Friday, May 23, 2008

Things I Learned at Yankee Stadium 2008



1. I need to dress warmer. I have been to a Giants Stadium in November, I went to a Phillies game last year when it was about 40 degrees, hell I even had to trudge into the city to exchange a Marc Jacobs bag when there was a wind chill of minus 25, but I have never been so cold in my entire life. Yeah, I could have thrown on my DKNY sweater stockings under my jeans (because I’m way too old to be wearing leggings) or possibly worn the lining to my coat, thrown on my ski cap and topped it off with a scarf, but it’s MAY! Shouldn’t it be warmer by now? Apparently not, and with the wind whipping through the stadium, I saw shivering the entire time.

2. It was apparently Ridgewood High School Class of 2001 day in the bleachers. I literally saw eight people I graduated high school with in the section next to mine last night. And bear in mind these eight people were not all sitting together meaning that there were 10 RHS class of 2001 grads sitting in two sections of the bleachers on the same night that did not all come together. Who knows how many other grads were floating around the rest of the stadium. That is beyond weird. I had flashes of sophomore year all night, all I needed was a spotting of some random high school teacher and it literally would have been 10th grade all of again.

3. When buying nachos it’s best to get the cheese on the side. The lady at the nacho stand got a little cheese happy and poured it all over the chips (which yes, I get is the idea) but there were not enough napkins to wipe the cheese off my fingers, thus preventing me from chowing down on the entire stack. Next time I’m getting the cheese on the side and just dipping the chips, if only so I can completely gorge myself on tortillas and Velveta.

4. Speaking of food, it’s best to buy an extra ticket just to have a place to put your food and beverages. So we actually ended up having two extra seats which meant ample space to stretch out and a spot to put the food and drinks. It’s nice not to have to keep shuffling around your goodies when people get up to use the bathroom. Equally nice, not having to put the drinks on the floor where someone will end up walking into it and spilling the drink all over. Of course this only works in the bleachers since your sitting on a bench. I don’t think you can lay out quite the same in the expensive seats. Giving you another reason why box seats suck.

5. The wave is only done at Shea Stadium and maybe the University of Michigan. The other side (aka the left side) of the bleachers attempted the wave but it never made it over to the right field side because that kind of behavior is just not tolerated in Yankee Stadium. And when they kept booing us for not rising out of our seats everyone just kept yelling “Go back to Shea Stadium; we don’t do that stuff here.” And then the guy behind also made mention that they do the wave at the University of Michigan, although I’m pretty sure that’s not the only place people do the wave. And in the midst of the wavers vs. non-wavers battle, ARod struck out, so yeah, that’s another reason why they don’t do the wave in Yankee Stadium!

6. Adam Jones’ mom does not make good meatloaf. Also according to the loud mouths behind me, he was just potty trained yesterday (“Ew, messy”), he’s the reason why there is birth control and the ever popular, he just plain sucks. Oh those Yankee fans, they are very creative.

7. Besides the Chatty Kathies behind us, the crowd was very tame. It must have been because the Thursday before Memorial Day weekend produces a very mellow crowd.

8. Ian Kennedy is not as horrible as I thought. In the third when Kennedy gave up that RBI triple to Freddie Bynum and then walked Brian Roberts and Jay Payton to load the bases, I thought, oh great there he goes again. Once he gives up a big hit, he just can’t mentally get back in the game, but he proved me wrong. He struck out Nick Markakis (who had a terrible game at the plate) and then Aubrey Huff flew out to end the inning. And for the next three innings, Kennedy shut out the O’s to get his first win of the year. I don’t know if this is an aberration or the beginning of something new for him, but I totally thought this was going to be a slugging match and it turned into a well pitched game.

9. If you miss the D train it’s going to be a while before another one comes your way. I literally heard the train leaving as I was walking down the stairs, twenty minutes and four north bound trains later, another D finally came. But as an added bonus we had a prolonged stop at the 7th avenue station so I had to sprint to catch my train home. Luckily I think I only sprained my ankle during that little adventure.

10. There are only 58 more games left at the “old” Yankee Stadium. I would like to say that it will be sad to see the Stadium go, but it won’t. Frankly, I’m not a Yankees game, but rather a fan of the sport, (And since all my friends are Yankees fans the only games I get to go to are ones at Yankee Stadium and the one Braves game I guilt my friends into going to at Shea) and I have visited newer and much nicer Stadiums mainly Citizens Bank Park in Philly. To me, the old charm of the Stadium was remodeled away in the 70s and the “new” Yankee Stadium being erected across the street looks like a true gem. So sorry Yankees purest, but I’m way more excited to go see games at the new stadium than I am sad that old one will be leveled to the ground.
For more pictures from the game click here.
It's been fun blogging with you,
Kate

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