NEW YORK - Dressed in dark uniform tops and gray pants, looking like a recreation softball team, the Minnesota Twins lined up for Tuesday afternoon's pregame introductions.
Whereupon, they were assaulted by all manner of Yankees pride and passion.
There was Yogi Berra and Rudy Giuliani, Challenger the Eagle, the West Point band, 56,292 intense fans inside Yankee Stadium, and, yes, a pinstriped parade of Yankees introduced as the 26-time world champions.
In response, the Twins fired a direct hit with a peashooter, beating the Yankees, 3-1.
Tuesday's odds had even flipped heavily in the Yanks' favor, when starter Johan Santana left after four scoreless innings due to a leg cramp.
It was true. None of the Yankees' prior domination of the Twins mattered in Game 1 of the Division Series.
Not when the Yankees made a shambles of the sixth inning, when Minnesota scored two runs on Torii Hunter's tainted triple.
And the numbers that were in the Yankees' favor, heading into the best-of-five series, now appear as weak as Bernie Williams' throwing arm.
Mike Mussina is 20-2 against the Twins, but 0-1 in the playoffs against them after Tuesday's loss.
Entering Game 1, the Yanks had won 13-straight regular-season games over the Twins, who had won baseball's worst division - the AL Central.
Since Game 6 of the 2001 World Series, the Yankees have lost six of their past seven postseason games, including last year's four-game Division Series defeat to the eventual world champion Angels.
Confronted with those figures, Derek Jeter responded sharply.
"That would be like saying (the Twins) have lost 13 out of 14 to us," Jeter said. "We've lost one game."
In George Steinbrenner's parlance, Yankees seasons are counted in world championships won.
If this winds up being a third-straight ringless year, run for cover.
Asked if he had any contact with The Boss before playoff games, or if Steinbrenner stayed out of his way, Torre nodded in agreement on the latter.
"I stay out of his (way), too," Torre said, smiling.
But the Yankees couldn't get out of their own way in the sixth, when Williams' stumbling cost them.
It was 1-0, Twins, with a runner at first base and one out when Hunter lined what should have been a single to center field.
Williams made an awkward path to the ball, which veered to Williams' left and past him for a triple.
"I was very disappointed I didn't make that play," Williams said. Off the bat, "I certainly felt I had a chance to get that ball."
When Alfonso Soriano got the relay, he fired it off the photographer's booth behind third base, allowing Hunter to score for a 3-0 lead.
Before it got to Williams, Torre saw the ball take a funny bounce before it veered past Williams' glove.
"It just skipped very hard to my left," Williams said. "And by the time I was able to react, the ball was by me."
Soriano's first instinct was to throw home, until he saw Matt LeCroy scoring easily from first base.
"So, I looked to third base, and tried to get (Hunter)," Soriano said.
Soriano's throwing error triggered a mass groan at the Stadium.
Starved for something to cheer about, the fans stood in the seventh when the Yanks' first two batters reached base but failed to score - with Soriano and Nick Johnson struck out by LaTroy Hawkins to end the threat.
Representing the winning run at the plate, Johnson grounded out with runners at the corners to end the game.
"I thought we had a very good chance to come back in the ninth," Jorge Posada said.
But Shannon Stewart took that chance away, making a courageous leaping catch at the wall to rob Hideki Matsui of a possible RBI double.
The Yanks got three of their nine hits in the ninth, but scored just one run, on Soriano's infield single off Everyday Eddie Guardado.
The Yanks left 10 men on base, leaving a string of guilt.
Jason Giambi (0-for-4) struck out with runners at first and second to end the third, going down on three pitches after a pair of walks.
Meanwhile, the Twins had taken a 1-0 lead in the third, when Luis Rivas' shallow fly to center became an easy sacrifice fly against Williams' arm.
"I feel as good as I've felt all year, with my legs and (shoulders)," said Williams, who had two hits.
And now, Team Contraction - a franchise MLB had targeted for extinction two years ago - is two wins away from taking out the Yankees.
©2003, The Record (Bergen County, N.J.)
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