"It was just the wind, that's all," Rivera said.
And then the dreaded wind that takes all breath away was gone, having blown itself to bits.
Suzuki took a step forward but then retreated as the ball carried, pushed by a wind that had all the flags at Yankee Stadium swirling toward right field.
When I first met my partner, I came up here and cast billets-doux to the wind that said all those things I was too shy to say.
"There wasn't a trace of wind at all that day and I didn't manage to cool down as I'd expect".
It will stay in the air for 25 minutes, tolerating wind that would confound all but the sturdiest umbrella.
Yet at the same time my mind was crowded with footage from Southern California -- the sudden devils of twisting flame that rose along the roads, the acrid obscurity of smoke trapped in the canyons and basins, a wind that had whipsawed all around the compass.
The East Coast has been gripped by extreme winter conditions this week, including blistering cold, heavy snowfall and strong winds that were all generated by what meteorologists call a "bomb cyclone".
"It's an ill wind that brings no good at all," he said.
