I can't believe it. I actually went to a baseball game yesterday.
OK, yes. I do love sports but I'm usually limited to football (soccer for you heathens over here), rugby, tennis, cricket...... did I say limited?
I did one geocache before going on the shuttle from GCT to Yankees E153rd St.
It was funny to me because they always announce where the train is going and where it stops along the way in a pre-recorded announcement. That in itself isn't funny but the guy on the announcement sound so funny the way he said Yankees E153 St. It just sounded like he was so excited! He must be a Yankees fan!
To get from the train station to the stadium you have to walk by the old Yankee Stadium. They don't have original names for their stadium like we do at Darlo. I have no idea what our stadium is called at the moment! I meant to get a photo of the old stadium on the way out of the game but my camera died a terrible death during the 8th inning so I never got the chance. It always dies at the most inconvenient time. Such a pain. I'll teach it a lesson next time.
I walked around for a bit outside the stadium to soak up the atmosphere and then headed inside. First thing I did inside was buy a hat. Good thing too. You'll see.I had to head up 3 flights to get to my seat. I still had a good view as I was in the second row. They have cup holders. Such a novelty. We may always have a unique name for our stadium but we don't have these.
Before the game started, of course, the national anthem was sung. I liked how they asked everyone to remove their hats. Respectful.
I'm gonna tell you, I have no idea why there are so many innings in baseball. Seriously. Just cut out the first four and be done with it. It was dull. Dull. Dull. Dull. Nothing happened. It only got interesting in the last few innings when all the players realised that they actually should do something to win the game. I didn't mind that the game was dull really though. I was taking it all in.
Still novel.
I was lucky because I was sitting beside a father/son combo. The little boy, Danny, was five years old and it was his first ever baseball game just like me. It worked out well for me because his father was explaining everything to him and, as I don't understand baseball at all, I listened in.
Danny was very sweet. He gave me a rundown of the movie Cars. He likes guitar hero. He can run very fast. He loved the clapping hands that kept coming up on the screen. He sung his little heart out when it was time for 'Take Me Out To The Ball Game.' I wish I'd got a picture of his sweet little face. He's going to be a great Yankees fan. They are lucky to have him.
So like I said, the game only really got interesting towards the end but by that time I was just so uncomfortable that it was hard to get any enjoyment out of it. The sun was relentless. In those seats you are just so unprotected from any kind of weather, be it sun or rain. Out of the 3 1/2 hours that we were out there, we probably had cloud cover for about 15-20 minutes..... if that. I got burnt despite slathering on the sunscreen multiple times. I was sweating out of every pore in my body. It was so disgusting. My only consolation was that it was just the same for everyone else. It got to the point where I just wanted to get out of my jeans. It was ugly, I tell you, ugly. That wouldn't have ended well for anyone though and I'm pretty sure that that would have marked the end of little Danny's career as a Yankees fan. He would most likely be scarred for life and need therapy until the day he died. Thankfully, I managed to resist the urge. I'm not sure how I resisted. It really was that AWFUL!
I survived. Thank goodness. It was getting hairy there for a while. The best bit of the game was when the grounds people (? - I really don't know what to call them!) 'performed' YMCA. They do it at every game apparently but I had no idea that it was coming until I noticed them all walking in time to the music..... It was so funny. Ha! I laugh just thinking about it.
The closest that we got to this.......
was the Mark Teixeira homerun that was coming straight towards us but dipped down at the last second to the people below. My heart stopped at that point I think. Those balls come at you pretty fast. One child was hit with a foul ball. Horrid.
*My detective skills tell me that Mark Teixiera is of Portuguese descent. The X is pronounced like 'sh'. When I was at Au Pair Orientation there was a Brazilian girl whose name was Alexandra, except it is pronounced Aleshandra. Apparently that is how they pronounce their Xs. I'd love to know if I'm right*
Will Ferrell was at the game. You'll have to trust me that that is him though. 
Some of the action. I can't remember who this is though. Either Derek Jeter or A-Rod probably as they are the only ones that I remember taking photos of.
Still novel.
I enjoyed the game but the Yankees lost 9-7. It was all a bit anticlimactic really. The atmosphere only really took off after the 7th inning I'd say and it isn't like football and rugby where you stay in your seat until half time and then go do what you need to. There were so many empty seats all the time because people went awandering. The attendance was 46,205 by the way.
It sure didn't beat Hampden for atmosphere..... but anywhere would be hard pressed to do that.
I'm glad that I went to see the Yankees. I can now cross that off my list. I'm going to have to come back to NY for the US Open one year...... maybe see the other A-Rod. I tried it. It doesn't work with him. He'll always be Andy Roddick.
Fun times........ but I don't think that I've ever been as pleased to get home and get into my pjs at 6.30pm than I was yesterday!
1 comment:
Are the rules for baseball easy to understand or are they like trying to explain cricket to Americans??
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