Yankee Stadium

In the last couple of days, I have found myself being sent on a trip for work to the NYC/NJ area in a couple of weeks. (2 weeks from now) This evening I realized that Spring Training will be over by then. I've never been to Yankee or Shea stadium before. Unfortunately, the Mets are out of town that first week of the season, their first home game is after I'm back home. The Yankees are in town, and on top of that, this is the last year they will be playing in Yankee Stadium. I think I'm going to have to be sure to go to a game in Yankee Stadium, since I won't have an opportunity to again, I think.

Billy Crystal got himself into the lineup for the Yankees today in Spring Training. It doesn't sound like he's going to make the cut. If I had the means, I think I would be visiting ballparks during the summers. (College games are nice and relaxing, and the minor league games here are nice, but there is something different about the Big League games. Maybe it's the size of the stadiums. Maybe it's the history. Maybe it's the hot dogs.) For a while last year, I thought about taking time off work and going on a road trip to visit ballparks in the West. I even mapped out routes and dates at one point and started making sure tickets were available, but nothing ever came of it.

I've been to only a few Major League stadiums: Dodger Stadium, which I've been to a number of times always out in the bleachers; Turner field (Atlanta) - it was a dark and stormy night, there was kind of a fog in the air, but Greg Maddux was pitching, it was his last season in Atlanta; Minute Maid Park (Houston) - I pretty much just sat there, ate peanuts, and relaxed for 3 hours. I was a little burned out then, so it was a nice night; Wrigley Field (Chicago) - I went to a double header one day, the Cubs lost the first game (they were playing Denver), and started the second game by going down by 10 runs. Lots of people ended up leaving after the first couple of innings, I went down and sat 4 rows back right behind home plate. That was quite the view. About 20 minutes after I got down there, Sammy Sosa hit a home run out of the ballpark. The ball just sailed out into the night.

We have a really nice ballpark on campus, the view of the field is great, but the season is so short, especially since the home games start in the middle of March, when it's not always nice baseball weather. There is a minor league team that is just a few miles away, and we can usually get tickets for the games for free if I ask and have been nice to someone in particular at work lately (and I have lately...), but I have to be ready to spend lots of time getting concessions when we go, because we always take the girls when they go, they can't really last an entire game, and it seems like a big production every time we try to go.

Long story short - someday, if Major League Baseball lasts this long, Tara and I will get all the kids out of the house, off on their own, and we will take lots of trips in the summertime visiting different cities to watch baseball. I'm sure Tara will humor me...