It
was on Craigslist under the free section where I was
looking for bubblewrap. The title of the ad read: Free Ticket to
Yankees Game Tonight. I thought it might be a trick or
some kind of spam to collect email addresses, because it's hard to
understand why someone would give away a Yankee's ticket to a
stranger. I took a chance and sent off an email. I got a quick
reply with a name, Sol, and a phone number to call which happened to
be a business in Brooklyn. We talked for a short while until I
became comfortable that this wasn't a scam and he told me I could
pick up the ticket at Yankee Stadium "will call."
It's not
hard to get to Yankee stadium on the B-train, but it's a long trip.
I had to leave right away.
I'd
never been to a Yankees game, and to be candid, I figured the stadium
was pretty much all I'd see. I'd sat in the high mezzanine section
at a couple of Mets games and I could see so little. It was like
watching the game from the window of an airplane - that is, when I
could see anything of the ball field since people were constantly
getting up for snacks or whatever and blocking the view. [Again I will tout the Coney Island Cyclones games where every seat has a perfect
view and the stadium is on the beach].
Anyway,
this is how it worked out. I got the ticket and followed the number
system around the stadium to find the gate number that was printed on my
ticket. I walked down a ramp and I was stopped by an usher who
looked at the ticket and showed me to the seat. I was six rows
from the field, right behind the dugout. The players were right
there. I had a very expensive field seat. And all around were loads
of empty ones. A waitress came by and asked if I wanted to order
anything - my hotdog was delivered to me. It was amazing.
I
sat next to Sol, the man who gave me the ticket, and he explained
that his usual baseball buddies were away, but they'd be coming back
and he just thought it would be fun to give away such great tickets
(he had 4 and only used his own). The other two seats were taken by
teenagers that he knew.
The
game wasn't terribly exciting - no stealing home, grand slams or
fights - I don't remember much about it. I was too amazed at sitting
close enough to hear the players talking and watch them warm up in
the batter's circle. And it was nice to look around The Cathedral
of Baseball. Although, I'm not sure why they had to build a new
stadium - it has less seats than the old one and was designed to look
the same. And it cost the New York taxpayers about a $1,000,000,000.
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| Old Yankee Stadium |
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| New Yankee Stadium |
Seems to me the Yankees make enough money from the sales of their
tickets and gear - besides the stadium shops and online, they've got
five stores in Manhattan - to pay for their own stadium. But in New
York, sports teams can make the front page of The Post or the
Daily News and the Yankees have the best PR of any sports team
in the country so maybe it was about tourism.
Anyway,
that's the only Yankee's game I ever attended, and I don't see how I
could top it. Field seats are not for sale generally. They are
purchased year after year by the same people or businesses. I went
back to watching baseball on TV which I prefer since you get to see
the best plays in slow-motion instant-replay a few times.
But
the evening ended on an up-note. Since he lived in Brooklyn, Sol
gave me a ride home.
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| Tearing down Old Yankee Stadium |
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