Day 2 - Opening day

After the 10+ hr bus ride, I arrived in NY around 8 am. I dropped my stuff off at the hotel, and found a diner to get some brunch, then it was off to the ballpark. I arrived just as they were opening the gates. The bad news was the tarp was on the field b/c it had been lightly raining all morning. As I walked out to the field, I realized how special it was to be here where so many of the game’s greats once played. Its sad that they are moving, the stadium is still in good shape, the concourse can be a bit of a squeeze at points but other than that you can’t complain. Well, unless you are the owner and decide you need more luxury suites.

With the rain falling there is no activity on the field, so I spent my time walking all the levels of the concourse and took in several different views of the field. As game time approached they announced the bad news that the start of the game would be delayed. Fans were getting so restless for the game to start they even gave a huge ovation to Jays players. It was Downs, Tallet and Burnett who got the ovation when they came out of the dugout to play catch. After several updates still staying they would try to play the game they eventually called the game around 2:30. The funny thing about the timing was that it just stopped raining about 5-10 mins prior to the announcement. Of course they said the weather reports indicated they would not have time to fit in a game, plus I guess you could argue the OF grass would be pretty wet.

One of the many things I thought about during the rain delay was how much extra money this was generating the Yankees. Now I for one never buy concessions at the ballpark, but many do. Well you have 50,000+ at the ballpark for at least an hr and a half and the large majority had been there around 3.5 hrs, all the while drinking beers and munching on various snacks. Well once they cancel the game that just means 1 more game to sell concessions. Now whether this has anything to do with how long they took to officially cancel the game, I don’t know, but it certainly would be a wise business move.

So after the game it was back to the hotel to officially check in and then I went out for a walk and picked up some supper before calling it an early night, by my standards at least, to catch up on the sleep I didn’t get on the bus.