Park #15

September 7, 2005, New York City, New York
Oh what a glorious day, not only did I get to see Yankee stadium for the first time, but the Yankees lost as well. The outside of the stadium, just like everything else in New York city, was just swarmed with people, it was crazy. And not only that, but there are just massive amounts of people selling things: food, shirts, and tickets. It was crazy, I think there were more scalpers at the game than people actually going to the game. I felt like I was waiting outside a castle, the place just looked like the grand bastion of baseball, it was pretty cool. It was very intimidating of a place as well. I mean, you look around, and you just know that this is where the Yankees have won 26 world championships, it’s like the stadium was one giant trophy. Then I started thinking about how much I hated the Yankees, how their payroll is like the same as the combined payroll of the entire national league minus the Mets (or something ridiculous like that). I began to hate the stadium solely for that, and then I started to feel like Luke Skywalker walking into the Death Star; I could hear the Imperial March playing in my head.
So, I went to the game with Koosed, and we got bleacher seats, which I thought would complete the Yankee experience. Well, it would have, but if you have bleacher seats, you aren’t allowed to go to the other parts of the stadium. I started to fear that this would turn out like my Dodger stadium experience, then I talked to a security guard. He said you could get a ticket upgrade and you could go to the other parts of the stadium. So, for $4, Koosed and I got ticket upgrades into right field. This was cool because then got to check out the rest of the stadium. There are a few things I noticed. First, Dewar’s Scotch is the official drink of the Yankees. This of course is hilarious. Secondly, it explains a lot. Third, its cool because they are giant pictures of Scotch all over the ballpark, it really made thirsty.
Second, almost every concession stand is the same. Every concession stand had hot dogs, pretzels, soda, and beer; nothing more, nothing less. Before the game started I wanted something to eat, but I wasn’t yet ready for my token dog, so I walked to the concession stand. Well, the above four choices didn’t do it for me, and I wanted to see what the stadium had to offer. So, I kept walking from stand to stand, and realized they were all the same. Kind of ironic that New York (the cultural diverse capital of the world) would have such a homogeny of stadium food.
Third, and most shockingly, New York fans aren’t as big of assholes as I thought they would be. Not a single person gave me shit about wearing an Indians hat. It was kind of disappointing, but oh well.
The stadium itself is glorious. I was surprised how high the stadium goes, there is a lower, a middle, and an upper deck, but the upper deck just goes up forever. I really wanted to go see the Yankee museum in left center field, which has a whole bunch of plaques and stuff regarding the Yankees history, but I got there too late. I guess the thing closes half an hour or so before the game, oh well. But, I could see part of it from my seats and it looked pretty good.
As for the game, I got to see Randy Johnson pitch, which is always a treat. Johnson pitched 6 1/3, giving up three runs (one of which Tom Gordon inherited) and only struck out five. Johnson still can dazzle them though; that guy’s slider is just phenomenal. The game was tied at 3 going into the ninth, and the Yanks brought in Mariano Rivera to pitch. Well, it didn’t turn out to be his night; an error by Robinson Cano allowed the go-ahead run to score. It always fun to watch the Yankees lose on a fielding error in the 9th. And then Yanks went quietly in the bottom of the ninth. There were three truly amazing things that happened during the game. First was Bernie Williams; he was on second base and John Flaherty hit a single to right. Williams decided to try to score and I knew from the minute the right fielder picked up the ball that he was gonna be out (and probably Williams did too). So, Bernie decided to fly full speed, shoulder first into the catcher. The catcher held onto the ball and Williams was out, but I give the guy credit. The guy is on the tail end of a great career, he’s been fighting injuries all season, and he still gives it his all with a very physical play; that is classy.
Second amazing thing was the crazy kid in our section. There was some kid who was clearly a few pounds on the heavy side, and he was about 16 or 17, and he looked like Napolean Dynamite after a solid month of eating at Mongolian BBQ. Well, for some reason between every inning, the guy decided that he was gonna do the worm in the aisles for a minutes and then get up a dance like a madman. It was pretty funny, it looked he was having a seizure. Picture a full body dry heave set to music and you have this guy.
Okay, the third thing that was amazing was the fans. These guys would cheer for a Yankees player like he was Greek God one minute, and as soon as gets out, they would treat him like SHIT. These fans turned on players faster than anything I’ve ever seen before, it was truly crazy.
As for food, I already said how the selections were less than good. The hot dog was nothing special, I mean it had flavor, but I’m starting to really see how a lot of hot dogs can be categorized as “your typical stadium hot dog”; this was clearly in that category.
Well, the Yankees lost, which was good, and the stadium was pretty cool and I definitely felt a wave of history overtaking me. I guess that I’m gonna give the stadium a B+.
Well, next stop Baltimore. 15 down, 5 to go.
Laz