I'm so impressed by my title for the photo I posted on facebook earlier today from Yankee Stadium that I had to use it again for this blog post.The new stadium in the Bronx is pretty nifty. It took a hundred thousand years to park, and eight hundred thousand years to leave the parking garage, and it was four hundred thousand degrees in the sun, but it was a cool experience. Some of the fans were rude, but I think a certain percentage of the populace in NYC is required by law to be that way.
They had their tomfoolery, like harassing the foolish soul wearing a Red Sox cap and being extremely unkind toward the visiting team's right fielder (we were in the bleachers in right field; similar shenanigans were probably taking place on the left field side), but it's kind of exciting to be in a stadium full of people who feel passionately about their team.
A full stadium?
Of passionate fans?
Almost all supporting the home team?
This Nationals fan is not terribly familiar with the concept. (See contrasting photo from Nationals Park earlier in the season, at left.)
I enjoyed seeing the infield dirt sweeper guys put their little sweepy rakes down during "YMCA" so they could do the dance made famous by gay men and adored by Americans everywhere in all sorts of gatherings. I saw part of a Yankees spring training game in Tampa last March and the dudes did the same thing there, so I was hoping they'd do it today too. They didn't let me down.
Poor Oakland A's right fielder Ryan Sweeney must have a complex after this series in New York. The fans are completely merciless, and told him many times in many ways and in many decibals how much he sucks. I don't know that he does actually suck as a baseball player. He seemed fine to me, and got a hit and scored a run. Granted, this Nationals fan may not have the best perspective on baseball talent. But you'll see, at right, how lonely it was to be Ryan Sweeney today, with nothing but the voices in his head to comfort him. Note the well-worn patch of outfield where the Yankees right fielder seems to stand all the time, perhaps scuffing his feet against the turf when he gets bored.
For anyone not paying attention to the MLB scoreboard, the Yankees won the game, 7-5. It was fun to hear "New York, New York" as we departed the Team Store at the end of the game (and might I note that Ms. Brown was extremely pleased to see a separate women's shop full of girly little shirts of the type she likes. Incidentally, for anyone who seeks a gift for our fair lass, note that she was especially fond of the Derek Jeter #2 dark blue girly t-shirt.) I've included a little action shot for ya.And I leave you with the photo below, which I like to call "Sunburn Waiting to Happen."
Somewhere, at this moment, a young man and a young woman are falling in love. Perhaps it's two high school sweethearts who parted ways when they left for college, he to study marketing at Michisconowa State, and she to Vassmore, the elite northeast liberal arts college, to study God-knows-what. They're home for the summer now, and they're realizing that the drunken hookups of college cannot compare to the sweet but increasingly sophisticated love that is growing between them.
ReplyDeleteBrad and Sophie - that is what we will call them, for those are their names - will date successfully, longingly, despite their distance. After they graduate, with Sophie finally settling on a major in Lacanian Semiotics with a minor in Interpretive Dance, Brad will propose to Sophie, giving her a ring with a diamond much too big for his limited means. They will wed, and despite Brad's soul-crushing insurance-adjuster job and Sophie's tedious data-entry, they will be truly happy.
After a few years, it will be clear that something is missing from their marriage. They'll fight, not out of anger, but because neither can complete the other. Brad and Sophie are in love more than even, but each has a longing for a conneciton with another being that the other cannot assuage.
There's only one thing that will fill their mutual void: a baby. They know it. They fear it, but they know it, more than they've known anything before. So just over a year after the ecstacy of creating life - about ten years from now - Sophie will give birth to a healthy, happy, perfect little boy.
And that boy will grow and develop into a healthy, happy, perfect young man - or as perfect as anyone could expect him to be. He'll excel in school, in college, and in medical school. He'll have a family of his own. And fifty years from now, he'll be the experienced, skilled dermatologist who freezes the squamous cell carcinomas off that toddler's back.
Looks to me like there are a *ton* of empty seats there (even accounting for it possibly being pre-game or between innings). Not as many as at Nats Park for sure, but still... this is the new Yankee Stadium we're talking about, and it's the weekend. Most of the Goldman Sachs seats behind home plate and the infield are empty and even many of the AIG seats above. Sounds like you had fun though - and saw a good game.
ReplyDeleteCraig: There were tons of people there is all I know. It seemed pretty full, and we couldn't get two cheap seats together online until day-of-game tix were available. Maybe everybody had to pee.
ReplyDeleteAdam: Very creative. Poetic, really.