Mark and George Yost have landed in NYC and got out to see the Yankees-Twins last night.
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Well .... what a homecoming. George and I took the B Train to Da Bronx last night and saw The Rocket notch his 350th victory against the Twinkies. It was a night of great baseball that George will remember for the rest of his life.
Like I said, we took the B train from King's Highway in deepest, darkest Brooklyn. It's a 10-minute walk from where we're staying and goes right to Yankee Stadium. Once there, George got a slice at the pizzaria that has been across 161st Street from the Stadium and the Yankee Tavern since I started coming here in the 1970s. Two bucks for a slice of great NY pizza and a Coke. Can't beat it.
Then I got an Italian sausage before we went in. $7.50, but it was worth every penny. Good, sweet Italian sausage topped with a generous portion of fresh peppers and onions that had been marinating all afternoon. And it was served on real Italian bread. Everywhere else we've been, the brats and Italian sausages were simply served on hot dog buns.
We got in line to get our usual tickets in the upper deck when a guy walked up and offered us tickets right behind home plate. Normally $75, George talked him down to $50. We were literally 20 rows off the field, right behind Posada and Mauer. When we sat down, I told George how I'd sat in almost the same spot in 1976 or '77 and saw Bobby Mercer hit a game-winning home run deep to right field in a September classic against the Red Sawx. I can still hear the crack of the bat and the roar of the crowd.
It was a beautiful night for baseball, and it truly is a different game when you're sitting that close. The pop of the ball into the catcher's mitt is a little sharper; the hits more woody; the players aren't ants. We didn't get any foul balls because of the netting, but were close enough to A-Rod, The Rocket and The Nihlist's favorite Yankee, Derek Jeter, to almost touch them. And the weather couldn't have been better. Mid-70s, blue skies. A truly magical father-son night for us both.
On the downside, the tickets were $50. Pretty steep, I think. Of course, a few rows away from us, the tickets are $400. And George and I like to keep score, but didn't here. Why? The scorecards are $7. They don't sell them separately, but you have to buy a program to get the scorecard. Ridiculous.
When I agreed to do this baseball blog, I promised the Fraters that I would remain objective. And I will. Yankee Stadium -- like a lot of public events in NY -- is ridiculously expensive. Add $2 to the price of most everything at any other ball park. Hot dogs are $5.50. 20 oz. Cokes are $4.50. Tubs of popcorn are $7.
It was, by far, the best baseball we've seen on this trip. The Rocket, vs. the Twinkies, in Yankee Stadium. And it was special for us because we still call NY "home." But if I keep my objective spectacles on, I have to admit that for the average fan, this wouldn't have been the highlight of the trip, mostly because of the cost. Although, you still can't beat the subway. It's a bargain at $2. Go to the MTA Web site and look how far we travelled -- from King's Highway in Brooklyn to Yankee Stadium in Da Bronx on the B Train. Can't be beat.
I rated PNC Park a 9.5. To be fair, I have to say Yankee Stadium, mostly due to cost, is an 8.5.
Up Next: George and I have home-and-home tickets for our beloved Brooklyn Cyclones on Wednesday and Thursday, as they face their division rival Staten Island Yankees. We'll post about both games on Friday and include photos from both places.
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