So as promised, I took my two closest female friends to Yankee Stadium for the first time before it gets torn down. By this I mean, two of my female Red Sox fan friends told me they had an extra ticket and I promised to go, half because I was obligated by the force of the Yankees and half because I had to make sure they didn't die. Needless to say, the Sox won (only the second time this has happened to me in person) and there were many highlights. It's official, going to Yankee Stadium as a Sox fan is more dangerous than vise versa.
- We started out by leaving New Haven, Connecticut around 3:45 p.m. After the parking garage adjacent to the train was full, we settled for a 14 dollar lot across the street. On one hand, this meant extra walking, something I wish the Yankees would practice, but on the other hand, it allowed us to pass some workers on break sitting outside their building. One saw my Joba jersey and promptly shouted, "let's go Yankees!". The lady sitting next to him saw the double dose of Ellsbury on Annie and Kara's torso's and chanted, "Let's go Sox!". Welcome to Connecticut, where you get to choose the flavor of the week.
- We left our apartments (I was driving) around 3:15. The train station is a 15-20 minute ride as we aimed for a 3:30 with the 3:52 as a backup. Thanks to a moron who wouldn't drive away from the front of the station (instead he was stopped at the entrance of the circle so cars were stuck in the street) and the lot being full, it was 3:50 when I was at the ticket booth. Thanks to modern technology, I was able to use my debit card to pay for all three plane rides and the accompanying subway fares to save time. Let me say this for myself, I don't run often because I generally fail to excercise, but I sprinted to the end track faster than anybody could have imagined. We made the train seconds before it left the station. Two minutes to get tickets and make the track has to be some kind of record.
- The train ride was an odd phenomenon because it seemed of the 40% of the train wearing jerseys, 90% of the groups of people were a mix between Sox and Yankees fans. It's like everybody decided to coexist all of a sudden. Maybe it was because the stadium is being torn down and Sox fans are just as anxious to say goodbye, or because we were in the exact middle of the rivalry's universe, but it was definitely a sight to be seen.
- Upon arrival, it was time to make the one block trek from the Harlem train station to the Harlem Subway. This is the first time Annie and Kara physically looked like they were "not in Kansas anymore". It certainly didn't help with a random lady in the street took one look at Kara's attire and shouted "You can't wear that shit here, you're in New York now, Boston sucks, go Yankees!"...Or something along those lines. It was a long block, but two or three heckles later we were underground.
- Turns out, people are nicer in hot temperature and facing the prospect of being stuffed into a subway car on top of each other. The couple next to us saw something Quinnipiac on Kara and told us they just graduated from there. The couple on the other side, one Yankees and one Red Sox fan, were pulling a similar stunt as us. It was the girl's first time here, and she was saying goodbye out of respect to the rivalry. You learn a lot about the classy fans from both sides and the idiots by seeing them interact with each other. To my right was a young couple just appreciating their trip together and to my left was a couple talking to an additional Yankees fan who went as far as to call the people she was meeting to explain how they had to take the Red Sox fan under their wings to give her the best experience possible.
- Entering the subway ride, and the extent of it was a bonding experience. My butt was against some random girl's chest, and my hands were unintentionally around some commuter's son. There were probably 20 people in a 10 foot radius. Luckily we caught an express.
- On the walk to the stadium I entered the bleacher entrance for the first time. By the way, how wealthy and big of a Yankees fan must "Stan" be to own the entire block across the street?
- We had about 40 minutes to burn so it was dinner time. My two hotdogs (without buns) and stadium collectible cup of sprint (which I forgot to take home) was only 12 dollars somehow. In line we met some college-aged Red Sox fans straight out of Boston. They asked me if I needed bug spray and were hell-bent on the Sox winning the division. I asked (for the first time ever) for the guy's number so I could call him on October 1st when his team didn't make the post-season. Trash talk brings out the best in people. He asked if I still had my DVD's from a decade ago and I explained it's much easier to remember four titles than two. We never spoke again.
- Don't ever sit in the bleachers if you have a bad back. In fact, if you want to maintain a healthy back, look elsewhere. By the second inning, I wished Andy Pettitte would throw 24 pitches and end the game.
- Johnny Damon led off the game with a home run. It was the second time in a row he had done that when I was at a Yankees-Sox game. This was short-lived celebration as I got my first taste of personal hatred for Jason Bay when Boston tied the game.
- With the Sox scoring every inning, Annie and Kara both were doing a sort of silent cheering job on both sides of me. Everytime a Sox fan from somewhere else yelled something they clapped lightly and said something under their breath. When Yankees fans were rowdy, they stayed dead silent. Id say the crowd was 65-35% Yankees fans. The bleachers, as expected, was a terrific atmosphere.
- The only exception to my previous statement was the Father and Son in front of me. Years of blogging and baseball talk, along with sports internships have made me intolerant of stupid fans. They fit the bill. Yes, Jason Bay is on the Red Sox, yes Jason Giambi is still on the team, yes Xavier Nady was acquired at the deadline, learn the two teams before you attend a game to watch them. Case closed.
Part two later...
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