What a game! Last night was my third visit to the new ballpark, and I couldn’t have picked a better night. I got to see a Yankee inside-the-park home run for my first time ever in person. I also got to see my first walkoff win since the Jeter-flying-into-the-stands game. And Squawker Jon was even semi-decent company. Hooray!
Friday’s game had a feel of an event night, thanks to Alex Rodriguez’s return. Lots of celebs in the house. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was at the game, and got cheers when he was shown on the big screen. Donald Trump got some boos. Bill O’Reilly got a ton of boos.
While A-Rod didn’t do anything exciting at the plate (my home run prediction was way off), the crowd was about as pumped up for this game as I’ve seen them all year. Michael Kay and Paul O’Neill were just saying on this afternoon’s broadcast that they thought last night’s crowd was the loudest and most excited they had been all year.
But I have to criticize the fans who left the game in the seventh and eighth inning, and there were a bunch who did. I realize some of them in the upper deck were doing what I’ve done in the past – manuever my way down in late innings to get closer to the action. But those who left from the main and field levels have no excuse. The worst the Yankees were losing in the game was 4-1 in the middle of the seventh. Obviously, that wasn’t an insurmountable lead. Too bad for those “fans”- they missed a heck of an ending.
It’s funny how things worked out – Brett Gardner wouldn’t even have been in the game if it weren’t for Johnny Damon being ejected. Our seats, which were in the upper deck just to the right of home plate, were very good, and gave us a terrific view of Gardner’s inside-the-park homer. What a thrilling moment!
Oh, and the Stadium scoreboard used this “The Melk-Man Delivers” graphic for Melky Cabrera’s walkoff single. Talk about cheesy! But I was so happy for Melky, though. Liked how he threw his helmet in the air, as A-Rod famously did after hitting a walkoff homer.
We didn’t know what the whole Mark Teixeira thing was about, but we assumed it somehow involved A-Rod because he was talking to the ump. But for once, A-Rod had nothing to do with it!
Speaking of A-Rod, the video screen had a graphic about him being signed by the Yanks on 1/10/07. That’s embarrassing.
And speaking of Mark Teixeira, is it just me, or does he look a lot like Cotton Eye Joey?
I have to agree with Squawker Jon with the lameness of Cup Night. The concession stand’s commemorative cups for beer and soda are much nicer.
As Squawker Jon noted, I did correctly predict that the Yanks would get to Joe Nathan, and that the Twins made a mistake in walking Robinson Cano. For once, I made a few correct prediction. Thank goodness for small favors!
One final note – the food report. While I still think Citi Field’s food is much better, we did have the best dishes we’ve had at the Stadium so far. Squawker Jon and I each split a rainbow roll, chicken sliders and fries, and the Lobel’s steak sandwich. All items were very good. The Lobel’s sandwich, which we liked the first time we had it, was even better the second time around.
What do you think? Leave us a comment!
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
