Come on Zimmer Light My Fire

Since the Yankees won their last World Series in 2000 they have been ridiculed for being "soft" and unable to win the big game.

Critics have said they don't have the heart they did when they had players like Paul O'Neill, Tino Martinez and Scott Brosius. They said they were overpaid and did not produce in the clutch.

However, in Saturday's game, the Yankees looked like they had enough fight and heart to quiet all their critics.

Led by Don Zimmer, the Yankees handed Pedro Martinez his first career postseason loss, 4-3. The Yankees made great catches, got big hits, pitched masterfully and wouldn't let the Sox bully them around.

For those of you who didn't see the game, Zimmer, the 72-year-old Yankee bench coach, went after Martinez because Martinez had just thrown a pitch at the head of Yankee right fielder Karim Garcia. Martinez took Zimmer by the back of the head and threw him to the ground.

There were other incidents similar to this one during the game, such as the fight between Yankee reliever Jeff Nelson, Garcia and a Fenway Park groundskeeper.

There was the near brawl between Manny Ramirez and Roger Clemens when Clemens happened to throw a ball that was marginally close to Ramirez's head.

The benches also cleared when Garcia slid hard into second, taking out the legs of Boston's Todd Walker and igniting a shoving match.

What was lost in all the drama was the incredible play of the Yankees.

The game was built up to be one of the best games in a long time. Pedro vs. the Rocket in the ALCS. Coming into the game, Clemens had won 101 games in Fenway, more than anyone else in history. It was going to be the last time he pitched there and everyone knew it was going to be a great day.

It's just that no one expected it to go quite the way it did.

Clemens was able to stay calm throughout the game and pitched very well. He struck out seven and only allowed two runs. The runs came on an awkward play in the first when Enrique Wilson botched an easy play.

Derek Jeter was up to his old tricks, hitting a Martinez curveball over the Green Monster to score two runs and tie the game at two. Hideki Matsui hit a double off Pedro to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead.

All of this was more or less forgotten about, but those are the things that really mattered in the game. The Yankees took control of the ALCS, two games to one. They beat Pedro a day after beating Boston's other ace, Derek Lowe.

If the Yankees go on to win the World Series you can look back at this game as the day they found themselves. Not because of all the fighting and hysteria, but because they were able to put that all aside and focus on winning a baseball game.