With the Mets game in the rear view mirror (this despite no actual driving for the first time in weeks), I had 5 days until it was time for game 23/30 at arguably the most famous baseball team on the planet, the New York Yankees.
Before it was time for Yankees, I had plenty of time to rediscover the Big Apple and catch up with other friends who have both moved to the City and are visiting like me.
With Sid at work during the day, I would typically wake up, walk around and check out the sights of Manhattan. This included all the classics such as Times Square, Central Park, 5th Avenue, Rockefeller Center etc. etc.
As an added bonus, my friend from Jane was in town and lived a number of years in Brooklyn. Having not been in that borough for a few years, I relished the opportunity to have a “local” show me the spots and also take me for probably the most delicious deli sandwich I’ve ever had in my life – so thanks for that Jane.
Other highlights during the week included dinner at the Polo Club (owned of course by Ralph Lauren), more rooftop bars with Sidney, witnessing France win the World Cup with a bunch of French Expats and relaxing in Washington Park with my mate Tom from back home and just taking in all the crazy stimulus that surrounded us.
Finally, it was game day and I was pumped.
We’d organised a solid crew to attend with Steph (remember she is the one holding my car at her house in Connecticut) and her friend Morgan. They joined Tom, his fiancé Katie, and Katie’s friend Sophie. All was set for an awesome night at Yankee Stadium.
The game was also somewhat of a “special” event, with the Yankees hosting the Mets in what is called “The Subway Series” – as the Yankees play in “The Bronx” and the Mets in “Queens” – with the game also being both teams first after the mid-week “All-Star Break” on top of bragging rights in the city for a day. So we knew we were in for a beauty.
Given that Tom and I don’t work, we decided that we’d enjoy some refreshments in Central Park before meeting the rest of our crew at local watering hole “Billy’s Sports Bar”. To paint a simple picture, Billy’s is pretty much a dive nightclub that sells slightly overpriced drinks to the trashier fans from both the Yankees and Mets pre/post games – so you bet your ass we loved it!
After finally taking out seats, it was game on with an electric atmosphere so electric you could power the entire Big Apple with what was probably a 70-30 split of Yankees to Mets fans.
Before I get into the game, Yankee Stadium is a mammoth structure that was open in 2009 and holds about 50,000 people (making it second in capacity to Los Angeles Dodger Stadium).
The stadium was built to replace the original Yankee Stadium and incorporates many of the design elements of the original park – including the exterior look and iconic frieze that line the roof of the stadium above the highest seats. It is a really cool ballpark and a modern classic that relies on the play on the field rather than any gimmicks to keep the fans entertained on gameday.
The game itself lived up to the hype with the Mets racing out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first to silence the Yankee fans in the place. They would further capitalize on this in the third inning with the Mets Cespedes just edging a ball in the field of play for a home run and a 4-0 lead.
With the Yankees finally able to respond putting up a run of their own in the third, the Mets would again respond with two more runs in the fifth to keep the scoreboard moving and a solid buffer of a 6-1 lead heading into the sixth.
Yankee Stadium would then erupt, with all of the Yankees big bats able to get guys on base and reel in two runs in both the sixth and eighth innings to make it game on heading into the ninth at 6-5.
However, with the Mets taking on another run in the top of the ninth inning, the Yankees were unable to respond (despite having 14-10 overall hits in the game) and went down swinging 7-5.
It truly was a memorable game and almost the perfect metaphor in terms of craziness and energy to end my time in New York City. Tom and I had a few more beers to end the night around the East Village (shouout McSorley’s – oldest Irish Pub in the USA) before it was time to retire back to Sid’s place and get my car from Connecticut and drive down to Philadelphia for game 24.
However, the plans got slightly changed as when I spoke with Steph about heading up to grab my car, she suggested staying one extra night and spend a day on her friend’s boat to celebrate Morgan’s bday. Who am I to say no to a boat right?
So I made my way up to Connecticut, threw on my shorts, met the captain/owner of the boat Chris (top guy), and set sail for a relaxing day on the seas before retiring early (relative to New York City hours) for my drive to Philadelphia the next day.
Huge thank you to everyone in both New York City and Connecticut who made the entire week such an enjoyable experience. I’m truly grateful and look forward to coming back soon to say hi.
It now feels like I’m on the home stretch with 7 games to go over about a one month period. I’m looking forward to some needed relaxing and checking out all of the historical sites down in Philly!
Have a great day all.
Thirty before 30 