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.

The streets were a buzz throughout Boston on Wednesday night with fans praising the second coming, Daisuke Matsuzaka, as their savior to the future. But in the storied debut that carried lofty expectations rich in headlines, it wasn’t the messiah that reigned supreme, but a King from Seattle that quietly stole the spotlight from the pride of the Fenway faithful. Just three days following his twenty-first birthday, Felix Hernandez took the mound with all eyes focused on his opponent, and he made the most of the attention by silencing the Red Sox lineup. Not until the first pitch of the eighth inning was his no-hit bid broken up, but that didn’t stop Hernandez from finishing what he started as he pitched his first complete game shutout of the season.

Nearly two years removed from his last Major League win, Carl Pavano turned in the seasons top performance from a Yankees starter to get his long awaited victory. Pavano pitched seven strong innings, limiting a potent Twins lineup to six hits and two earned runs on 79 pitches. The win also marked the first of the season from the New York starting staff. Pavano had alot of support behind him as he opposed his experimental replacement from last season, Sidney Ponson. The Yankees immediately took advantage of their inflated numbers against Ponson to put up five runs in the first two innings and three more before his departure in the sixth. For the third straight game, Alex Rodriguez homered to add to his Major League leading homerun total and pace early season critics.

For as many times as my neighbors furrow a brow to the “walkoff” chant that starts in the ninth inning of every New York home game down in the run column, nothing brings an easier smile than the “victory march” from door to door when the chant pays off. Down one run with two outs in the ninth and the bases loaded, Alex Rodriguez made the victory march even sweeter with a two strike swing that saw his second homerun of the game charge over the center field wall and fade into the black. Now three games into the season, A-Rod is giving New York fans every excuse to keep the cheers coming and make that key offseason decision for him. With the game on the line, when it counts, A-Rod delivered what Yankees fans have been begging for, a truly memorable walkoff homerun.

In an otherwise unmemorable loss, New York fans had the pleasure of welcoming Andy Pettitte back to the Bronx on a memorable cold snowy night. As he walked onto the field amid a standing ovation, Pettitte looked to get his first win in pinstripes since the end of the 2003 season. Slowed by back spasms during the spring, Pettitte was set to a pitch count of around 80 pitches and after cruising through the first inning, New York prepared to write the storybook return it had hoped for. Unfortunately, somebody forgot to give the Yankees defense their lines in the script. Three more errors cost the team two runs and Pettitte was less than sharp following his first inning of work. In all, Pettitte lasted four plus innings in an 83 pitch effort that saw him surrender 2 earned runs on six hits.

With the media showering reports of praise to Boston’s prized offseason acquisition Daisuke Matsuzaka and his dazzling debut, I had to wonder if everyone was watching the same game as I was. Show me a line that reads: 7 innings pitched, 6 hits, 1 earned run, 1 walk, 10 strikeouts and ordinarily I would show some respect, but come on, for as good as he is tauted by everyone on the planet, would you expect anything less from an opponent like the Kansas City Royals, a team that lost a 100 games less than a year ago? I watched pitch for pitch and was marginally impressed, especially since the Royals had Matsuzaka on the ropes in the sixth, until a blown call by second base umpire Tim Tschida allowed Dice-K to escape the inning without the Royals tying up the game. Yes, somehow, the Royals managed to be fooled by Dice-K’s unique ability to throw different pitches without changing his motion or arm angle. His fastball was consistently hitting 92mph and he was changing speeds better than drivers approaching a speed radar monitor, but as impressive as that sounds, watching him was about as exciting as attending a funeral.

Spring is in the air with the smell of fresh cut grass, popcorn, peanuts and beer and that means only one thing…let’s play ball! It’s opening day around the majors and we are poised for another 162 games of America’s pastime and a new season of rivalry. The Yankees, coming off another disappointing season, are boasting the most dominant lineup from 1-9 in the Majors as they opened at home with a day game feature against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The anticipation of the famed roll call and expectations of baseball immortality buzzed the air but nothing highlighted the day more than seeing Cory Lidle’s wife and son throwing out the first pitch as well as the emergence of Bobby Murcer from the announcers booth.

F*BOSTON.com 2007 has launched alongside the Major League Baseball season with all the features every fan of the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox need to stay current with the greatest rivalry in all of sports. Enjoy our fresh new look and know your rivalry better than anyone with up-to-date news, scores and all the information you need to be a step ahead of everyone. This season we are committed to bringing the most complete source for all of your rivalry needs. So follow along with F*BOSTON as we root the New York Yankees against their counterparts back to the top of baseball immortality in the season we officially dub: 27 in 2007! Visit us daily for our continual coverage and make this season our best.