By: Tom Morrone
Recently, I went to a Sunday afternoon Yankees game with my brother-in-law Rick and my friend Armen. No matter how old I get, there is nothing like the experience of going to Yankee stadium to watch a ball game. I have not been to that many games over the years, so each one has been a special treat. Since the new stadium opened in 2009, there is the Yankee Clipper metro north train that goes directly to the stadium right from New Haven which makes the round-trip experience so easy. No driving in nasty traffic, particularly on the ride home after a long day. No battling for a parking space and paying a small fortune to park for a few hours and hope your car will still be there after the game. No battling with the traffic jam after the game when thousands of people are trying to negotiate out of the parking lots. The train was so easy. We were all able to sit and relax and have some enjoyable conversation which made the day that much more enjoyable.
The Yankees were in last place behind the Red Sox, so World Series opportunities were out of reach (though the Red Sox had a glimmer of hope for a Wild Card berth). For me it did not matter because I just wanted to see a game. It was a beautiful hot sunny Sunday afternoon, perfect for a ball game. We received a Roger Marris bobble head doll as we entered, which was a pleasant surprise. (The doll was commemorating his 61 home runs.) Once inside the stadium, there was so much going on that there was always something to watch. The massive scoreboard with the stats of the players and the scores of all the games being played around the country. The crowd and the antics of some of the die-hard Yankee’s fans. The infield crew, performing the YMCA routine as part of doing their maintenance in between innings. The singing of God Bless America, the 7th inning stretch, and of course the singing of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”. Every foul tip that went into the stands, people would scramble to attempt to get the ball as a souvenir of the game. There were so many fans of all ages with their baseball gloves hoping to snare one of those foul tips. None of those foul tips came near us, but many were close enough to see the action. You really get lost in the day and for those few hours it is all about Yankees baseball and everything else does not matter. It was a great game that came down to the last out, but the Yankees fell short and lost to the Sox, 6-5. It was the Yankees 8th loss in a row. Ouch.
After the game and a short walk through the stadium area, we were on the train headed back to West Haven. We took the train from West Haven because it was easier to park than going to Union Station in New Haven and having to battle for a parking space in the garage. We talked about the game as well as countless other topics during the train ride home. Once in West Haven we stopped for a nice Italian dinner to cap off a wonderful day. A glass of Chianti to drink with my Salmon and I was a happy camper.
Sing along with me, “Take me out to the ballgame, take me out with the crowd. Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack, I don’t care if I never get back. Let me root, root, root for the home team, if they don’t win it’s a shame. For its one, two, three strikes you’re out at the old ball game.”
Come on, you wanted to sing. Life is Good!
Until The Next Toms Take…………………………………..
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