Yankees Stuff. Evil Empire Haters Be Warned.

Finally made it out to Yankee Stadium for the first time in over a decade. We'll get the logistics out of the way first. The game was Sunday and the Yankees won 8-2 to complete a sweep of the Seattle Mariners. Darrell Rasner assumed Phil Hughes' spot in the rotation and got the start after being called up from AAA. Adrian Beltre belted a 2-run homer to left in the first inning, but that was all the Mariners got. Rasner pitched six innings, gave up 5 hits, 2 runs with 4 k's and no walks. Definitely better than anything the Yankees have gotten from Hughes or Ian Kennedy thus far. The Yankees blew up for 6 runs in the third inning, highlighted by back-to-back homers by Melky Cabrera and Robinson Cano. Cabrera is quietly playing very well right now and hopefully the home run by Cano can shake him out of his current slump. The Yankees and fantasy baseball players everywhere are counting on you. That was pretty much the ballgame. Good game for Yankees fans, bad weekend overall for y'all Mariners fans.

Some Yankee Stadium Notes and Whatnot

• Really wanted to check out Monument Park. I arrived at about 10:45 and was in line to get into the stadium right as it opened at 11. Then I messed up. Decided I had to use the bathroom. Then debated about getting something to eat first. Then took a couple of pictures of batting practice. Window shopped at the Yankee store for a hot minute then it was off to Monument Park. By the time I got there (call it about 11:20) there were already hundreds, if not thousands of people in line, I shit you not. The line stretched from Monument Park (left field) into the stadium, then up the ramps to the top level of the stadium where the line just continued. Give the number of people and the fact that they close it just before game time, getting in line did not assure me of getting in. Just another excuse to go again this year. Moral of the story is, if you want to see Monument Park go very early to the stadium, be first in line to get in and the proceed immediately to Monument Park. Or bring a very good, long book.
• Walked right past Angelo Cataldi (morning guy on Philly talk radio station, 610 WIP) right as I was walking up to the stadium. My buddy shouted him out and he acknowledged him and kept walking. Pretty sure he had a Yankee hat on.
  
• Digital cameras destroy batteries. Even the good ones. When you see AA batteries for sale at the Dollar Store (8 batteries for $1.00!) do not buy them for anything other than remote controls. I got about 7 pictures for every 2 batteries. I figured they'd be kinda lousy so I brought a bunch but that was ridiculous. So Good Batteries=Expensive, but worthwhile.
• Was not too impressed with the food offerings at Yankee Stadium. I really didn't get a chance to go to experience everything, I got a pretty good idea. Everything was out of this world expensive (to be expected). Regular hot dog and a soda ran you $10. And that's the small hot dog and smallest soda. Beers were $9 for a 16-oz domestic draft. Bag of peanuts was $5, slice of pizza was $5, smallest fries were $5, you get the idea. They did have a pretty decent selection and a lot of locations which helped with the lines (which were not too bad). Nothing I had was really very good, most notably a hot dog which was lower than gas station quality. The vendors were all pretty nice though.
  
• I actually wanted to get a scorecard and fill it out. I haven't done that since I played ball when I was a kid. Well to cop a scorecard you had to buy a program. For $7. Maybe I'm nuts but that's just too much for me.
• I openly mused how much it would cost for a family of 4 or 5 to come to a ballgame. That hurt. Then later some guy showed up with his family and they sat in front of us. Dude had at least 5 kids. Yeah the tickets were only $15 bucks but I'm guessing he spent $300 easy, without buying t-shirts or the like.
• Since I got there early I got a pretty good parking spot. There's not a lot of them though, so if you ain't on the train, get there at least 2 hours early. Expect to pay about $20.
• The new Yankee Stadium is going to be amazing. It looks like the current Yankee Stadium crossed with a modern version of the Roman Coliseum. Absolutely unreal. But it will be a long time until the parking situation is handled.
  
• The All-Star Game this summer will be a memorable experience. Good luck getting tickets but they'd be worth it.
  
• Be warned. It's a steep climb to the upper level seats. And there's a lot of ramps and very few escalators.
  
• There were a lot of cops in uniform (working I guess) at the game. There was one (kinda young guy) posted right by our section. He actually was more like a ticket guy, telling people how to best get to their seats. He would just look at your ticket and point pretty much. Then later I watched as two attractive younger females asked for his help. And I'll be damned if he didn't actually walk them all the way to their seats. Not like I wouldn't have done the same thing, but never be naive as to how the world really works.
• I love the New York fans. Good times.
• Couple of decent bars right around the stadium. Lots of flat screens, pretty waitress and decent food. Be warned though, stadium inflation applies here as well. Try to the tune of about $6 for a domestic bottle.
  

All in all, I had a blast and it was a beautiful day. Not bad indeed.