Game #1 experience - I'm still waiting in line for the bathroom

Absurd backup to enter the Stadium? Check.
$10 beers? Check (Ok, $9.50 - big difference).
15 minutes lines for the bathrooms? Check.
Ignorant "fans" making absurd statements? Check.

From the above statements, one would assume that the home opener was a real drag and that I hate the current Yankee Stadium experience. Au contraire! Fine - I'll admit that I would take great joy in having the opportunity to push the detonate button when imploding the current stadium. However, even a skeptic like myself has to admit there is some sort of - lets say - mystique and aura that surrounds attending a game at the current Stadium - even with all of the flaws.

On to the game - I scored a single face value ticket in the loge level from Yankees.com on the day of the game. A word of advice for other sold out Yankee games - check out the official ticketmaster page on the day of the game. A lot of the time more tickets are released for whatever reason. I was also able to score a single ticket for just about face value for a buddy of mine so I didn't have to go to the game alone.

The normal entrance to the Stadium that I use is the entrance in left field, closest to the Subway. Unfortunately, this is also the entrance to the Stadium that is directly across from the new Stadium construction site. Word to the wise - if you are going to a game at the Stadium this year, use a different entrance. Apparently, everyone and their mother decided to enter there because they wanted to gawk at the new Stadium. After a couple of minutes of standing in line further away from the entrance than ever before, we decided to circle around the Stadium and try to make it in for the first pitch.

Turns out we just missed the first pitch, but we still saw most of the top half of the first. I have to admit that the Stadium crowd was at its best from the beginning. Don't worry, I'm not going to ramble on and on with an inning by inning recap, but here are the highlights:

- Beers are up to $9.50 for a pint sized cup. I considered it a bargain when they weren't $10. The smallest hot dog ever is $5.25. I can't imagine what the prices are going to be in the new Stadium.

- New gimmicks between innings this year:
1) Guess the baby bomber - a picture of a Yankee as a child is put up on the big screen in center and the fans have to guess who it is based on three clues. Last night's child picture was the big G and it was pretty obvious from the second it was put up.
2) Someone pulls a lever and the countdown of remaining games at the current Yankee Stadium ticks down a game (see the picture to the right). This takes place after the 5th inning when the game becomes official. Last night they propped up a probably dead George Steinbrenner to pull the lever. It was a great moment. I think it would be cool if they got a different celebrity to do that every game this season. Kind of like the different celebrity singing "Take me Out to the Ballgame" at Wrigley Field during the 7th inning stretch.

- When Joba was pitching in the top of the 8th, there was some idiot behind me spewing some of the most nonsensical statements I had ever heard. Among the idiocy was "Joba's fastball isn't sh!t", "he can't get guys out with his fastball", "he's got nothing on Mo". After the strikeout of Rios "see, his slider is his only good pitch". After blowing Thomas away on a fastball? Silence. The guy had the thickest low-class New York accent I have ever heard and for that entire inning I was ashamed to be associated as a Yankee fan with that guy. Unfortunately that guy is what Mets fans, Red Sox fans and other Yankee haters around the country will reference when citing reasons for their Yankee hate. I'll admit there are WAY more of those types of Yankee fan than I would like, but every fan base has them. The Boston equivalent is the drunk dude with the thick Boston accent yelling "hey Jetah, you're gay".

- The bathroom lines were worse than ever. I broke major men's bathroom etiquette in the 8th inning after Damon's triple. I went to one of the bathrooms with an enter and an exit door and sneaked into the exit door. From there, I cut the massive line, entered a stall, did my business and was back in time to see Giambi end the threat.

So there you have it, that is the NYYSI look at the final home opener in the current Yankee Stadium. Yankees win. THEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Yankeeeeeeeeees wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin.


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Great start, my eyes dart.

What a PERFECT opening day. My roommate and I made home run predictions at lunch yesterday. He predicted 3 dingers, with the first being by A Rod. You gotta go with A Rod for first homer of the year, right? Apparently not!

The youngster Melky stole that one! And stole the show for that matter with his far ranging, highlight reel catches in the fourth inning. Wang was great, out-dueling the Jays ace. And the reigning MVP, A-Rod, copped the first of many RBI's he'll accumulate this season. And Joba-Mo did their thing!

I said my eyes dart... Where do they dart? Well, straight past tonight's game. To tomorrow nights game, as Phil Hughes will make his 2008 debut. I know, Moose will be just as important, if not more so, to this seasons success than Hughes. But I don't care. I can't NOT look ahead. He is the future.

I'd bet there are a bunch of Yankees fans who feel the same way!

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The Melkman delivers on a classic opening day

A replacement level centerfield defender indeed, Bill James

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Get your raincoats and umbrellas ready for Yankees Opening Day 2008

Update (3/30 12:19 PM): Well, things aren't really looking any better. This rain event isn't going to be a deluge, but the chance of precipitation is going to increase as the day moves on. In addition, it is going to be cold with temperatures not escaping the middle 40's. As for Tuesday, it is definitely going to be warmer, but there might not be as much sun as was originally expected. My opinion is still that the Yankees should make an early decision on Sunday night to postpone Monday's game. Tuesday will be a better day for baseball, if not perfect. We'll see what the Yankees do.

UPDATE (3/29 10:54 AM): Models seem to be coming more into agreement on a rain event on Monday that would wash out the home opener. The only good news is that Tuesday looks to be clearing out by Mid-morning and the potential for temperatures to reach the 60 degree mark. The Yankees would be smart to pay close attention to this and make an early cancellation on Monday if possible. That way at least people won't head to the Stadium and then have to come back AGAIN on Tuesday. The Yankees have made some bad decisions when it comes to calling games (remember the Detroit ALDS game in 2006?), so I wouldn't count on the Yankees doing anything smart.

One of the main reasons that I am never too upset about my season ticket plan not including Opening Day is because of the crappy weather that is bound to happen each year at the beginning of April.

It looks like 2008, the final season at the current Yankee Stadium, will be no different.

Monday

Rain likely. Highs in the lower 50s. Chance of rain 60 percent.

As it stands now, Monday is set to be a washout. However, we are still over 72 hours out, so there is plenty of room for forecast errors.

Keep an eye on the weather for the Bronx

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The Dog Days of Spring Training - T-Minus 16 days until opening day

We have all reached that point. The novelty of Spring Training baseball has worn off. Back in the closing days of February, hearing that YES Network Theme music and seeing that bright sunshine in Florida had us chomping at the bit for baseball of any kind - even meaningless exhibition games.

The reward for our excitement has been an eventful Spring Training thus far. We have all seen Andy Pettitte and his apology, the players have been running a lot more, we have heard some verbal jabs thrown at the former skipper, our boy Francisco Cervelli had his wrist broken by an overzealous Elliot Johnson, and the mascot Shelley Duncan incited a near brawl.

Here is a sobering thought - all of that excitement has occurred and there are still 16 days until opening day at the Stadium against the Blue Jays. You would think all of those things to talk about would have sped things along, but instead it seems to have slowed time.

For the first week of March, I was tuning in every day at 1PM to catch that day's game on MLB.TV. I wanted to catch a glimpse of the young guys like Austin Jackson, Jose Tabata, Mark Melancon, Alan Horne in action - a rarity during the regular season. Now those guys are in minor league camp. Now I couldn't care less about these meaningless games. I read the recaps and pray every day that nobody was hurt.

So, there are 16 more days until the real games begin. 16 painstakingly tedious days of tuning in to ESPN's Sportcenter and seeing the 10 second highlights of Spring Training games as seen from some crappy camera behind a net. 16 more days where skinny-Rod is leading the world in HR's instead of A-Rod.

17 days until the Bronx comes alive again and Tampa returns to being the home of the perennial AL East doormat.



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