What do you Remember?

Where were you the last time the Yankees won a World Series?

What were you doing? How did you celebrate? What feeling are you most anxious to feel again?


I remember getting so nervous as Mike Piazza hit a deep fly to center, thinking it might never come down...and then Bernie was there, and the Subway Series complete.

I remember being a freshman in a high school that leaned strongly towards the Mets, and I remember the naivete: the fourteen-year-old feeling that, yes, we were invincible.


So what about you? What do you remember from last time? What do you want to remember from this time?

Watching a Road Game at Yankee Stadium

[Because there is so much about today's game to digest, I will do so in two posts, one talking about watching the game at Yankee Stadium, and the other about the game itself.]

As you likely know, Yankee Stadium opened its gates to the general public to watch today's game, free of charge.

Being otherwise unoccupied, I decided to go. The idea is one of which I am a fan--it gives fans a place to enjoy the game together without feeling obligated to purchase drinks or having to worry about being the only one interested in the game.

There were a large number of people that had the same mind set as me--many with young kids who arrived straight from school.

At the start, only the field level sections along the right field line were opened, but so many showed up that they eventually opened up the field level sections behind home plate, too.

They played the game on the large screen, and instead of commercials, we got DiamondVision shots of the crowd.

Out of all the fans there, the most striking man was a Johnny Damon lookalike, whose resemblance was so strong other fans were asking him for pictures. When Damon made a great catch late in the game, the section started chanting Johnny's name. The poor fan took it all in stride.

In the interest of his privacy, I won't post his picture, but, damn, he had me fooled.


At any rate, for your enjoyment, some pictures from this afternoon-turned-evening


No long lines, just the Stadium against an azure sky.


The Great Hall, in a late autumn light.


They also played the game on the TV in the great hall, but with the cushioned field and even Legends seats open, most opted to watch the game from the Stadium proper.


Our view of the screen. We--that would be Brent, RAB legend TSJC and I--sat in the section furthest right. 109, row 14. The seats filled up fast and we were lucky to get the ones we did.


You can sort of see how all of the seats were filled. I don't think they anticipated this many, although for an evening game they would have likely had to open all field and main seats, at least.


Some watch in the Great Hall. I went to the team store to get one of the gray sweatshirts the team's been sporting, but they only had them in sizes extra large. Maybe it's G-d telling me not to by a sweatshirt just yet.


The one criticism of the experience I could find, besides, you know, the game itself, was that there were not enough open concessions, and thus lines for beer and food tended to be extremely long.

It's a very minor caveat; the experience itself outweighs that one negative.

Anyway, getting a few thousand people to chant "Lets go Yank-ees" and "Mar-i-a-no" is a pretty cool thing.

Stay tuned for a post about the game itself, and what, exactly, went wrong.

Cool Thing about being a Yankee Fan #1892738

Via @YankeesWFAN [Sweeny Murti] on Twitter, the Angels' fans will be employing thunder sticks in full force this afternoon.

Reason number 1892738 it's better to be a Yankee fan:

We don't need thunder sticks, or terrible towels, or any gimmicks to support our team. We're there. We're loud (and sometimes obnoxious). We know our team, we know the game.

We can get the entire Stadium to chant the name of just one player--like CC or Derek or A-Rod--and we can do it without any prompting from a screen.

We're in a long term relationship with Aura and Mystique.

There is no place in October that's better than the Bronx.

Stadium to Open for Fans for Game 3

From MLB.com:

The Yankees announced on Sunday that they will open the Stadium Field Level and Great Hall to the public to watch the Yankees face the Angels in Anaheim as New York tries to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the ALCS.

"We wanted to provide a place for our fans to come together to cheer for our team, even if the game itself is taking place across the country," Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said in a news release. "This is a way of saying 'Thank you' for their continued support."

Turnstiles between Gates 4 and 6 will open at 3:30 p.m. ET for the 4:13 p.m. game -- broadcast on FOX -- and fans can watch it in the Great Hall or in the open sections of the Field Level. Food and concession stands, as well as NYY Steak and Hard Rock Café, will be open and available to fans.

Don't know about you, but I plan on going. I don't know if I'll stay for the whole thing, but for a 4.30 game, I will certainly stay for most of it. The weather, at least, should be slightly nicer.

At the very least, this is (and we presume it's free entrance since no prices have been announced) an awesome opportunity to watch the game with other fans without being in a crowded bar.

There's something special brewing this year, and the Yankees are letting us take part.