After the day game at Citi Field we went back to the hotel in downtown Manhattan. We had arranged to try and meet a long time family friend for dinner if he could break away from work in time. Ashby Jones is the star legal reporter for the Wall Street Journal and had gone to high school with the man of intrigue. He was working hard on the case involving the Frenchman who was charged with sexual assault. He met us at Mickey Mantle’s Restaurant just off of Central Park. He was very interested in the trip I am taking so we had a great conversation over a big plate of ribs. On Friday at noon we had a tour of Yankee Stadium scheduled. It was raining but not enough to worry about. The subway ride was about as long as the ride to Citi Field but no transfers. The man of intrigue was happy to complete his all borough visited card with the trip to the Bronx. The tour of Yankee Stadium was very impressive. The new stadium in its third season is a true tribute to the excellence that has been the New York Yankees. The park is located just adjacent to where the old Yankee Stadium was and is a magnificent structure with granite facing. The tour consisted of visits to the Yankee Museum, Monument Park, and the Yankee dugout. In the Yankee Museum there was the usual collection of memorabilia, one thing really highlighted was Don Larson’s perfect game in the world series. A display covering the 60 ft. 6 inches between the pitching rubber and home plate with Larson at one end and Yogi Berra at the other with hundreds of autographed baseballs in between was a baseball lovers delight to see. The hundreds of baseballs were randomly arranged and were signed by baseball and sports greats form the distant and recent past. I took a couple of photos of balls signed by Hall of Famers. The tour then went to Monument Park in Center Field. This is a collection of plaques and discs recognizing players who have had their numbers retired by the Yankees and others who have been well known for their accomplishments. There are three tall monuments dedicated to Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, and Miller Huggins in the center of Monument Park. These monuments were taken from the old Yankee Stadium where at one time they were actually in the field of play in deep center field. This whole area just reeked and oozed Yankee history and after awhile I became a little uneasy knowing the painful memories that many of these players had inflicted on my Dodgers in seasons past. We then went to the Yankee dugout. This was a real treat, to be wearing my Dodger cap and sitting in the Yankee dugout. We returned to the hotel and waited for time to return for the game at 7:00. It continued to rain all afternoon but unlike the mensas from the Washington Nationals no announcement was made to cancel the game. It stopped raining about 4:00 and we returned to the House that Jeter Built. The whole atmosphere at Yankee Stadium is about marketing. The fact of winning 27 championships is in your face at every turn.Yankee Stadium has the best video board in terms of clarity and size of any other stadium visited. It truly adds to the enjoyment of the game. I had a good Italian Sausage but my son covered his with a glob of melted Velveta which created slight nausea for me. Pepsi has New York sewed up which I was delighted with. After the first pitch is thrown the Bleacher Creatures in right field go through a ritual where they call out to every Yankee player in the field and keep calling his name until he acknowledges them. Then there is the fact that Derek Jeter is announced every at bat by a dead man. He has in his contract that he will be announced by the now deceased and legendary Bob Sheppard. For the reality fans in the crowd about six rows in front of us there was a proposal of matrimony at the end of the 5th inning. The guy was well prepared with confetti, candy for the crowd and everything. Even though they were out payrolled at least 3 times by the Yankees the Mets eeked out a 2-1 victory much to the delight of their fans from Queens. I have posted more photos because of the tour of Yankee Stadium.
Game: May 20
Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York
Mets 2, Yankees 1
Accessibility – 8
Stadium Personnel – 9
View – 9
Food – 8
Overall Stadium Experience – 9
