

7. Endy Chavez Catch and Mets Game 7 loss – The 2006 Mets and their fans achieved something that very few of their counterparts in history have: a love affair. As a Mets fan I know how much the fans loved this team. You never believed they would lose because, all season long, they found ways to win. They did this despite a mediocre starting rotation, a manager who couldn’t handle a bullpen, and a lineup that was a bat short. Looking back I am surprised they made it to Game 7 of the NLCS. You probably thought, like everyone, the Endy Chavez catch was destiny telling us the Mets would be champions. Alas it was not to be, as Yadier Molina hit a two run homer in the ninth off Aaron Heilman. Forget Beltran and strike three, the frustrations for me was Jose Reyes hitting a liner right at Jim Edmonds and Beltran taking a meatball for strike one. That first pitch to Beltran had “game winning homer” written all over it. The game ended poorly, but it was right up there with other classic moments of the decade.

8. Joe Torre’s Yankees Exodus – Not exactly one moment, but a story that took a controversial twist which only could be achieved by the Yankees. I remember the emotion during Torre’s post game after the Yanks were eliminated by Cleveland in the 2007 ALDS. The Yanks make Torre an offer “he could refuse” and sent him packing. For a while it looked like a bad move, as his successor struggled, but Girardi and the Yanks are champions again. Torre, despite the critics, continues to win in Los Angeles. Say what you want, but his teams are always in the mix regardless of how flawed they are.

9. Yanks Acquiring Alex Rodriguez – The “rich get richer” was how I put it. I felt Texas didn’t get enough for the “best player in the game”. For all of the frustrations about A-Rod early in his Yankees career, the “Page Six nature” of the guy makes the Yankees much more marketable. I suspect there are tons of casual baseball fans that go to see the Yankees because of Rodriguez. I will be curious how the steroid allegations hurt his pursuit for the home run record. If he continues to fix his image, as he did in 2009, I believe fans will forget Alex’s mistakes. Selena Roberts actually accomplished the impossible: making A-Rod a sympathetic figure. Regardless, this has been a huge move for the Yankees on and off the field.

10. 2009 World Series: Yanks Return to Glory – Most teams wouldn’t consider nine years a drought but, after all the money spent on players, the Yankees were due. You can’ spend over a billion dollars for one World Series right? This Yankees team was actually likeable, unlike the Johnson/Sheffield/Brown Yankees of prior years. They went from a slow pitch softball offense to a balanced attack. They sprinkled in young players with their stars and free agents. I still can’t believe they won with only three starting pitchers, but this team had the knack for always finding a way to win. Add in the Mets connection, taking on the Phillies in the World Series, and you have the perfect storyline. It’s certainly worthy of a top ten moment of the decade.

Tags: 2000 Subway Series, 2001 World Series, 2004 ALCS, 2006 NLCS, Aaron Boone, Alex Rodriguez, Arizona Diamondbacks, Boston Red Sox, Byung Hyun Kim, Carlos Beltran, Endy Chavez, Game 7 2003 ALCS, Joe Girardi, Joe Torre, Mariano Rivera, Mike Piazza, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Philadephia Phillies, Piazza Homer Post 9-11, Scott Brosius, Selena Roberts, St Louis Cardinals, Tino Martinez, Top New York Baseball Moments of the Decade, Yadier Molina