Loose Ends

OK, so the Yanks aren't the only ones who are half-assing lately. Anyways, here's my wrap-up of last weekend marathon of games at the Stadium.




Saturday, September 16, 2006 (game 1)
Home Game 72
Red Sox 5 Yankees 2
Subway Race Winner: 4 train
Cap Game: #2





This game wasn't on my schedule but I bought tickets for it as part of a birthday present for my folks. The seats were in the upper deck in right field. Not too bad of a view, except most of right and right-center are obstructed. We could see part of the construction site for the new Stadium. There were quite a few Boston fans there too. We were surprised that many actually showed up.

Pre-game ceremonies included a tribute to Jim Kaat. Unfortunately we could see the Diamond Vision, and only heard Singleton's narration. Kaat, with his grandkids out on the mound with him, then threw out the first of 2 ceremonial first pitches. The Red Sox lined up outside of their dugout which was a nice gesture. He will be sorely missed in the booth.

As I mentioned last week, there was a Stealth Bomber fly over. When we got to the Stadium we walked around downstairs, and I noticed a couple of Air Force guys at a concession stand. They were dress in flight suits, which I thought was a bit odd because usually military personnel attending games are usual in their dress uniforms. They also had security badges, so I figured we may be in for a fly over. After batting practice my dad noticed a few guys on the roof and he thought they were snipers (which not an uncommon site at Yankees/Red Sox tilts. They looked like the guys I saw downstairs, so I said that were gonna get a fly over. My dad insisted they were snipers. But a little while later Bob Sheppard told us to look towards the sky after the national anthem, a B-2 Stealth Bomber would be flying over head. Usually we get a trio of fighter jets, and they are loud as hell (even more so in the upper deck). But this was surprisingly quiet. I guess it being stealth and all it should be quiet. I was expecting it to fly from center to home, but this one went right over our heads, which was pretty cool. Unfortunately this was the highlight of the afternoon.

It started out well enough, with Cano's 2-run homer in the 2nd. The Yankees then loaded the bases with 1 out, but Damon grounded into a DP. After that, we didn't feel too good about the rest of the afternoon. The Sox came back with 3 in the 4th, another in the 7th, and 1 in the 9th. And that was that. The Yanks just couldn't get anything going. I got a bit excited when Foulke came in, since they seemed to rough him up this year. But it was not to be.

Like I said, there were quite a few Boston fans around. There was a family of them behind us, a father with 3 young girls with him. One was actually a Yankee fan. The one little girl was particularly annoying. She wasn't paying attention to the game, just yelling "Go Boston" in a high-pitched squeal. I turned to the one Yankee fan and asked if she was going to let the other girl get away with that. But she was too shy to do anything. There were many attempts at "Let's go Red Sox" chants, which were meekly squelched by Yankee fans. But by the end the Boston fans took over. When the final out was recorded you would've thought it was 2004 all over again. They were going nuts. If the division was actually close I would've been pissed, but instead I just laughed at them.

In attendance record: 28-18

Since the game ended so late, I decided to stay in the Bronx and meet my friend there, instead of having my parents drive me back to my apartment where I had planned to meet her. So I hung out at the McDonalds at the corner of 161st & River Ave, watching the t-shirts guys harass the Red Sox fans that walked by.




Saturday, September 16, 2006 (game 2)
Home Game 73
Yankees 7 Red Sox 5
Subway Race Winner: 4 train
Cap Game: #3



With the first game ending so late, the traffic was pretty bad trying to get in for the second game. It took my friend about 30 minutes to get from the Jermone/River Ave intersection to the parking lot. My bleacher friend Justin was there, having also spent all day at the Stadium in the left field bleachers, where he had similar issues with Boston fans. He had the same. It was nice to back in right field again. There were Sox fans there, but they weren't as brazen.

The Yanks got on the board early when A-Rod singled home Jeter in the 1st. I hadn't heard the line-ups for the game, so I just assumed that Ortiz was playing. I could've sworn he was making his way to the plate to lead off the 2nd. But it turns out that from 450 feet away, Wily Mo Pena looks a lot like Big Papi. And speaking of Big Papi, there was a host of new anti-Red Sox shirts out and about, including several styles of "Boston Massacre" shirts. The most cringe-worthy was one that said "Big Papi has no heart." That's just a little too "Jeter has AIDS" for my taste. But to each their own I guess.

The game was see-saw battle. The Sox pulled ahead in the 3rd and tacked on another in the 4th. The Yanks came back in the bottom of the inning to tie. The immortal Bernie Williams doubled to score Posada and Giambi. They used to just play "Burn baby burn" when he hit a home run. Now he gets it for any extra base hit. But I ain't complaining. We never know when we'll see him play his last game in pinstripes, so he deserves all the love he can get. In the 6th the Sox went ahead again. But the Yanks came back and tied it back up in the bottom of the inning, and tacked on 2 more in the 7th to pull ahead for good.

This was a make up game from a June rain-out. I wish they would schedule a few Saturday night games during the season. It felt like Friday night, but the crowd was even more into it. Granted, they were playing Boston. But also everyone had the entire day to relax (and get a buzz on). Everyone was just a little looser. The only bad part was that I didn't get home until about 1am, and I had to get up early to pick up my aunt for Sunday's game.

In attendance record: 29-18




Saturday, September 17, 2006 (game 1)
Home Game 74
Red Sox 6 Yankees 3
Subway Race Winner: 4 train
Cap Game: #3



I picked up my aunt around 10:30 in Secaucus, which is about 3 miles from Giants Stadium. The parking lots were already starting to fill for the 4:00 Jets game. Tom, whom I had met at a previous game, was there with his son (whose name escapes me). It was nice to see him again and chat about baseball (my aunt added some anecdotes from her childhood days at the Stadium with my mom).

Wright pitched a good game, 6 innings, 4 hits, 2 runs. But Villone just couldn't hold it, giving up 4 runs. It appears he's been Quantrillized.

There were bunch of guys throughout the stands listening to the Giants/Eagles game. We would over hear the score throughout the day, and it didn't sound good. But, just as the Yankee loss seemed to be sealed up we heard a couple guys behind us going nuts. At first I thought they were fighting. One guy just kept saying "No Way!". Then we heard that the game was tied. Even though Yankee fans out on River St. were bummed about that game, there was a buzz amongst Giants fans about their comeback. When we got back to the car I flipped on the football game. They were still playing, but we had no clue as to what was going on. The radio announcers really suck. They didn't tell us the score or if they were in over-time or anything. I was over the bridge and on my way to Route 46 before we found out that the score was tied and they were in OT. I think we were approaching the Little Ferry circle when the Giants were on their drive, accruing penalty after penalty, before finally scoring for the win. So, at least there was one bright spot for the day.

In attendance record: 29-19




Saturday, September 17, 2006 (game 2)
Home Game 75
Red Sox 5 Yankees 4
Subway Race Winner: 4 train
Cap Game: #1



I made pretty good time getting back to the Stadium after dropping my aunt off. I decided on a sausage and pepper sandwich dinner. I am now considered a regular at the sausage stand, which has it's privileges in expediating my order, but it's rather bad for my waistline.

There was still some buzz about the Giants game. Justin took my extra ticket, sporting his Manning shirt. Wish I could've seen the game. By this time I was a little punch-drunk from spending the weekend at the Stadium. Even though the Yanks had lost 2 games already, and they couldn't clinch at home, I didn't really care. There was just a different feel to the place. The Sox fans seemed almost non-existent (except for a few girls seated near us, but more on them later). After almost 2 years of feeling like they taking over the joint, it felt like we got our Stadium back again.

The scoring again started early. Yanks went up first, then the Sox, then the Yanks tied. The score stayed tied until the 6th when Posada doubled in 2 runs. But in the 8th, things got bad. No need to rehash it all, but let's just say I couldn't even watch that 1-2 wild pitch from Meyers that ended up tying the game.

Now about those BoSox girls. They were probably in their late teens. They looked like college freshman. I think there were 3 in Boston shirts and 1 Yankee fan. Well since this was an ESPN game they decided to make signs in an effort to get on TV. I guess they didn't know that they don't put the bleachers on TV. So between every inning they'd hold up their signs. And every time Boston got a hit or score they would hold up their signs. A woman (Yankee fan) a couple rows in front of us had a sign of her own, and would wave it their faces at times. They would also get berated from other fans. There were futile attempts to get people close to them to take their signs. I feared that I would get kicked out if I did anything. But when Boston was inching closer to tying the game, I started to get fed up. And I did something that wasn't too nice. I said that if they held up their sign one more time I was gonna rip it. They did. So I did. I'm usually not one to destroy other people's stuff, especially when they're holding it, but I was just so frustrated and tired. I walked up on the bench behind one of them and rip the sign in half as she was holding it, leaving a half in each hand. Then I went back to my seat. The Yankee fans around them seemed to enjoy it. I just stared straight ahead, waiting for the cop in the back to tap me on the shoulder and escort me out. But nothing happened. Between innings the cop called me over and very politely told me not to do that again, but he thought what I did was cool. So I kinda felt good that I got his approval. And the girls really didn't really do anything. They didn't get in my face or yell or anything. They seemed a bit shocked. After the game we saw they taking pictures of themselves with the ripped sign. So at least now they have a story to tell. I was slagged a bit on Steve's site for my actions. It probably wasn't the smartest thing I've done, but no one got hurt. And the way that game ended it was the highlight of my evening.

Random Notes
– Gossip columnist Cindy Adams threw out the first pitch.

– In the first inning a bat was flying around the Stadium. Not a wooden one. A real live bat.

– Before the game the organist was playing theme songs to game shows, including the Price is Right.

– I didn't proof read any of this post so I apologize for any incoherentness.

In attendance record: 29-20

I have extra tickets for all 4 weekday games this week if anyone is interested. My email is on the side bar somewhere.