Yankee Stadium

So I guess I should blog about one of the greatest experiences of my life: Yankee Stadium for a Yanks vs. Red Sox game, that the Yanks won 2-1.

The day started out early - I took a red-eye, overnight flight to NYC and checked into my hotel... in the rain... I was bummed and really worried that the game was going to be cancelled. I checked out the Yanks' policy on rain checks, and all it said was that you are guarunteed a ticket to a "comparable game" which they define as pretty much anyone in the AL East. Well let me tell you, a Yanks vs. Blue Jays game in not the same as Yanks-Sox, not to mention the fact that the whole reason I was going now is because this is the last year of the Stadium... the Stadium where Babe Ruth hit a 3rd-inning home run against the Sox the day the Stadium first opened its doors... the Stadium that has hosted 26 World Series Champions and too many legends to name... the Stadium that embodies sports tradition and team excellence. And this was my only chance to see a game.

The ticket office said the game would not be rained out, so I hopped a shuttle to the airport, hopped a bus to the Subway station, headed to the Bronx and got off among a thousand people with Yanks Jerseys and looked right at where I wanted to go: Yankee Stadium.

Unfortunately they didn't have batting practice because of the rain, but that gave me time to explore a little. I'll let the pictures do the talking from here on out.

This is the tunnell leading into the bleacher section, where I was sitting.

This is just another part of the bleacher section - you can see the jumbotron in center field.

This is the right field bleachers, where I was sitting, from above. If you can make out the cement below the seats right behind the adidas sign, that's where they put a folding chair down and I sat for the game.

This is a quick view of monument park, where all the hall-of-famers have thier numbers and a plaque commemorating their time with the Yankees. A close-up up Lou Gehrig and the Babe. This is a view of the under-construction New Yankee Stadium across the street from the upper decks.This is the auxillary press area

And this is YANKEE STADIUM!

So that was before the game - then the actual game started (I unfortunately don't have pictures developed of that, but they will be on here before long) and it was great - the bleacher creatures who I was sitting with were the most foul-mouthed f-word using PARENTS (yes, they had two little ones in tow) that I have ever seen, cursing this and that, but always happy and cheering on the Yanks. The whole crowd was like that. But the Bleachers do this great thing where they'll chant every one of the starting defensive players' names, using various forms of "DER-EK JE-TER" (clap, clap, clap, clap, clap) of course customized for every player out there. The fielders would turn to the bleachers and acknowledge us with a tip of their caps. It was amazing, and only the bleachers were allowed to do it.

Mike Mussina pitched a great game - not all that great for A-Rod or Jeter, but Mariano Rivera came out of the bullpen and walked right in front of me (albeit 10 feet below) to close out the game and the Yanks won 2-1. But the best part?

Who knew that the Yankees used special balls to commemorate their final season in Yankee Stadium? I didn't... until Melky Cabrera threw me a ball in the top of the 8th inning! He actually threw it to a crowd of us, and after seeing this, I jumped out of my seat, stretched and leaped, being mobbed by what felt like a thousand native New Yorkers, and then I felt the thud. And I looked. And there it was - a very well-used Yankee Stadium Commemorative ball, complete with pieces of Yankee Stadium stained on it. Who knows who used this ball to warm up with. Derek, A-Rod, Joba, Mo? I think they all did...

After the game I did a little walking around New York, chatting with the fans and having a few hot dogs in sports bars right by the Stadium, just to feel the ambience, but the weight of that ball was so heavy that I decided I needed to get it back to the hotel room in case something happened to it. So i hailed a cab and spent $70 to get back... but it was worth it!