Gettin’ Carried Away

Nearing the close of the 2008 baseball season, I being to think of all the past games I have attended over the years. And with my recent postings being about New York City, I can’t help but reminisce about the first Opening Day Major League Baseball game I every attended back in 2005.

I wish I could say that my first Opening Day MLB game was in Chicago, at Comiskey Park (I never call is U.S. Cellular Field). However, I had to settle for going to the New York Yankees season opener on Sunday, April 3, 2005 at Yankee Stadium. I wasn’t really settling. I just don’t want the good guys in black to think I abandoned them for the bad guys in blue!

I still cannot believe that I was at the 2005 home opener at Yankee Stadium. Why, you may ask? It’s because the Yankees started this season against the Boston Red Sox. And if you didn’t know, the year before, the Red Sox broke an 86-year-long “curse”/losing streak, becoming World Series champions for the first time since 1918.

Not only was this my first Opening Day game, but it was my first trip to Yankee Stadium, as well. Living in SoHo at the time, I had to trek quite a long way to get up to the Bronx to see the game. There are several ways to do this. I had to take the 6 train at City Hall, transfer to either the 4 train at 14th Street or the D train at Bleecker and eventually get off at Yankee Stadium. This probably sounds confusing to most of you. However, when traveling to Yankee Stadiums from any point within the five boroughs, keep in mind that the best route to take depends on the flow of subway traffic and the possibility of station closings.

My first view of Yankee Stadium was from the subway platform at 161st Street . It’s oversized. It’s full of life. It boasts the same characteristics as its home, New York City . Like Fenway Park and Wrigley Field, Yankee Stadium is this great American ballpark that sits in the middle of a lively neighborhood. After walking up thousands of ramps (okay – so there are not thousands of ramps – I was just super tired after walking up to the upper level), we arrived at our seats. We were about 10 or 15 rows back, sitting on the third base line.

One of the highlights of my first night at Yankee Stadium was seeing my favorite pitcher, Randy Johnson, debut after he was traded from the Diamondbacks. I took very blurry photos of him warming up in the bullpen and I excitedly watched him lead the Yankees to a 9-2 victory over the Red Sox.