Thanks for the Memories - 2 thru 15
I was once supposed to drive from Connecticut to Virginia to visit a college friend on a Sunday. Instead, I pulled into the lot at Yankee Stadium and watched a Yankee-Red Sox doubleheader. Mattingly homered in both games and I ate about eleven hot dogs to wash down six or seven beers. I watched both games alone.
Kathy, Matt, Jake and I went from Buffalo to New York - arrived just in time to see Pedro throw a two-hitter and Manny homer as Boston won 2-0. Matt got an autograph from David Ortiz and Jeter greeted all the fans along the first-base side. We were in the front row directly across from 1st. "Dad, I can spit on Giambi from here," Jake said. "Try not to do that," I answered.
The kids still laugh at the New York fans who were teasing Johnny Damon when he was still on the Red Sox and still wearing his hair long. Damon was playing catch with Ortiz when a native New Yorker yelled - "Hey Ortiz, who's the broad on your team?"
I drove all the way home after the game with everyone else sleeping soundly.
I caught a game in the suites with some good friends from work. I drank Heineken and ate enough shrimp that the ocean called to tell me they were running out. The Yanks won when Matsui homered with two out in the ninth. You should see how fast they clear out the suites on a walk-off. I had to take my last plate of shrimp to go.
My buddy Mike and I caught a Yankee game from the right-field bleachers. We just drove into town, scalped some tickets, had a couple of big beers and talked about our young marriages. He's such a tremendous friend that to this day I remember a lot about that 3-hour conversation. We also heard a fan trying to taunt a pitcher by the name of Batista. The fan yelled out - "Hey Batista ..... (hesitated for a long time and then said) .... I did your sistah!" Classic.
Then there was the ill-fated trip in. My brother set up a Yankee-Mets trip that was fundamentally flawed from the get-go. Six guys - all ready to bust loose - flew into NYC, did shots of Jameson with the single sandwich we ate, then proceeded to drink ourselves silly in the nosebleed seats. The game was long, it was hot, a rain-delay kept the beer stands open, we went drinking after the game, and then tried to wheel ourselves to La Guardia for the flight home. The only problem (and some say it was my fault) was that they wouldn't let us fly home in our tired state. "Sleep it off and try again tomorrow," was the consensus of about ten security guys.
I remember calling my wife to tell her the plane was cancelled - she called me right back and said - "It's not cancelled. I checked on the Net - it takes off in a half-hour." "It's cancelled for me," I replied.
To make a long story short - we made it home. Kathy greeted me with - "If the crew that went didn't get drunk I would have been worried." What an understanding woman.
Favorite Stadium moments? Jeter diving in the stands to rob the Sox. The '96 series when Girardi tripled to win it. The two game-tying homers in '01 in the Series and just the love that was there when the country needed it. Paul O'Neill being serenaded by the Stadium crowd. Mattingly grabbing popcorn out of a kid's hand as he neared the foul line to catch a ball. Chambliss' home run in '76. Reggie hitting three in the Series on my 13th birthday. The love of the New Yorkers on the day after Munson died or the day after Mantle died, or the day after Murcer died, or the day after Scooter died. I learned a lot about life from watching.
Okay, so I might miss the place a little. Don't call me tonight around 11 when the final out is put in the books. I'll probably be crying myself to sleep.
Kathy, Matt, Jake and I went from Buffalo to New York - arrived just in time to see Pedro throw a two-hitter and Manny homer as Boston won 2-0. Matt got an autograph from David Ortiz and Jeter greeted all the fans along the first-base side. We were in the front row directly across from 1st. "Dad, I can spit on Giambi from here," Jake said. "Try not to do that," I answered.
The kids still laugh at the New York fans who were teasing Johnny Damon when he was still on the Red Sox and still wearing his hair long. Damon was playing catch with Ortiz when a native New Yorker yelled - "Hey Ortiz, who's the broad on your team?"
I drove all the way home after the game with everyone else sleeping soundly.
I caught a game in the suites with some good friends from work. I drank Heineken and ate enough shrimp that the ocean called to tell me they were running out. The Yanks won when Matsui homered with two out in the ninth. You should see how fast they clear out the suites on a walk-off. I had to take my last plate of shrimp to go.
My buddy Mike and I caught a Yankee game from the right-field bleachers. We just drove into town, scalped some tickets, had a couple of big beers and talked about our young marriages. He's such a tremendous friend that to this day I remember a lot about that 3-hour conversation. We also heard a fan trying to taunt a pitcher by the name of Batista. The fan yelled out - "Hey Batista ..... (hesitated for a long time and then said) .... I did your sistah!" Classic.
Then there was the ill-fated trip in. My brother set up a Yankee-Mets trip that was fundamentally flawed from the get-go. Six guys - all ready to bust loose - flew into NYC, did shots of Jameson with the single sandwich we ate, then proceeded to drink ourselves silly in the nosebleed seats. The game was long, it was hot, a rain-delay kept the beer stands open, we went drinking after the game, and then tried to wheel ourselves to La Guardia for the flight home. The only problem (and some say it was my fault) was that they wouldn't let us fly home in our tired state. "Sleep it off and try again tomorrow," was the consensus of about ten security guys.
I remember calling my wife to tell her the plane was cancelled - she called me right back and said - "It's not cancelled. I checked on the Net - it takes off in a half-hour." "It's cancelled for me," I replied.
To make a long story short - we made it home. Kathy greeted me with - "If the crew that went didn't get drunk I would have been worried." What an understanding woman.
Favorite Stadium moments? Jeter diving in the stands to rob the Sox. The '96 series when Girardi tripled to win it. The two game-tying homers in '01 in the Series and just the love that was there when the country needed it. Paul O'Neill being serenaded by the Stadium crowd. Mattingly grabbing popcorn out of a kid's hand as he neared the foul line to catch a ball. Chambliss' home run in '76. Reggie hitting three in the Series on my 13th birthday. The love of the New Yorkers on the day after Munson died or the day after Mantle died, or the day after Murcer died, or the day after Scooter died. I learned a lot about life from watching.
Okay, so I might miss the place a little. Don't call me tonight around 11 when the final out is put in the books. I'll probably be crying myself to sleep.
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