The Yankees won today!
It was tough-going there for awhile, but they pulled it out in the 9th.
We actually hadn't been there since the top of the 2nd, but we were there in spirit.
Yep, today we went to the Yankees game at Yankee Stadium, the last year of the old stadium. Mama used to go there with her dad and wanted to take our kiddos before the stadium is torn down. Don't get me wrong, we're not dedicated Yankees fans, or even big baseball fans (certainly not the Red Sox, though). Honestly, we lived in Chicago and went past Wrigley every work day and never went to a game. Though, we did once go to a White Sox game--guests of one of the owners. That was fun.
Anyway, we are big on finales, championships, traditions, "end-of-an-era"-type occasions, so we knew we had to go say hello and goodbye to the historic stadium. I had also been there once before, about 12 years ago, with an out of town guest. I don't remember much more than the incredibly long subway ride from Midtown.
It was a great day for baseball--not too hot, overcast, a little breeze--and we got there early enough to enjoy it. Perhaps too early, but with a stadium under construction, there is a lot less parking than there used to be, apparently. And we knew they'd make it to around 2 o'clock regardless of when we arrived. So, we got there when the gates opened, meeting Ma, Gong, and Goo.
Bud and Sis were overwhelmed from the beginning. Sis just sat in her umbrella stroller and didn't say a word. Bud stood close to me, again quiet. Speechless is the precise word. But we were standing there in front of the stadium, at River and 161st, with hundreds of people around us, vendors, trucks, and the subway roaring overhead.
The first stop? Not Monument Park, the line of which was already closed when we got inside. The concession stand? Nope, that was the second stop. That's right, souvenirs. Hats for the kiddos. A t-shirt celebrating the old stadium for me. Pins and a patch for Mama.
Then the food: hot dogs, fries, a Cinnabon Pretzel with frosting, cheese pizza (that was mine). Later it was ice cream in Yankee Hats--Buddy inhaled vanilla Dippin Dots without sharing; Sis had soft serve chocolate and shared once it was melted.
They loved seeing birds fly at eye level, the subway go behind the wall, the three helicopters that went overhead. While everyone ran back and forth up the steep stairs, I sat back eating and watching the Mickey Mantle special on the big screen.
And Sis loved the ramps! She would run up and down the ramps. On one run down, she stopped cold as a huge group of teenagers rounded the corner. And then she hauled tail right back up the ramp. They thought she was very cute.
Oh, and baseball. The kiddos were at the top of our section for the anthem and first pitch (having been running the ramps) but were with us to help cheer for the Yankees' first two runs. Not that I think they saw them. Or the batter. Or the ball.
I was nicely surprised, though, when we got home by how much they were positively affected by the game. They remembered more than the food and the "tunnels" on the Cross Bronx. In fact, we played fantasy baseball after bathtime, with Buddy holding his hands together to bat as I wound up to pitch. He'd then run around the bedroom, out into the hall, and back again. Then Sis helped us play. We tried to calm down by looking at our two pictures of baseball fields in books. And Bud hopped into bed saying he wanted a hat, a bat, a ball, and a t-shirt. Guess he couldn't see that baseball players also wear gloves.
It might have been our only game at the old stadium, but without a doubt it was not our last baseball game.
