Okay so we paid too much for the tickets but when you are in New York and the Yankees are playing against a team – Baltimore – that they played even in the regular season – 9 wins each – and its game 5, you have to do it!!

I know this is a bit out of sequence, but the story of our trip will have to do a fast forward to today. We will return to the last few days later.

We watched the end of the 12 inning marathon on Thursday nite and immediately turned to the internet to pick up tickets. They were delivered by e-mail this afternoon and we rushed down 7th Ave. to the FedEx store to have them printed. Printed in colour; now to be mounted on the wall of the apartment. “ALDS Game 5” they read “Section 314 Row 2 Seats 5 & 6”. That’s literally hanging on the edge of the world with only one row of people between us and Section 114 about 50 feet below.
We jumped on the “1” train at 23rd to Columbus Circle, then transferred to the “D” train, express to 145th and then on to 161st Street in the Bronx. I had been there before, in 2003 to see the Yankees play the Oakland Athletics. At that time John MacPherson and I ducked out of the Government Finance Officers Association conference – we are both retired now so there is no one to “tell” now – did a similar trek. That was the old Yankee Stadium. It is gone now, replaced by a great park full of, what else, baseball diamonds, very well maintained grass, an artificial turf field and track, all provided by the Yankees. It was a beautiful June day in 2003, it was what baseball dreams are made of.

Today was a little different. It is October afterall and the end of the season. It was bright but not entirely sunny when we arrived 2 1/2 hours before David Cone threw out the first pitch (it was outside). Anyone remember David Cone? The new stadium is really big and beautiful retaining much of the look of the elder but with more modern materials and facilities. I remember the public spaces as being rather cramped, elbow to elbow throughout, while the new facility was designed to accomodate those who pay the bills.

On the plaza we met a man from Oregon who was attracted by my Bandon Dunes hat. This is not the first time this happened. He was surprised we were Canadian because we didn’t have “Canadian” accent. He mused that was because we lived so close to the US border!

We visited the Yankee’s store and bought a couple of hats. Too bad they don’t make the great wool caps I bought 10 years ago. Now just a blend. But we put them on and became immediate Yankee fans. The park is beautiful but lacks the history and romanticism of the old park. We had a couple of pastrami sandwiches with a hudge dill pickle and garlic french fries – man were they good, even 5 hours later! Then we started the climb to the 3rd level and our seats. Up, Up and further Up!. When we got there we looked over the edge and felt dizzy. It was so cold we bought some terrible coffee and watched David Cone through the first pitch. We stood while the crowd sang the national anthem and the game began.

It was remarkable when we got to the middle of 7. The crowd seemed to anticipate God Bless America and it didn’t matter what else was going on, everyone stood, placed hats over their hearts and sang. The big screen showed American vistas and landmarks. You could feel the defiant patriotism in the air and given where we were, it was not surprising.

While the game was great, the most interesting activity was in the stands around us. Next to me was a mid 30’s father with a heavy Bronx accent with his 9 or 10 year old son. They arrived in the 4th, left after the middle of the 8th when dad declared “We Won”. The boy never got a chance to use the glove he brought and even if a ball had come our way, he was shivering so hard he couldn’t have done anything. Next to Penny were two young lightly dressed Japanese girls who were only interested in seeing Ichiro bat. Lucky for them he had a great night with two good hits and a run scored. Their cameras worked overtime and they left happy. There was a steady parade of men getting beer, and more beer and more beer. We were up and down, up and down. Then there was the recurring parade to the men’s washroom: more ups and downs. At the 8th inning, there were 500 guys all trying to get in while the Yankees were at bat.

Then came the last pitch. CC Sabathia had pitched a great game with only one inning almost getting away from him. But he dug deep and crowd urged him on with “CC, CC, CC, . . . ” until they were hoarse. With the last out at first the PA system blasted Frank Sinatra’s famous version of “New York, New York” and there was more singing. What a great experience. A might cool for an October evening but well worth the trip. Back on the “D” train with the happy fans and home.

Bring on the TIGERS!! Stubhub will be busy!!