Thanks for the Memories - part 1
One more game at Yankee Stadium, but I really am not all worked up about it. The new place will look just like it and it's about nine steps from the old place. The ghosts can make the trip.
Yet a friend of mine sent me a link about memories at the place and it got me thinking...
My first trip in was with my buddy Al. We were 20 years old and full of piss, vinegar, and beer. We planned our day with some college buddies of Al's and we included a trip to Manhattan, Long Island, and then finally the Bronx. When his buddy looked at our plan - he started laughing - "This isn't Green Acres, dudes, you can't travel all that and do all that in one day."
We did - score one for the small-town boys. I was scared to death on the Subway, but it worked out. We were dropped right at the front door. We walked around outside the stadium, taking in the old conditions, and I was surprised by how dirty it seemed, but I was also surprised by the number of people just walking around. When we aw the grass, and the monuments, however, it felt like a 2nd home.
Yankees-Red Sox -Tommy John versus Roger Clemens (who was in his prime with the hated Red Sox). Wade Boggs, also still on the Sox, was on a 30 game hit streak and with two outs and nobody on in the first, Al turned to me and said, "I know we're supposed to be rooting for the Yanks, but wouldn't it be nice to see him keep his streak going."
"I suppose," I said.
Bad Kharma (and also the last time I ever rooted for something positive against the Yanks). Boggs doubled, and seven batters later, Tommy John walked off the mound trailing 6-0. An inning later, it was 8-0.
"I waited 20 years to get here and they're down 8-0 to the best pitcher in baseball. This sucks!"
Ah, the ghosts. In the 4th inning the Yanks set a record with something like 12 straight base hits. Clemens was serenaded with "Roger sucks, Roger sucks, Roger sucks!" He tipped his cap.
The game was tied going into the bottom of the 10th when Mattingly drove home the winning run. Al and I were on the subway when that run scored because we were so afraid of being out in NYC past midnight.
I can remember the next day, sitting on the steps at Madison Square Garden. "I wonder what the poor people are doing today," Al said.
We weren't rich by any means, but somehow we both understood that we had made a memory that would last a lifetime - thanks Clemens, thanks Donny Baseball.
Looks as if this post will be continued as about thirty more memories ran through my mind as I was writing this. Tomorrow - Fuzzy meets Rosey, and Yankees-Mets and no way home.
Yet a friend of mine sent me a link about memories at the place and it got me thinking...
My first trip in was with my buddy Al. We were 20 years old and full of piss, vinegar, and beer. We planned our day with some college buddies of Al's and we included a trip to Manhattan, Long Island, and then finally the Bronx. When his buddy looked at our plan - he started laughing - "This isn't Green Acres, dudes, you can't travel all that and do all that in one day."
We did - score one for the small-town boys. I was scared to death on the Subway, but it worked out. We were dropped right at the front door. We walked around outside the stadium, taking in the old conditions, and I was surprised by how dirty it seemed, but I was also surprised by the number of people just walking around. When we aw the grass, and the monuments, however, it felt like a 2nd home.
Yankees-Red Sox -Tommy John versus Roger Clemens (who was in his prime with the hated Red Sox). Wade Boggs, also still on the Sox, was on a 30 game hit streak and with two outs and nobody on in the first, Al turned to me and said, "I know we're supposed to be rooting for the Yanks, but wouldn't it be nice to see him keep his streak going."
"I suppose," I said.
Bad Kharma (and also the last time I ever rooted for something positive against the Yanks). Boggs doubled, and seven batters later, Tommy John walked off the mound trailing 6-0. An inning later, it was 8-0.
"I waited 20 years to get here and they're down 8-0 to the best pitcher in baseball. This sucks!"
Ah, the ghosts. In the 4th inning the Yanks set a record with something like 12 straight base hits. Clemens was serenaded with "Roger sucks, Roger sucks, Roger sucks!" He tipped his cap.
The game was tied going into the bottom of the 10th when Mattingly drove home the winning run. Al and I were on the subway when that run scored because we were so afraid of being out in NYC past midnight.
I can remember the next day, sitting on the steps at Madison Square Garden. "I wonder what the poor people are doing today," Al said.
We weren't rich by any means, but somehow we both understood that we had made a memory that would last a lifetime - thanks Clemens, thanks Donny Baseball.
Looks as if this post will be continued as about thirty more memories ran through my mind as I was writing this. Tomorrow - Fuzzy meets Rosey, and Yankees-Mets and no way home.
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