Daily Archives: April 26, 2004

A few final thoughts on the Yanks-Sox series…

–I neglected to mention it this morning, but for the first time in a long while, I didn’t wear any gear to the game on Saturday. I usually have a Yankee cap, and sometimes I wear a Yankee t-shirt as well. But I lost my Yankee hat over the winter and haven’t yet replaced it. I have to admit it was interesting to be at the game sans team colors. When I looked at a Red Sox fan, they didn’t know how to look at me. Was I a friend? Same goes for the Yankee fans, although I think they assumed I was a foe if I wasn’t wearing any Yankee clothing.

–I wanted to call this morning’s post, “The Out of Towners,” because for the most part, that is who attends Yankee games.

–Watching Manny Ramirez and Javier Vasquez face off yesterday made for great baseball. Vasquez got ahead of Ramirez in the first with fastballs, and struck him out on a curve ball. The next time up, Ramirez was down 0-2. This time however, Vasquez’s curve hung in the zone; Manny paused, then pounced, knocking the bejesus out of the ball. In his third at bat, Vasquez showed no signs of backing down, and got ahead of Ramirez, throwing fastballs by him again. Vasquez had two strikes on Ramirez, but Manny knocked a flat (though not terrible) change up into center for a single. Watching Ramirez is like watching a hitting clinic. Vasquez was impressive too. He’s been a bright spot for the Yankees so far this year.

–For all of the pumped-up histrionics, there was some genuine moments of electricity at the stadium on Saturday as well. The crowd buzzed when Alex Rodriguez first appeared on the field during warm-ups. Also, you could hear a pin drop as the National Anthem played. When it ended, the crowd was united for the first and only time all day, letting out a huge ovation. The surge of unity felt surreal.

Late in the game, you could feel the tension in the stands as well. The game was tied, and the crowd was busy making lots of noise right until the instant that the pitcher went into his motion. Then, for a brief moment, everything was suspended, and still. Ah, if you could bottle that in time.

–My friend Johnny Red Sox spotted a middle-aged Yankee fan wearing a “Serpico, #8” pinstriped jersey. Sign that man up.

–I’m not deeply concerned about the Yankees offense. Frustrated is more like it. Although he’s more likley to have a productive year, Jeter’s slump is more troubling than Bernie Williams’ simply because Bernie never hits well in April. (Okay, he did last year, and look what happened there.) It’s been strange to see Jeter so out-of-synch.

–I’m going to the Yankee-Oakland game on Wednesday and I look forward to washing away the memory of Saturday’s ugliness. Things could be fugly on the field though, as Jose Contreras will pitch against Mark Mulder. Talk about a contrast in styles, not to mention results. Oy.

–The Yankees need somebody to go Paulie O Postal on a water-cooler. Hell, even if it doesn’t help them hit, it’d make me feel better.

The Red Sox capped off the first leg of their reunion tour versus the Yankees by beating New York 3-2 on Saturday and 2-0 on Sunday, for a clean-sweep of the three-game series in the Bronx. Where’s ya Moses now? indeed. According to the YES network, Boston has taken six of their first seven games against the Bronx Bombers since 1913. They did it in convincing fashion, with superior pitching (their bullpen allowed one hit in nine innings of work), brisk defense and timely hitting (see: Manny Ramirez).

I went to the game Saturday afternoon. Although I live in the Bronx, there isn’t a clear-cut, direct route to get to the stadium from my house, so I end up taking three subway trains to get there (in all, the trip is no longer than 40 minutes). When I got to the 145th street station to catch the D train, there were smatterings of Yankee fans grouped on the platform. All of them looked like they were from out-of-town, mostly from the suburbs. Plenty of them were drinking already. The ugliness starts early.

When the D train pulled up, it was packed with more baseball fans, Yankee and Red Sox rooters alike, who all looked like they were from out of town too. Stepping onto the train was a treat. The car was alive with conversation. You could practically feel the anticipation. Instead of engaging in the banter like I usually do, I just sat back and let it wash over me. I wished that every fanbase could experience something similiar.

Of course, exiting the train and subsequently trying to navigate exiting the train station, let alone the streets, is an endeavor for suburbanities. You can feel the rush of adreneline, of xenophobic tension, as they made their way to the Bronx street above.

It was a fine day in New York. The sun was out, yet the air was still crisp and cool. As I made my way to meet my companion, I saw a Spanish teenager walking along with what I guessed was his brother, a skinny kid on cruches. The little guy couldn’t have been more than eleven years old. He had a big cast on his right foot, and he was moving along as quickly as he could.

As I passed them, I said, “Now, here is a real baseball fan. Coming out the game on crutches and everything. You are the real deal, kid. That’s beautiful.” The older kid nodded at me. I continued, “That’s a beautiful thing, and worth the trip because the Yankees are going to win.” With that, I moved passed them, when I heard the young kid say, “Are you sure? Are you sure?”

I turned around and looked at him in the face for the first time. He had a great head of black hair, and big brown eyes. You should have seen this boy’s face; it was all lit up. “Are you sure? Are you sure?” Of course, I wasn’t sure, but looked at him and said, “Of course, I’m sure. 7-2, final. You wait and see. The Yanks’ll win.”

My friend Johnny Red Sox and I sat in the lower part of the upper deck in the right field. We got to our seats by a quarter past noon, so we had plenty of time to watch the Yankee players warm up. I’m not sure what happened to Eddie Layton, the long-time organist at Yankee Stadium, but he has been replaced by a guy named Ed Alstrom. We watched Kevin Brown run sprints, and then start his soft toss catch in the outfield as Alstrom played “Pretty Baby,” then vamped into “You Shook Me All Night Long,” before finishing with “Hot, Hot, Hot.”

Like always, there were plenty of Sox fans at the game, especially in the upper deck. We saw a sweet young girl on crutches who must have been 13 or 14 wearing a Red Sox jersey, and bravely hopping down the steps to her seat with her friend and her father. Hadn’t I promised that the Yankees would win to the first kid on crutches I saw? Well, what about this girl?

As luck would have it, we were in the sun all afternoon. The game was far more entertaining than Friday night’s drubbing, but ultimately, it was a long, frustrating day for the Yankees and their fans. The Red Sox scored two early runs off of Kevin Brown, who despite not having his best stuff, pitched reasonably well. B. Arroyo was even better for the Sox, allowing just one hit