Take me out to the ballgame…

I can’t believe I took the world’s biggest Cubs fan to a Cardinals game.

Surprisingly enough, she wasn’t the only person in Cubs gear at the stadium. And, in a strange way, I felt better having a fellow Midwesterner on my side, whether she was in red or not. I was actually surprised to see how many Cardinals fans were at the game. Shouldn’t have been, though – New York is a melting pot of transplants from throughout the country, so I’d imagine they attract more away-team fans than would most places.

Shea Stadium reminded me, strangely enough, of the Manners Park Pool. I think they were built at roughly the same time – ’60s, if I recall – and they had very much the same feel. Same painted letters on the concrete steps. Same chipped handrails. I would have loved to taken a dip in the swimming pool of my childhood, as the upper tier was absolutely sweltering.

The heat gave way to a cold front as the storm clouds rolled in. The temperatures plummeted and I began to regret wearing shorts to the game. A light-to-medium rain came in and we ended up having to break out the umbrellas.

We watched in horror – well, in Stacey’s case, apprehensive joy – as the Mets tore through the Cardinal defense. Pitch after pitch, I buried my head in my hands. Final score? 1-9. It was great to see my home team, but what a way to do it!

Tonight was part two of my own personal Subway Series. I changed clothes in the office bathroom and met up with the group (roommates plus Jeff and Nate) in Grand Central Station after work. We made it to Yankee Stadium just in time for the Star-Spangled Banner.

I don’t have any emotional investment in the Yankees or the Orioles, so I opted to go the route of the Podeschi sisters and cheer on New York. For all the times I heard Jessi go on about Derek Jeter, Jason Giambi and the like, I figured I could root for her team for once.

Like with Shea, Yankee Stadium is in its final season. I neglected to get a picture of the construction from yesterday, but here’s a glimpse from this evening:

I may have eaten the most amazing hot dog of my life. It was so deliciously juicy, worth each of the five dollars I spent on it. As much as I miss Busch, it was nice to have a hot dog that wasn’t shriveled and burnt for a change. I may or may not count this as my hot dog cart purchase.

We couldn’t have asked for a better night for baseball. The temperatures were perfect, the breeze was just right… and had it not been for a series of home runs (including a grand slam) by the Orioles, it may have been a close game. Perhaps the weather was to blame, but I preferred Yankee Stadium hands-down to Shea. The atmosphere was much more emotional – while people seemed to mostly boo at the Mets game, tonight’s crowd was quite enthusiastic.

That is, they were enthusiastic until things started going wrong. With Baltimore’s grand slam in the sixth came a mass exodus from the stands. The aisles became streams of Yankees fans abandoning their team in favor of a train ride home. New York caught up a bit as the game wore on, but by the eighth inning, half the seats in the stadium were empty.

We capitalized on this, uh, population shift by moving down to seats in the lower deck for the last inning of the game. Down there, the players look more like people than toy figurines – amazing! The game ended in a 13-4 win for the Orioles. Looks like I just can’t cheer for the right team… but it was still a great night for baseball.

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