The New York Yankees first great comeback of the 2007 season took shape in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, trailing the Cleveland Indians by 4 runs, 6-2. What was to follow was a walkoff victory parade worthy of Major League baseball’s largest paycheck. With a swing of the bat, Alex Rodriguez capped the 6 run rally to seal the win with another walkoff homerun, his second of the early season. With two outs, Josh Phelps started the rally with a solo homerun, his first of the season and first since May 2005. Jorge Posada followed with a two-strike single up the middle and Johnny Damon walked, bringing Derek Jeter to the plate as the tying run. Jeter singled to left, scoring Posada, and Bobby Abreu capped a four hit day with a single that scored Damon, bringing them within 1 run of the Indians. After a wild pitch, Jeter and Abreu moved up on the basepads leaving an open first base for baseball’s hottest hitter. But even with a struggling Joe Borowski, Cleveland decided to take their chances with A-Rod, leaving Michael Kay to take the words out of my mouth with a homerun call that echoed the hallways of a walkoff victory march around the office.

With an American League record 10 homeruns in 14 games, Alex Rodriguez’s recent success has him playing an unfamiliar role in the Bronx, that of hero. The well proclaimed poster child of the Yankees recent failures has let his bat do the talking in an effort to rid the pressures of New York in what may be his final season in pinstripes. It may be far from October, but the magnitude of A-Rod’s early season heroics is speaking largely to his teammates and to the fans. From his batting stance to his attitude around the clubhouse, Rodriguez appears to be a man a mission, leading the charge to 27 in 2007 one victory at a time. And on this day, the chills have yet to recede as the first instant classic of the season has been sewn into the 2007 scrapbook with three exclamation points following A-Rod on a walkoff march to victory.

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