Trash

I went to school for marketing, but it never ceases to amaze and amuse me how far they have attempted to stretch the Yankee brand at the New Stadium. It's a trash can. Do you really need to have your logo on it? After last night I'm glad they did however, because it neatly sums up the on field product. 

Heading up to the game last night, albeit a little late, I had high hopes. Mathematically, when you flip a coin and it lands on heads four times in a row, the probability of the 5th flip is still 50:50. However, as you are observing the coin tumble in mid-air, you get the feeling that tails is due to show. I had that same feeling last night heading up to the Stadium. They can't lose the first five games against the fackin' Sawx, can they?

They could, in fact. 

As he so often does, Alex Belth captured the feeling permiating these recent Yankees vs. Sox match-ups perfectly.  

These days when the Yankees play the Red Sox it feels like they are losing even when the score is tied, feels like they are trailing before the game has begun. A 6-0 lead in Boston a few weeks back was a mirage. The two teams have played five games and Boston has won all five. It’s not as if the Yankees have been getting blown out; they have been competitive, they have shown some fight, but it’s hard to ignore the basic fact that the Yankees are now the team chasing the Red Sox.

I don't think anyone is ready to accept that notion, but it's becoming harder and harder not to. To halve the season series, the Yanks would need to win 9 of their next 13 against the Sox. 

By the time we got off the subway, the Yanks were already down 4-0. The bright side is that, from our perspective, Joba was unhittable! He stuck out 12 of a possible 17 batters in 5 2/3 innings, sending the annoying P.C. Richard's whistle-jingle throughout the Stadium over and over again. (Sidenote: Is there a K counter in the new joint? I couldn't find it. Hope there is, because it provides important context. I didn't know how many K's Joba had until I got home.)

As you could probably tell from the iPhone posts last night, we didn't watch the game from Sec 429, where our $9 tickets from StubHub were located. Instead, we stood behind Section 122 in what was basically Row 31 (there are 30 actual rows). Unless you are there with kids or are physically unable to stand for the whole game, there is no good reason not to do this. It's easy to shimmy up to the railing, giving you the same view as people who paid hundreds of dollars for their seats. I don't think it takes away from the experience at all. The crowd noise reverberates around the concrete concourses making it louder than it would be elsewhere and the close quarters allow you to chat with other fans.

Johnny Damon's three run knock in the third brought the Yanks within one, but that was as close as they would get. The most exciting play of the game from our vantage point what when Melky Cabrera got busted by inches trying to stretch a double into a triple in the fourth. All the third base coaches in the Field Level concourse were yelling for him to go for third, so we couldn't really fault him for getting thrown out. 

The only significant rally the Yanks put together was in the 6th when Nick Swisher walked and a bad bounce resulting in a ground rule double kept Melky from tying the game. There was still only one out, but Beckett struck out Ramiro Pena swinging then got Jose Molina to ground out to diffuse the threat. 

Fairly late in the game, we were pretty starving and decided to check out the garlic fries. I've never been to a West Coast ballpark (never been to California, actually) so I can't compare and contrast, but I thought they were quite excellent. The garnishment reminded me of a typical escargot-style garlic butter with parsely and thyme. It was a pleasant surprise and I would recommend them to anyone not looking to make out with someone in the near future. 

Aside from the Joba strikeouts and the galic fries, the game was as unsatisfying as I was drunk, which is to say, "pretyt fukcing unnastisyfign". Which brings me to this...

::::Very Important Public Service Announcement::::

Attention drinkers on-the-go! Margaritas and paper cups do not mix. 

You might think that since a paper cup is capable of holding scalding hot liquid, such as coffee or tea, that it could also contain a delicious tequlia beverage. You would be wrong.

You can see the discoloration along the seam. I don't know if it was the Master of Mixes or the Montezuma, but the concoction ate right though the adhesive of the cups from Lenny's and sprung a leak of epic proportions. And this all happened within maybe five minutes. I was forced to pound the rest of it, lest I allow it to leak on the sidewalk in front of the Dakota. 

Game 25: Have You Ever Seen The Rain?

As of 5:29PM:

I'm sort of rooting for this one to get called off, if it would mean a Red Sox doubleheader tomorrow. Were that the case, I would most likely attend both games and do some intrepid reporting via iPhone. We'll see.

(Keep it coming, Weather Gods, I've got rain songs for weeks...)

Someone told me long ago theres a calm before the storm,
I know, it's been comin for some time.
When its over, so they say, it'll rain a sunny day,
I know, shinin' down like water.

I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain?
I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain
Comin' down on a sunny day?

Game 25: Fool In The Rain

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say this game probably isn't going to be played anytime soon. As of 11:58AM:

New Stadium Insider has a more detailed forcast (with updated radar images) from their guy Steve DiMartino which concludes that it's unlikely the game will be played today. 

PeteAbe thinks they will stick around for a while before calling it, because this is the Angels' last time in town this year. 

-----

While we wait, here is my absolute favorite Led Zeppelin song, Fool In The Rain. The lyrics tell the story of a guy who is supposed to meet a woman for a date and stands out in the rain waiting for her. He is beginning to come to the conclusion that he's been stood up when he realizes that he was waiting on the wrong block. He sprints to where they were supposed to meet, but of course, she has already left. The lyrics are amazingly evocative and the music beneath them is equally gripping. It's of those songs that so perfectly captures a moment and an emotion that I don't think I'll ever get sick of listening to it.

Interesting fact: It was never performed in concert because they thought it needed both piano and bass, but John Paul Jones could only play one or the other when the band was live on stage. 

Now I will stand in the rain on the corner,
I'll watch the people go shuffling downtown,
Another ten minutes no longer,
And then I'm turning around.

The clock on the walls moving slower,
My heart it sinks to the ground,
And the storm that I thought would blow over,
Clouds the light of the love that I found.

Now my body is starting to quiver,
And the palms of my hands getting wet,
I've got no reason to doubt you baby,
It's all a terrible mess.

I'll run in the rain 'til I'm breathless,
When I'm breathless I'll run 'til I drop, hey,
The thoughts of a fools kind of careless,
I'm just a fool waiting on the wrong block...