1999 Yankees Diary, September 22: Jorge and Paulie come through late

The Yankees took the series opener from the White Sox on September 21st, thereby holding serve in the American League East. Moreover, each win helped keep the Yanks apace at the top of the Junior Circuit standings.

The second game of this set with the Pale Hose went down to the wire. But Jorge Posada came through late to knot the contest. Then, in the bottom of the ninth, Paul O'Neill walked it off, with the crowd of 27,549 witnessing something you don't see every day.

September 22: Yankees 5, White Sox 4 (box score)

Record: 92-59, .609 (4 GA)

Hideki Irabu got the start in this one and he was pitching for more than just the win. Yankee skipper Joe Torre had already declared his intention to carry 10 pitchers on the postseason roster. Starters Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, David Cone, and Orlando Hernández were locks. As were five relievers. If Irabu wanted to seize that final spot, it would behoove him to have a big day.

And Irabu wasn't bad, per se. But he made a couple of early mistakes, each of which yielded solo home runs. Mike Caruso led off the game with a dinger and then Chris Singleton led off the third inning with a long ball of his own.

The Yankees broke through against Pale Hose starter Kip Wells in the bottom of the third. With runners on the corners and two out, Paulie knocked an RBI single into center. The frame could have been even better but Tino Martinez stranded the bases loaded.

Singleton wasted no time getting that run back in the top of the fourth. Leading off the inning, he went yard again and restored the White Sox's two-run lead. That was the last run Irabu yielded on the day. When he finally walked off the mound in the sixth inning, his final line read: 5.1 othing to be ashamed of but definitely not the dominant outing he likely hoped for.

Darryl Strawberry brought the Yankees back within one with a solo dinger in the bottom of the fourth. From there, the teams traded zeroes into the eighth when Singleton again tormented the Yankees. Mike Stanton managed to keep him in the yard this time, but Singleton drove in yet another run nonetheless, on a sacrifice fly to right.

Chicago had turned to Keith Foulke for the seventh inning and he came back out for the eighth. Foulke retired the first two hitters he faced but that's when the wheels fell off. A pair of base hits put runners on second and third with pinch hitter Chili Davis coming to the dish. The Sox promptly walked Davis to load the bases, perhaps thinking Jorge Posada was easier prey.

Considering Jorge was 0-for-3 on the night with a pair of whiffs and Foulke hadn't allowed a run in 25 innings and counting, you can't really fault the logic I guess. But Jorge took that personally. Posada battled Foulke all the way to a full count. Then, on the sixth pitch of the at-bat, he ripped a changeup into center, scoring two runs and knotting the game at four apiece.

Ramiro Mendoza got the first two outs in the top of the ninth before Torre turned to Mariano. The eventual Hall of Famer retired his man and sent the game to the home half.

Nine pitches into the bottom of the ninth, Chicago was in trouble. Jaime Navarro had no idea where the ball was going and a pair of walks sandwiched around a bunt single loaded the bases for O'Neill. Paulie worked the count full and on the sixth pitch he saw, drew the walk-off walk (or shrimp , if you prefer).

To that point in Yankee history, it was only the 20th time the club had won a game in that fashion. O'Neill would replicate the feat the following season, becoming the first Yankee with multiple walk-off walks in pinstripes.

Weirdly enough, it's the other hero of this game who holds the Yankee record for the most walk-off walks. Posada accomplished the feat thrice, in consecutive seasons from 2002-2004.

The win kept New York half a game ahead of Cleveland at the top of the American League. Meanwhile, after the Red Sox lost to Toronto, the Yankee lead in the division stretched back to four games. With only 11 games remaining in the regular season, the Bronx Bombers were in pretty good shape.