No matter what happens in Tuesday’s wild-card game in the Bronx, it’s unlikely to top the drama of the tiebreaker game the Yankees played against the Red Sox at Fenway Park on Oct. 2, 1978.
Reggie Jackson homered in that 5-4 victory that got the Yankees into the ALCS and was on the field at Yankee Stadium during the Yankees’ workout Monday as they prepared to face the Astros.
“It’s win or go home,” Jackson said. “For us, it came down to the last at-bat.”
After the Yankees and Boston tied atop the AL East to force the extra game, Bucky Dent’s three-run homer sparked the victory. And Goose Gossage got Carl Yastrzemski to pop out to Graig Nettles at third, stranding Rick Burleson 90 feet away to preserve the one-run lead and propel the Yankees to an eventual second straight World Series title.
This Yankees team lacks the star power of the 1978 squad — and it also isn’t coming off a World Series title.
Still, Mr. October believes the Yankees have enough to move on.
“[It] may be different for some of the young kids, but it’s not going to be any different for Alex [Rodriguez] or [Carlos] Beltran,” Jackson said. “They’ve been here before. They know what it’s about. Can you rely on them? Heck yeah. It’s not going to be different for Joe Girardi.”
And instead of Ron Guidry, who was having a historic season, the Yankees will turn to Masahiro Tanaka on Tuesday.
“That’s a pretty good choice,” Jackson said.
More than anything, though, Jackson believed intangibles would play a part in the result.
“It just depends on how you react to the game [Tuesday],” Jackson said. “What’s it mean to you? How does it manifest itself? What’s in [your heart]?”
Both teams will find out soon enough.
But Jackson added he wouldn’t hand out any advice to the current Yankees.
“No, I can’t do anything,” Jackson said. “I’ll be here, rooting, but I’ll be one of 40 or 50,000 [fans].”