July 28 was my friend John's birthday and his wife Liz had gotten him tickets for the Red Sox-Yankees game at Yankee Stadium. John invited me along with his brothers, Vinnie (it was John's birthday, so I'm going with John's preferred spelling of his name) and Tommy. We arrived in the Bronx a little after 2:00 for the 4:00 game. It was raining when we got there, but the weather forecast seemed like it would be good by game time. We drank some beverages in the parking lot before walking over to the stadium. As we were heading in, we found out the game was being delayed. The rain hadn't even started again, but it was coming. So we went into a bar and befriended an Englishman named Neil and his five-year-old son Flynn. We spent more than an hour talking to the two of them and drinking with Neil. Neil completely trusted us to watch his kid while he went to the bathroom. Neil was a big soccer fan, but Flynn loved the Yankees. His favorite player was Nick Swisher. We think that Flynn stole $20 from John at some point. Anyway, the delay was finally coming to an end. We headed into the stadium, hugged it out with Neil, and then walked to our seats in the right field bleachers.
It was my first experience in the bleachers at the new stadium. The bleacher creatures are great with their role call in the first inning. What was not great were the dirtbag Michigan and West Virginia fans sitting in front of us. John and Vinnie agreed that they were pretty ridiculous. Why dwell on a college rivalry at a baseball game anyway? (And these guys were dirtbags. When I was in Pittsburgh, Jon and I encountered some Michigan fans before the game. They were not dirtbags. They were friendly and Jon helped direct them to the stadium.) John had my back, calling me his cousin and trying to make jokes to diffuse the situation. It didn't work, because, again, these guys were dirtbags. I did play the 1989 Fiesta Bowl card with the West Virginia fan, but I opted not to play the "Let me know when 60% of your black players graduate" card with the Michigan fan. (I really should have. Michigan's black football player graduation rate is a disgrace.)
As for the game, it was John Lester against CC Sabathia. Sabathia had a rough first inning, giving up 3 runs. Chris Stewart homered in the third to cut the lead to 3-1. In the top of the fifth, Adrian Gonzalez hit a three-run homer to push the lead to 6-1.
And that was all I saw of the game. By the bottom of the fifth, I was no longer in Yankee Stadium. The other three had left to get drinks and stuff while I held down the fort. They never returned and I got a call from John saying that we had to leave because Vinnie and Tommy had been kicked out. I was never really clear on what happened, but when I walked out of the stadium and met them, they had befriended a New York City police officer named Horatio. Of course, the Yankees cut into the lead as soon as we left and eventually tied it at 6 before losing 8-6. We went back to the parking lot and had another age-appropriate beverage or two and then headed back to Centerport.
Once in Centerport, we stopped at the Beach Pub and John and Tommy beat Vinnie and me in shuffleboard (entirely my fault, Vinnie was very good). We went back to Vinnie's house and checked in with John's parents and Liz. Then we went to Huntington. I got some revenge on John for shuffleboard by beating him in darts. Eventually, John and I got separated from Vinnie and Tommy and ended up at the 100th anniversary celebration at Finnegan's. It was pretty crazy there. At this point, John was referring to me as his brother (I think I could definitely pass for the fourth brother).
By 2:00 in the morning, we were ready to leave. John's father had dropped us off, but he was not going to be able to pick us up. I was up to get a cab or try to get my father to pick us up. John was adamant about walking. So for the first time, I walked home from Huntington Village after a night out. I walked with John most of the way to his parents' house in Centerport before parting ways to go to my house in Greenlawn. We had a good talk during the walk. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Once we parted ways, it wasn't so much fun. I took a route that I thought was shorter than my other option, but it turned out to be longer and a lot steeper. I walked past my friend Pete's parents' house around 3:20 or so and made it home around 3:45. When I looked up my route the next day, the internet told me it was 4.78 miles.
So yeah, thanks Liz for the tickets and thanks John for the invite. It was a great day with you, Vinnie, and Tommy. Too bad the Yankees couldn't get you a win for your birthday.
By the way Vin, today, August 9, is the six year anniversary of a great injustice done to us. You can probably figure out what I'm talking about.
It was my first experience in the bleachers at the new stadium. The bleacher creatures are great with their role call in the first inning. What was not great were the dirtbag Michigan and West Virginia fans sitting in front of us. John and Vinnie agreed that they were pretty ridiculous. Why dwell on a college rivalry at a baseball game anyway? (And these guys were dirtbags. When I was in Pittsburgh, Jon and I encountered some Michigan fans before the game. They were not dirtbags. They were friendly and Jon helped direct them to the stadium.) John had my back, calling me his cousin and trying to make jokes to diffuse the situation. It didn't work, because, again, these guys were dirtbags. I did play the 1989 Fiesta Bowl card with the West Virginia fan, but I opted not to play the "Let me know when 60% of your black players graduate" card with the Michigan fan. (I really should have. Michigan's black football player graduation rate is a disgrace.)
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| Our view from right field. |
As for the game, it was John Lester against CC Sabathia. Sabathia had a rough first inning, giving up 3 runs. Chris Stewart homered in the third to cut the lead to 3-1. In the top of the fifth, Adrian Gonzalez hit a three-run homer to push the lead to 6-1.
And that was all I saw of the game. By the bottom of the fifth, I was no longer in Yankee Stadium. The other three had left to get drinks and stuff while I held down the fort. They never returned and I got a call from John saying that we had to leave because Vinnie and Tommy had been kicked out. I was never really clear on what happened, but when I walked out of the stadium and met them, they had befriended a New York City police officer named Horatio. Of course, the Yankees cut into the lead as soon as we left and eventually tied it at 6 before losing 8-6. We went back to the parking lot and had another age-appropriate beverage or two and then headed back to Centerport.
Once in Centerport, we stopped at the Beach Pub and John and Tommy beat Vinnie and me in shuffleboard (entirely my fault, Vinnie was very good). We went back to Vinnie's house and checked in with John's parents and Liz. Then we went to Huntington. I got some revenge on John for shuffleboard by beating him in darts. Eventually, John and I got separated from Vinnie and Tommy and ended up at the 100th anniversary celebration at Finnegan's. It was pretty crazy there. At this point, John was referring to me as his brother (I think I could definitely pass for the fourth brother).
By 2:00 in the morning, we were ready to leave. John's father had dropped us off, but he was not going to be able to pick us up. I was up to get a cab or try to get my father to pick us up. John was adamant about walking. So for the first time, I walked home from Huntington Village after a night out. I walked with John most of the way to his parents' house in Centerport before parting ways to go to my house in Greenlawn. We had a good talk during the walk. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Once we parted ways, it wasn't so much fun. I took a route that I thought was shorter than my other option, but it turned out to be longer and a lot steeper. I walked past my friend Pete's parents' house around 3:20 or so and made it home around 3:45. When I looked up my route the next day, the internet told me it was 4.78 miles.
So yeah, thanks Liz for the tickets and thanks John for the invite. It was a great day with you, Vinnie, and Tommy. Too bad the Yankees couldn't get you a win for your birthday.
By the way Vin, today, August 9, is the six year anniversary of a great injustice done to us. You can probably figure out what I'm talking about.
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