Although the trip technically started last night, it still felt hypothetical. I've been to Yankee Stadium enough that it seems normal. I might as well have been going to work the next day. I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that the following night I'd be seeing a different game in a different city, in an even newer stadium.
Cosmo from New York, in addition to having one of the best Yankee tattoos I've seen, agrees with me that the new Yankee Stadium feels like home. Neither of us were prepared to love it as much as we do. Having grown up in the old Yankee Stadium, I was prepared to miss it every time I stepped into the new one, feeling forlorn over lost youth and fading memories.
Cosmo, who I met at the game last night, but who happens to have grown up minutes away from me, said the reason he likes baseball is because it’s something that has united the generations of his family. He still watches games with his grandmother and his father, and it is something that has not only brought them closer together, but hearing them talk about the players they had seen in their youth has made him feel closer to, and better understand, the history of his family and his country.
As it turns out, It wasn’t hard to find people who think there are better places to watch baseball gaes than my beloved house of hardball, the new Yankee Stadium. I’m used to Mets fans comparing it unfavorably to Citi field. I wouldn’t expect any diferent from them. Mets fans hate. It’s not their fault. Most of them were born into it.
But last night, a Yankee fan wearing a Pittsburgh Pirates jersey (This may make him just a half a Yankee fan) told me that the Pittsburgh stadium is better. His explanation led me to believe that he's talking about the surrounding area, and not the stadium itself. His description had Alex and me looking forward to our visit there next weekend, but it didn't go so far as to persuade me that he truly believed the stadium itself is better. I'll see for myself soon enough. (He said the reason he likes baseball is because of its continuity.)
A Tigers fan said that Comerica park is more fan-friendly. His explanation led me to believe that it’s more non-fan friendly, as he cited the ferris wheel, the speed pitch game, and the kids’ zone as evidence. It seems to me that those things are there for the people that don’t want to watch the baseball game. In my eyes, it’s a credit to the house that George built that no matter where you are, the focus is on the game.
Both of them agreed that the White Sox’ stadium is the worst, though. I can believe that. I’ll get to see for myself soon enough.
As much as I love that stadium, I will allow all the others, and the fans therein, to persuade me otherwise. Last night’s game could be seen as a sign that it may be a good time to take a pause from the pinstripes. With no offense to speak of, two injuries sustained by all-stars and two double plays caused by our captain, it was evident that the ghosts were not in the house last night. Perhaps they’ve flown somewhere else for a while, just as I have.
Tonight’s game: Twins vs. White Sox, Target Field, Minneapolis
Current Book: The Poetry of Robert Penn Warren
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment