We headed down to the city early to beat traffic, which we found out is impossible in NYC, and to walk around the stadium for a while before hand. After a solid 30 minuets of traffic we got there around 5:30 for a 7:05 game. We immediately wanted to check out these mystery seats. It turns out that they had some great benefits that we did not expect. The seats were right where we though they were but we got the elevated version of that website above rather than the ground level. Plus there weren't even any handicap people in that section that night so the view was great. There were only four chairs to the section so we basically had the bar to ourselves. My dad got setteled in and Ben and I went to check out the highlight of the new Yankee Stadium, Monument Park in center field.
When we got out there the line to get in was enormous. We were standing in right field on the stairs going up to the second tier when we started but the stadium workers ensured us that the line moved fast and it wouldn't be a hassle. Boy, he was right. We only waited about 15-20 min for a line that could have taken hours at a "normal line" pace. Right when we walked in my Dad called me from the home plate seats to let us know that Ben stuck out like a sore thumb, even from back there, with his Red Sox hat sticking up way above everyone else. We made our way through the crowd, checking out all the plaques and noting how many retired numbers the Yankees had. My personal favorite item is the giant floor emblem of the Yankee symbol in the center of Monument Park that states how the symbol was put on a medal of honor given to a police officer and then turned into the Yankees logo.
After monument park, we finished our lap around the concourse and made it back to the seats. Since there was a little time before first pitch, we went to the gift shop to get our postcard. We looked high and low and as it turns out the only post cards they sell are Derek Jeter postcards. Ben was not about to buy something of just Derek Jeter so we decided to push off our souvenir selection until later since we had used up all the time before the game and the National Anthem was starting.
We were at the stadium during "Hope" week where the Yankees pick from a bunch of special stories and treat them to a special day in the city. The kid that day was from Africa and learned English just so that he could go to college in the USA. The Yankees brought him into the city and got him a chance to ring the opening bell on Wall Street and met with the Mayor of NYC before the game. A bunch of the Yankees were there all day with him and he got to throw out the first pitch. It was a pretty neat thing they had going and interesting to hear this kids story.
As the game got started we picked our home run derby candidates (2 per team for each person) and they immediately paid dividends. My Dad got right into the action because he had Teixeira who hit a home run as the third batter of the game and luckily for me Cano went back to back with him so I got into the action. Ben was all down on his luck but he had Miguel Cabrera who hit one in the top of the second inning.
After the flurry of the bottom of the first and top second things settled down a bit. Ben was sitting next to a guy who claimed to be here with friends but wasnt with anyone that we saw. He was really talkative and always had something to say about nothing, talking about how he was a Mets fan, and the Mets were doing so horrible but he wanted the Yankees to lose, and on on he went. He tried to connect with Ben because he was sitting next to him and Ben was a Red Sucks fan and the guy was a Mets fan so they could both hate the Yankees but this guy was a total "Yo bro" Bronx guy and was more of an annoyance than anything.
With the Yankees at a big lead I decided to go a venture over to the place where they sell the Lobels Steak Sandwich. This did not disappoint even though it cost me $15 and a pretty good wait. After getting the Crab fries in Philly and this, it made me disappointed that I had not made it a point to get the signature dishes more often. Regardless it was like candy it was so good.
Meanwhile Cabrera made the game interesting with his second home run in as many at bats, making Ben the rich man in the home run derby contest. The Yankees started scoring lots of runs but the tigers kept hanging around after a 2 run home run by Don Kelly (who no one had selected). Granderson hit another home run (made me 2 bucks) a couple innings later the Yankees would get some more runs. The game was exciting through every inning because even though the ending score was 9-5 each team had at least 7 runners left on base.
By the end of the game a little bit of the crowd had left but there was defintaly a mad dash to get to the parking lots. Coming out of our lot we got the NYC traffic shuffle and ended up going home a roundabout way but it was all part of the experience. Next up is the Mets game a week away.
