Yankees Toughen Up, Scramble Back Into ALCS With Game 5 Win

Filed under: MLBNEW YORK -- He slid wildly toward the blue wall, heading straight for disaster. Knocked hard on his back after slipping on a skating rink masquerading as a dirt warning track, Lance Berkman lay there for a minute, then another, and another, limbs barely moving, blue cap tossed to the side. A terrible injury while overrunning a foul pop-up seemed an apt metaphor to close out the Yankee season.

But then Berkman began to twitch, and shake his head, and shift his legs. Everyone in the Stadium, including Berkman's teammates, thought he'd been badly hurt. He told the Yankee trainer he was fine, which wasn't true at all, and then Berkman stood and hobbled back to his post at first base, and something in this series switched.

Was this when New York rediscovered its mojo, the Yankees' desperation keenly defined by the newcomer they call "The Big Puma"? They'd swear later they approached Game 5 of the American League Championship Series as if it was any other game -- another fib -- never mind that a Yankee loss meant Texas would advance to the World Series for the first time in forever.

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