Meeting the Hulk
It was almost laughable when the Yankees were a cool10 games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East standings on July 18, but right now, there is nothing to laugh about. July 18 is practically a lifetime ago, and the Yanks are now only a slim 1.5 games up on the O’s with just nine games left in the 2012 regular season.
Now, the Yankees and Orioles in a nose-to-nose race, the AL East Division will more than likely come down to the last day of the season – the winner claiming the East and the short straw punching a ticket to a one-game Wild Card playoff.
On a positive note for New York, the Yankees have caught some late-season magic, never more evidenced than by Saturday afternoon’s thrilling 14-inning, 10-9 victory over the Oakland A’s at home.
Locked up at 5-5 in the 13th inning, Oakland managed to plate four runs to untie the game on the strength of three home runs. Trailing 9-5 in the bottom of the frame, defeat looked imminent for the Bombers.
But they made sure to make it interesting.
In a stroke of sheer resiliency, the Yankees scored four runs to knot the game up, highlighted by a huge two-run home run off the bat of Raul Ibanez. The next inning, Eduardo Nunez reached on an error allowing Ichiro to come home for the win.
It wasn’t the cleanest victory of 2012, but it was probably the most meaningful. All season long, the Yanks have fallen when they trailed after the eighth inning but on Saturday afternoon they proved they can win in the face of a sure loss; they gave us a taste of the old days of 2009.
While the Yankees were experiencing a radical win, I was experiencing something just as fun – meeting pro wrestling and pop culture icon, Hulk Hogan.
The Hulkster was signing autographs and making an appearance at a wrestling show at Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill, N.Y. – the same Stadium I spent most of my summer nights this year, covering the Hudson Valley Renegades.
My cousin Joe and I patiently waited on line for several hours, but it was worth it. Once we got to the front, I shook Hulk’s hand, which is about as large as a tree trunk, and told him what an honor it was to meet him. Hulk was as nice as can be about it.
“Oh, the pleasure is all mine, brother! It’s good I got you protecting me now, you’re a young guy!”
Joe was mesmerized, being a huge “Hulkamaniac” (or in other words a fan of Hulk’s) since he was five years old. We each gave Hulk a “bro-hug,” if you will, after we took pictures with him. He joked for a minute with Joe, nearly hip-tossing him, and then we were on our way.
I have to say, meeting Hulk was pretty cool; a nice little memory I’ll hold onto. During the show he went face-to-face with one of his old foes from back in the day, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. It was pretty surreal; almost felt as if we were thrown into a time machine and sent back to 1985, the year Hogan and Piper headlined the first WrestleMania at Madison Square Garden.
On a side note, super heavyweight wrestler Vader also made an appearance. From the front row, I led the crowd in a Boy Meets World chant, as he held a recurring role as Frankie’s dad (for fans of the show who would know that). In fact, he wrestled Jake “the snake” Roberts in an episode, on the night of Topanga’s Sweet 16 party.
Vader saw me yelling Boy Meets World, smiled and shook his head. Then he looked at me from the ring and simply said,
“Ok, Ok. We got it, we got it…”
Yankee Yapping 