SECTION: Sports; Pg. 69

LENGTH: 580 words

HEADLINE: SECT. 39 MULLS END OF WORLD

BYLINE: BY FILIP BONDY

BODY:


MAYBE IT WAS because of our firm belief that this was the last home game of the season, that the Yankees would certainly polish off the Padres in San Diego.

Maybe it was because the Padres, and their sun-dried fans, had thoroughly annoyed us with their painful attempts at friendliness. Maybe it was just because we woke up yesterday morning on the wrong side of the floor. In any case, the Bleacher Creatures were in fine form last night, far meaner and louder from the start. You could tell the edge was back during the pregame warmups. Tim wrestled away a batting practice baseball from Sharon Kennedy of Northbrook, tore it right from her hands, and there was a look in his eyes that told you Tim would have thrown Sharon over the railing if required.

Better still, Kennedy understood. "It happens," she said. "It's OK. At least I'm here. And I'd bring my kids here, too."

In short order, the Creatures locked on to all the classic targets and fired away.

The marching band was harassed, mercilessly. "Youths stink," critiqued Larry Palumbo. "Get off the field, you idiots."

Non-sanctioned banners were ridiculed. A young couple who had complained about their bleacher seats, and foolishly dyed their hair a sickly blue, were brought to near tears.

When an usher had the nerve to actually dust off a bench for one fan, George screamed, "What is this, Baltimore?"

"Welcome to hell!" yelled Anthony Griek, at nobody in particular.

Yes, this was more like the Section 39 of lore.

Padre fans, finally grasping the gravity of their situation, had been all but eliminated from these sacred rows. The Creatures were intimidating, effective, even while planning major celebrations for the coming week.

Paul Kaplan figured he would host another one of his championship parties, like the one when somebody (probably Tom Brown) stole all 12 rolls of toilet paper for no particular reason.

Or the time somebody (probably Tom Brown) spewed in Kaplan's bathtub, and failed to notify authorities.

Tina Lewis already had made the necessary arrangements to view the Yankee victory parade, from the 14th floor of a building on Broadway. When the ticker tape ritual was done, she and several other Creatures would begin to consider standing offers to appear in Kevin Costner's new project, "For the Love of the Game."

Tina wanted to see the script first, of course. And she needed a leave of absence from the lunch counter, which she wasn't sure Vinnie would grant.

But this was how Lana Turner was once discovered.

As the Yankees rounded the bases early against overmatched Andy Ashby, as the best team in the history of baseball scored six runs in the first two innings, reality began to sink in. We cheered hard at Bernie's homer, but we felt a certain tug on our melodic heartstrings.

This was family here. The bleachers were our home. Home was almost certainly closing down for the winter.

"I probably won't be seeing your ugly faces for five months," Palumbo said, waxing all sentimental.

He was right. Our homely pusses would return to the dreary, workaday world, where we are never allowed to heckle people wearing the wrong colors, or spill beer on the floor. Where we are not the bosses, but the bossed.

"Here, we're just people with nothing in common, banding together against a common enemy," Kaplan said. "The world."

The world never has much of a chance against us, or the Yankees.

Notes: Bleacher Creature



GRAPHIC: LINDA CATAFFO DAILY NEWS BRONX CHEER: Yankee fans behind dugout enjoy victory, but Bleacher Creatures realize Series may not return to Bronx.

LOAD-DATE: October 20, 1998