Only in New York

The date is May 16, 2010. I was back in NJ visiting family and to attend a family reunion of sorts. Earlier in the year, a good online friend (whom I have never met) offered me his Yankee tickets for today.

Well, this started me on my mission this summer, to see as many Major League ball parks as I can. If all goes well, I will be visiting 8 different ball parks this season. On my "tour" are PNC Park, Yankee Stadium, Progressive Field, Wrigley Field, Citizens Bank Park and Camden Yards. Then there are potential games at Fenway and Comerica Park in Detroit.

But back to the trip to Yankee Stadium. It started with the best weather anyone could ask for. I took my friend Steve with me. Always nice to enjoy a good game with great friend and we took the Yankee Clipper Ferry out of Weehawken, NJ. This is the absolute best way to get to a Yankee game, unless you live in NYC. The ride is approximately 90 mins and arrives about 30 mins before game time.

The weather made the ferry ride an absolute photographer's dream and I don't think Steve and I said more than two words the whole trip there. Camera's in our face as we toured past Hoboken, Jersey City, the Statue of Liberty, Manhattan, the Brooklyn Bridge and finally to the Stadium. I think I took 130 pictures before we even got to the game.

Now I will say this, Yankee Stadium is beautiful. It is very NYC, it is very Yankee and it looks like the Coliseum in Rome. It really is a "must" see for all Baseball Fans, no matter what you think of the Yankees.

I was blown away at the beauty of the stadium and when we entered inside....all I could say was WOW...It was amazing.

Now, one of the things I am doing at each park I visit, is going up to the highest point in the stadium, behind home plate. This way I can get a great panoramic shot of the entire ball field. I think I plan on framing all these for each year, till I see all 30 ball parks. Should prove to be fun as I get around the US and Toronto.

I have to say, it was very weird to be at a game where I really did not care who won or lost...LOL I am by no means a Yankee fan, but there is something inside me that just says "no" you can't root against the home team. So I tried to keep myself neutral, but not cheering too much when the Twins did something good. I was knee deep in Yankee territory and I wanted to leave all in one piece...LOL

So we sat, nicely shielded from the sun (we were in the 400 level...lol) taking pictures and enjoying the game (along with the colorful commentary from the fans around us). The Yankees were ahead all the way to the 8th inning, where all hell broke loose.

Joba Chamberlain was brought in and the scoreboard announced that he had not allowed a hit in some stupid amount of innings. So what happens, he loads the bases. Joba is then replaced by Mariano Rivera, by far the best closer in baseball. The scoreboard announces that Rivera has not allowed a run in some silly amount of innings and what happens, he walks Jim Thome which brings in a run and then on 1-0 pitch, Jason Kubel hits a GRAND SLAM! Yes my fellow readers, if you want to know how to silence a Yankee crowd of 46,000+, just hit a grand slam off their star closer!

Needless to say, that pretty much ended the game. We did not want to miss our ferry, so we left in the middle of the eighth. It was actually humorous, we were not the only ones who did not want to be late for the ferry, which takes off 30 mins after the last out. So there we all stood, cell phones in hand, keeping track of the game. Androids, Blackberrys, etc....what would we have done 10 years ago...LOL

Shortly thereafter we are setting off for the trip back and I had the greatest pleasure of meeting a sport journalist and his daughter. I never got his name but he kept me entertained and I am sure I will find out who he was at some point. We talked the entire 90 minutes. It was a good thing Steve was still taking pictures or I might have felt a little guilty.

Upon our return, it was back in the car and back to Trenton....a quick slice at Vito's pizza and the day was done. WOW....it was fantastic and something I will always remember. But one thing does puzzle me....and I think I will blog about it more in detail another time, but, when did Motely Crue's "Shout At The Devil" become appropriate music at a baseball game. Now, I do love the song but really....at a baseball game?

Just my $.02, your mileage will, of course, vary....