New York – Baseball @ Yankee Stadium

The Operator led Rosie to the subway, a short ride and then an interchange to the Bronx, I wasnt really expecting alot of people, we had left early so we would have a relaxed trip and as we had booked tickets on line in New Zealand we had to collect them from the stadium so we thought we would leave bright and early.  Dads and lads dressed in Yankee gear were already on the train getting an early start as well, as we filtered off the train and popped up into the sunlight, Yankee Stadium stood before us 50 metres away.  Hundreds were milling around the outside, we found Gate 4 and saw our Will Call line (as in will call on the day for tickets) and it was….short, yay!  Rosie was surprised and delighted, they have ushers in the ques all dressed in uniform and welcoming you to  Yankee Stadium, 6 ticket booths were open in our Will Call area making it go so quick, ‘enjoy the game’ as the tickets were handed over.  It was a pleasant experience.

.Getting into the stadium through the crowd was just as easy, they had heaps of gates open, scan the ticket, check in The Operators bag and we were in.  We wandered the shops that were selling Yankees gear and then followed the signs up too our seating area, all of the traffic areas are wide and huge so no one is pushing into you.

Lets just say, there are NO bad seats in Yankee Stadium!  This is the view from Section 213 Row 22 seats 17 and 18 – we were right on the isle, perfect for Rosie and her frequent toilet breaks, the leg, elbow and but room on the seats were good too.  The photo looks quite faraway, but believe me we were close to the action and could see every move.  This photo was taken about 30 mins before the game, not too may taking their seats yet…..there was so much to see and do behind us on the concourse…..

The stands filled up for the opening ball alright.  But first behind us was a continual stream of bars and food shops that went right around the second tier where we were sitting, you had a choice of going to the pizza stall, hotdogs, burgers, southern fried chicken, icecream, popcorn, tacos…..you name it, it was there.  You might have had to wait for two people to be served in front of you and that was it, no long lines for anything here!  No beer on sale till 12.00 but then hey, you didnt even need to get out of your seat to buy it!

They walked past your seat selling every stadium strength beer you can imagine in plastic bottles.  These dudes were only selling beer till the 5th innings…..I cannot imagine how many times they would have walked up and down the stairs humping their heavy crates.  And they were busy selling beer – they had a big badge on their uniforms with the price of the bottle, no questions there and you just held up your hand as they were passing.

This guy was doing his up and down trek with his box on his head….we stopped him for two bottles, $10 bucks a bottle.  He has taken the caps off for us and The Operator is rummaging in his wallet and goes ‘Oh, I only have a $100 note, can you change it?’  Rosies face goes red….the dude said ‘ no troubles to me son’ he pulls out his wad from his takings so far and must have had at least $5,000 there it was so fat.  They even have cup holders on the seats once you have bought your beer tehehe. Hotdogs, candyfloss and crackerjacks were also sold up and down the aisles.  The Operator was not so successful in buying a beer from the stand stall…he was asked for ID….can you believe it!  They were pretty strict but hey, The Operator!  He dont look like no spring chicken!

These are the big screens that show the replays, the players stats and introduce all the players. Before the game they were interviewing local charities and the Yankees were making donations to their cause, a player would come out and hand a cheque over.  Kids baseball teams that had won there grade came on the field and it was beamed onto the bigscreen then a Yankee player would hand them their trophy.  Rosie was waiting for the cheerleaders and bands…The Operator reminded me that was only for football.

The game itself was good fun, play was happening all the time, there were no big breaks, players swapped from batting to fielding quickly for all 9 innings….it wasnt the most exciting sport to watch action wise, there were more strike outs than hits, but when the hits came, they were stand up events… definitely better than cricket.  Rosie was surprised how many players were lefties….probably 50/50.  The top earners of the Yankee team Alex Rodregez (A-Rod, to us fans) $28 mil – Derek Jeter the most popular $18mil….they play 165 games a season which works out to be about $185,000 per game…..

The 4 hours the game took went really quickly, it was a fun party atmosphere and when the last ball was pitched the scoreboard was Athletic 5 – Yankees 4.  Rosie is abit of a sport jinx so sorry Yankees!  We headed out of the stadium with the rest of the 47,500 people that were there today and headed for the subway….Rosie though it would take forever to get home but the foot traffic was flowing freely and we were in the subway quick smart, a special Yankees train rolled up and hopped on, we even got a seat, was really surprised, people were standing but it wasnt jammed packed, why would it be, another train was coming along the line two mins later!