SECTION: Sports; Pg. 14

LENGTH: 657 words

HEADLINE: ENDANGERED SPECIES  WE'RE GOING TO PARTY LIKE IT'S 1999

BYLINE: BY FILIP BONDY

BODY:


PAUL O'NEILL, despite all his problems, took his glove off with two outs in the ninth and waved back up to the Creatures in the stands who were chanting behind him. The moment was near. It was here.

The ball sailed out to Chad Curtis, the game ended 4-1, and a smattering of champagne bottles materialized in Section 39, from nowhere. They were shaken, squirted, consumed. The sweep was toasted properly. Larry Palumbo, veteran Creature, pulled out a Yankee banner and an American flag, all on a collapsible pole, again from nowhere. He was swinging it all over the place.

"When I'm 90, I'll be remembering this," Larry screamed. "Twice in a lifetime, to see it before your eyes."

This was all new for Andi Mango, a rookie at the Series. She was crying her eyes out. "Anybody got tissues?" she asked. Tina Lewis, who has a new job and another championship, had made it through a tough season, a year of fighting for tickets and seats.

"It's still the greatest feeling in the world," she said.

The Creatures kept standing on the benches, singing along with Sinatra, until we were ordered to leave. Then we spilled out onto River Ave. and across the street to Stan's. Later, much later, we would head to Times Square.

"Who's going to touch us in 2000?" Palumbo yelled. "Nobody."

This is what we do best. We celebrate. Parties spill into blowouts and become one giant mischief night. A beautiful, wondrous Creature-fest.

While we celebrated 1999, we reminisced about 1996, the October of innocent, untarnished joy. About 1998, the October of perfection.

John Zenes remembered how he spent much of the 1996 celebration riding in a police bus with hardened criminals, after he was falsely accused of "insinuating a riot." All Creatures are falsely accused, when charged. That goes without saying.

After the San Diego sweep in 1998, Zenes recalled, he was trying to call Paul Kaplan's house to find out where the official championship party would be held. Randy, another Creature, picked up the phone and explained that he was in the middle of stealing Kaplan's VCR, and couldn't be bothered.

We really are romantics, when it comes to these things. Anthony Griek's eyes glazed over just thinking about the 1996 triumph, in an age when Section 39 still belonged to the Section 39ers.

"Everything was pure and natural back then," Griek said. "I can still see everyone ripping out the seats and carrying them out."

Griek called yesterday's triumph "a triple orgasm." Then he headed out into the night, with the others.

Last year, The Creatures were evicted from Times Square after about 30 minutes of raucous behavior, probably because we were too close to the stuffy New York Times building.

The Times isn't allowed to have fun, or to be within eight city blocks of the concept. It's a zoning ordinance.

Which brings us back to this column, which, over the years, has provided an early warning system, some heart-rending tales of loyalty and an anthropological excavation, all at once.

The effort has taken its toll. Last night, walking into Yankee Stadium, a seemingly friendly officer warned the Filip Creature that traffic cops who had the misfortune of being born Met fans were looking for his car. They had a bunch of parking tickets they wanted to unload.

"You shouldn't write what you've been writing," the cop said, and I thought I caught a glimmer of Met-like disapproval in his eyes.

ALL GAME I worried about my ride home, along with all my other problems, which are many.

There has been scary talk about assigned seating in the bleachers for all games next year. That, effectively, would end Section 39 as we know it. Who can afford to pay nearly $ 800, in advance, for a set of 81 game tickets? Not us. The world, dependent on nature's diversity, would be a poorer place for our absence.

The Creatures are an endangered species. Last night, they also became three-time champions.



GRAPHIC: MIKE ALBANS DAILY NEWS BRONX CHEER Yankee fans let Braves players have it as they make their way into Stadium for Game 4 of World Series.

LOAD-DATE: October 28, 1999