The 2004 What I Saw at the Ballpark Thread

[satchel]

Now that there are real baseball games again, I thought it might be fun to have a thread where every time each of us goes to a game, we report the most interesting thing we saw there - a great play, something else unusual about the game, a fan in a weird costume or with a good sign, or whatever you like.

I'm not headed to my first game until Saturday (thanks, hmrsf! :wavey: ) but I thought I'd start the thread now for those of you who have already been to games.

[TGwynn19]

At my eighth straight opening day I saw Hop-See Choi hit a monster HR in his first AB as a Marlin!

[PianoMonkey]

Wasn't there in person (college sucks), but I did see Royals power-hitting 1B Ken Harvey rip a foul ball right into the giant cartoonish noggin of Royals mascot "Sluggerrrr." Knocked him over while he was dancing on the dugout. Man, did it hit him hard! A trainer said Sluggerrrr might have saved a life.

BTW, the guy inside the fur was fine. I little shaken up, but fine.

[KCBOOMER]

Wasn't there in person (college sucks), but I did see Royals power-hitting 1B Ken Harvey rip a foul ball right into the giant cartoonish noggin of Royals mascot "Sluggerrrr." Knocked him over while he was dancing on the dugout. Man, did it hit him hard! A trainer said Sluggerrrr might have saved a life.

BTW, the guy inside the fur was fine. I little shaken up, but fine.

I was there in the mezzanine level above the mascot when it happened. Definitely funny.

[Jim Rice]

I was watching the Red Sox-Orioles game on TV last night and saw Jesus Christ make a circus catch over the center field wall.

[Skip]

I was watching the Red Sox-Orioles game on TV last night and saw Jesus Christ make a circus catch over the center field wall.Well ... it was a nice catch and all, but it's hardly up to JC's usual miraculous standards. :p

[PianoMonkey]

Too bad Jesus has a terrible arm.

[Crash Course]

Went to the Yankee Opener today - - much, much warmer than last year - - when I lost the feeling in my feet by the 7th inning.

I saw Javy Vazquez prove to the NY media that he can pitch well under pressure and in front of a big crowd - 55,000+, in fact. That was nice - so I don't have to hear that question any more, after hearing it for months now...........

Heard, not saw (since I was in the Loge) what f-4 fighter jets sound like on a fly by..........very loud, and makes me think I never want to live somewhere where you hear that sound as a part of everyday life.

Worst of all, I saw how a great day at the park can be offset by life in the city area.

It should take me, roughly, about 90 minutes to drive to Yankee Stadium - given light to normal traffic. Today, going in, it took about 2 hours - - - which I can live with, considering the madness in the Bronx today over this O.D. Gates opened at 11:30 AM for a 1 PM game - - and all around the Stadium, it was already packed by 10 AM.

But, the trip home was, well, the perfect storm. First, it was a close game, so most of the 55,000 left towards the end of the game - as opposed to leaving early (as can happen in a blow out). Second, the game ended around 4:30ish - just about when the evening rush got kicked off. Third, it started raining late in the game, and continued after the game as well.

The crowd, the rain, and rush hour traffic turned the trip home, which (again) should be about 90 minutes, into a - get this! - 3 hours and 45 minutes car ride (or, more like it, a car crawl).

The ride home was longer than the actual game. Bumper to bumper, all the way.........that experience really offset the nice time at the park. In some respects, it almost made the trip not worth it. Sad, when the day comes, that watching the game on TV is probably better than going to the park............

....oh, and, the woman sitting next to me, who seemed to be a very nice lady, around the 5th inning, asked me "Who is this pitching for the Yankees?" I told her that it was Javier Vazquez and she thanked me. I never really bought that "bandwagon" claim made my many about some "Yankee fans." Guess I should reconsider that stance.......

[captain_napalm]

O.D., Yankee Stadium, mass transit is pretty much mandatory.

[Joseph]

It should take me, roughly, about 90 minutes to drive to Yankee Stadium - given light to normal traffic. Today, going in, it took about 2 hours - - - which I can live with, considering the madness in the Bronx today over this O.D. Gates opened at 11:30 AM for a 1 PM game - - and all around the Stadium, it was already packed by 10 AM.
...
The crowd, the rain, and rush hour traffic turned the trip home, which (again) should be about 90 minutes, into a - get this! - 3 hours and 45 minutes car ride (or, more like it, a car crawl).



Holy Cow you're dedicated :eek:
I could drive to Kansas City for a Royals game (~200 mi passing through 4 states) in the same amount of time.

I'm glad Sluggerrrr is alright that was some shot he took. :)

[Skip]

I could drive to Kansas City for a Royals game (~200 mi passing through 4 states) in the same amount of time.Do you mean the 90 minute 'shoulda been' time, or the 225 minute 'reality' time? :D

[Jim Rice]

Too bad Jesus has a terrible arm.

And yet last night I saw Jesus throw out a guy at home plate. Talk about miracles...

[hmrsf]

I am leaving at 11 am to meet my husband for a 3PM game. Only opening day games and Patriots day games are off the wall like this. Most of the time it is only 2.5 to 3 hours each way.

But it worth it......when they win. It is 10 times longer when they don't.

[Crash Course]

O.D., Yankee Stadium, mass transit is pretty much mandatory.

Yeah, agreed. It is the smart way. I had no choice - expecting wife at home, and I needed the ability to leave in a hurry (by car), during the game, in case I got "the call." Good thing she didn't call after the final out of the game - I would have been in big trouble for missing something important!

[Crash Course]

But it worth it......when they win. It is 10 times longer when they don't.

Been there! That's when a 90 minute ride seems like 3 hours!

[Crash Course]

Holy Cow you're dedicated :eek:


There's a fine line sometimes between dedicated and stupid! ;)

[hmrsf]

Today was Fenway's home opener. It was also the debut of the new right roof seats. It is amazing how they keep adding more seats to this place. For $75-$100 you get a table seat and a meal.

Fenway added more ladies bathrooms! Thank you! Thank you ! Thank you! Thank You! Guess they figured out a few us attend games. All in all Fenway is easier to get into, easier to move around, and quicker through concessions. They keep expanding the concourse.

I also noticed the increased signage. Fenway has always been clean and green. Gone are those days. I guess some green is more important.

The ceremonies were wonderful. Past Red Sox heroes were honored, the New England Patriots received their Trophy thingy, and the oldest living Red Sox player said "play ball!"

It was a wonderful day. It is nice to see friends that you only see during the season.

There was a freak thing that happened. In the middle of the game smoke came out from behind the park. It completely blocked out a building. It kept billowing up and up. I have no idea what happened. There was no announcement or anything. It was just strange.

It felt good to be back to the ballpark. Then we started the long trek home.

[Crash Course]

FWIW, I noticed more signs in YS as well.
They took down the out of town scoreboard and replaced it with an ad.
They run the OOT scores now on the new "side" diamond vision screens that hug the loge.

Also noticed "BANK OF AMERICA" painted on the walls in the dugout. That's a new thing for YS as well.

[hmrsf]

Fenway went from least signage to maybe the most in one year.

You will see. :(

[satchel]

I got food poisoning from the Fenway fries, and yakked up my entire day's sustenance right out in the middle of Beacon Street on the way home. I think it's testimony to how much I love baseball that I still count the entire experience as a great evening.

[pwdennis]

On to what I saw at the ballpark:

The Bad: a kid, probably about 12 years old, wearing a t-shirt with a new and particularly repugnant variation on the "Yankees Suck" theme: "Jeter Blows A-Rod." Really, what kind of parent buys such a shirt for his or her kid and lets them wear it in public?



No kidding. I think that this is reflective of the decline of civility in society as a whole. When I was a kid, use of the word "Sucks" , unless used to describe drinking a fluid through a straw or siphoning poison out of a smake bite, would have gotten my mouth washed out with soap (and deservedly so) .

I still don't use the term

[sweaver]

While trying to reply to Satchel's post above, I hit the wrong button and ended up editing it instead, mangling it beyond recognition. I can only offer my most sincere apologies.

[nyy26wc]

While trying to reply to Satchel's post above, I hit the wrong button and ended up editing it instead, mangling it beyond recognition. I can only offer my most sincere apologies.

It doesn't look mangled to me.

[sweaver]

It was originally much longer.

[satchel]

While trying to reply to Satchel's post above, I hit the wrong button and ended up editing it instead, mangling it beyond recognition. I can only offer my most sincere apologies.
I'll try to reconstruct it. :) pwdennis quoted some of it, which helps.

The Good: Gabe Kapler made a truly spectacular diving catch of a slicing line drive off the bat of Josh Phelps. Earned himself a star in my scorecard. I think seeing great plays happen live is my favorite thing about going to the ballpark.

The Bad: a kid, probably about 12 years old, wearing a t-shirt with a new and particularly repugnant variation on the "Yankees Suck" theme: "Jeter Blows A-Rod." Really, what kind of parent buys such a shirt for his or her kid and lets them wear it in public?

The Ugly: That would be the food poisoning experience that survived sweaver's attack on my post. :) It's still there above if anyone wants to read about it.

An addendum to The Good was that Johnny Pesky was signing autographs at the park, and I was very pleased to see lots of young kids in the lineup at his table.

[Crash Course]

Satch - thanks for repeating the post effort!
I'm with PW on the usuage of 'suck' - - when I was a lad, in the early 70's, it as a borderline curse word. Now, you hear it on TV, radio, everywhere - without much problem. It is a wacky world.

As far as the "Jeter blows A-Rod" shirt - - well, if anyone really cared, they could not let the kid in the park with it on - - - the M's, IIRC, did something like that a few years back. Not sure Larry and JH really would do that 'tho.

[Jim Rice]

...As far as the "Jeter blows A-Rod" shirt - - well, if anyone really cared, they could not let the kid in the park with it on - - - the M's, IIRC, did something like that a few years back. Not sure Larry and JH really would do that 'tho.

Don't single them out. When the A-Rod to Boston trade looked like a reality this winter, a local Yankee fan friend of mine directed me to a website that was selling "Nomar Blows A-Rod" t-shirts. I have my doubts that Yankee Stadium security would have thrown out anyone with such a shirt on. Other than the M's, I've never heard of any club throwing out a fan do to the wording on a shirt or sign or whatever. That's not just baseball, either. I went to Kansas, where fans in Allen Fieldhouse during games against Missouri are regularly shown wearing "Muck Fizzou" shirts, either a rip-off or an homage to Oklahoma fans wearing "Tuck Fexas" shirts. I've seen shirts worn by K-State students showing the evil Calvin standing on a map of Kansas, peeing on the city of Lawrence. I'm sure other schools or pro teams have similar things. This isn't exactly an issue where any one city, school, team, or owner(s) should be singled out.

[hmrsf]

I think I have said this before but I will repeat again. When I was a kid Yankee Stink were the rage. I was not allowed to wear the t-shirt because it was considered in poor taste.

There was one T-shirt that was intresting on the way to the T. It said Arod tosses salad. That had me scratching my head.

There is nothing better than a live game. Sharing the game with someone else is close second. Last night watching the game, I was so excited for Satchel knowing that she got a gem!

[Crash Course]

Don't single them out.

I didn't single them out in the sense that everyone else would do something and they would not. I singled them out because they have already gone on record with public remarks made towards the Yankee franchise and its owner that have been less than nice - so, why would they stop a fan doing the same? That was my point.

[hopbitters]

The Good: Gabe Kapler made a truly spectacular diving catch of a slicing line drive off the bat of Josh Phelps.

Just curious...am I the only that feels compelled to start singing "Welcome back..." whenever Gabe Kapler's name is announced?

[huskerdru]

I got my first game o' the season in Saturday...awesome seats, 26 rows up, just to the 3B side of home plate (a friend of mine works at the theatre that Jeff Daniels owns - evidently Jeff is a big Tigers fan with no time to go to games, so we typically get 4-6 of these a season - whoohoo!!). Never been in that part of the CoPa before...great view!!

Good: 6 home runs in one game!!
Bad: all by Twins

The celeb sighting, though, was kinda strange. Sitting in row #1 in the section next to us was Chi Chi Rodriguez!! He got up and back into his seat a lot (coming back with one or another refreshment), every time followed by his improbably large body guard. Do retired golfers NEED bodyguards?? Either way it was kinda cool...he did his Zorro thing for the crowd a couple times.

Also (sheesh, hd, shut up already)...well a short background here. The CoPa (and The Corner before) employs a certain fellow who sells hot dogs in the stands and doubles as an impromptu opera singer - in short, he is among the most annoying humans I have ever encourntered on the planet. About the 6th inning my friend Kirk says "Man, I sure am glad the opera dude isn't here" As if on cue, about 15 seconds later we hear a long "Haaaaahhhhht Daaawwwgs" wailing behind us...perfect time for a bathroom/beer break :D !

[Crash Course]

Don't single them out. When the A-Rod to Boston trade looked like a reality this winter, a local Yankee fan friend of mine directed me to a website that was selling "Nomar Blows A-Rod" t-shirts. I have my doubts that Yankee Stadium security would have thrown out anyone with such a shirt on. Other than the M's, I've never heard of any club throwing out a fan do to the wording on a shirt or sign or whatever.

Erase those doubts!

Around Yawkey Way, vendors have already been hawking a new line of T-shirts targeting Alex Rodriguez with the kind of vulgar messages usually reserved for Derek Jeter, captain of the Yankees. (Aside to Dr. Charles Steinberg: Has anyone in the Sox front office taken note that in Yankee Stadium, ushers require walking billboards for bad taste to remove their offending articles of clothing, or forget about seeing the ballgame?)


Dr. Steinberg is Red Sox vice president of public affairs, or something, no?

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2004/04/15/no_yanking_him_from_this_rivalry/

[Emmerson]

I think I have said this before but I will repeat again. When I was a kid Yankee Stink were the rage. I was not allowed to wear the t-shirt because it was considered in poor taste.

There was one T-shirt that was intresting on the way to the T. It said Arod tosses salad. That had me scratching my head.

There is nothing better than a live game. Sharing the game with someone else is close second. Last night watching the game, I was so excited for Satchel knowing that she got a gem!

Tossing salad is a worse saying than "blows". It has to do with licking a behind, for lack of a better way to put it.

I've been to two games thusfar, and am glad to say I'm 2 for 2 at Petco Park. I've been getting a good feel for the place, and was able to take my 2½ month old girl to the first game with us. It was fun being the "Padres family" walking around the concourse. Getting a feel for the place has been the main key for me, San Diego Stadium (Quallcom, if you must) has been home for me and baseball all my life, but Petco is awesome, and I'm glad to now call it home.

So there's that, for what it's worth. Nothing too fancy or out of the ordinary, other than the Padres beating the Giants, and the Padres fans being a majority at games vs the Dodgers and San Francisco.

[hopbitters]

Just curious...am I the only that feels compelled to start singing "Welcome back..." whenever Gabe Kapler's name is announced?

Apparently so. I guess the Kapler-Kaplan connection doesn't stick out to other people.

[WiredTiger]

I saw the tigers get a runner in from third base with less than two outs without getting a hit. Didn't see that a lot last year!

[Crash Course]

Apparently so. I guess the Kapler-Kaplan connection doesn't stick out to other people.

Nah. I do the same thing.

[rico_p]

Apparently so. I guess the Kapler-Kaplan connection doesn't stick out to other people.

That song is the only reason I had Gabe on my fantasy team as a DL replacement for a while.

I just went to the newly-christened "Angels Stadium" on Wednesday night. It's the first time I've been there since I was a kid (back in the Baylor days). It was a great game, and it's actually a pretty fun park. I had heard horror stories of the Disney influence (playing songs and sound effects not only between innings, but between pitches -- sheesh!), but thankfully, all of that is gone. It was cap night, and the caps they gave out are pretty nice. Brushed cotton, high quality embroidery. Nice stuff.

The best thing I saw had to be Chone Figgins coming in to pinch run in the bottom of the 9th for a very visibly hurt Vlad Guerrerro, stealing 2nd and then 3rd, and Jeff Davanon (Another guy who's seen time on my fantasy team here and there, so I have a soft spot for him) pinch hitting and driving in the winning run.

Even though it was pretty late and a little chilly by SoCal standards, there was a good crowd throughout the game. There's a definite buzz around the Angels with their new pickups. In fact, as my friend and I were driving through L.A., we came to an intersection with a Dodger billboard on one side of the street and an Angel billboard on the other. The Dodger ad featured a family of bobbleheads and said, "$6 tickets!" The Angel board had a picture of Vlad the Impaler. Hmmm, which of those seems more exciting?

The game was especially fun because it was a sudden trip to SoCal, and a sudden decision to go to the game. I just wish I had time to get down to PetCo.

By the way, great idea for a thread.

[Skip]

Went to opening day for the AAA (Reds) Bats Wednesday. Weirdest thing I saw was the 'Zooperstars' figure 'Clammy Sosa' actually eat someone. Several hard hit balls early, no offense from either team from the third inning on. Brandon Larson continues to cement his AAAA credentials - though hopefully if he can overcome his injury jinx he'll still stick in the bigs.

Going again tomorrow for the big Ky Derby kickoff - fireworks, airshow, etc. Too many people (750,000) for the downtown to hold, but at least us season ticket holders get real plumbing.

[Molechaser]

What I saw at the ballpark: an umpire charged the mound. In the ninth inning of the Reds-Cubs game today, Wood walked a guy on a 3-2 count (on what was probably a questionable call). He waved at the umpire as if to ask where the pitch missed, which he shouldn't have done. But the umpire started toward the pitcher's mound. He didn't throw Wood out of the game, so there wasn't any reason he needed to run out there. Barrett (the Cubs' catcher) ran to get in front of the umpire, just like a catcher usually does when a batter charges the mound (presumably to protect the pitcher). Based on Barrett's actions, I can only assume that the umpire didn't act at all professionally toward Wood and probably threatened him.

Personally, I think this explains why Wood ran at the umpire after being pulled from the game a couple batters later. I'll grant that players shouldn't attack umpires, but this rule assumes that umpires are professional, impartial arbiters who occasionally make mistakes. When the umpires move past misfeasance to malfeasance, I say they're fair game.

[hmrsf]

I just came back from a picture perfect day. Rarely do you ever get such a beautiful day like this in April up in New England.

This was my first chance to see Curt Schilling and the New York Yankee this season live. I am very lucky to sit in pitching seats and I got an eyeful today.

The strike zone was very generous favoring the low strike. Curt Schilling fast ball was very sharp and caught a few of the Yankee napping.

Two home runs were hit Manny and old friend Tony Clark. (I miss his defense. There is nothing better than a good tall 1B.)

The crowd was rowdy and into the game from the national anthem to the last pitch. For the most part everyone was well behaved around us. There were a few loud Yankee fans who got into a minor ruckus with a few Red Sox fans but no big deal. It is always wise of people to be mindful of where they are.(Sometimes a game can be enhanced by sitting with person from an opposing team. Loud boorish people are never a joy no matter what team they root for. Wearing a Yankee hat is not an issue. Acting like an idiot is.)

Mussina was no where's near his near perfecto night. He had a hard time locating the plate. Just not his game today.

There was an odd thing I noticed at the game. I have these high powered binocular. I was watching Manny in the outfield. He kept taking off his mitt and putting it back on. He would also wiggle his hand around and then put the mitt back on. I wonder if he has a hand injury or is amusing himself? He is interesting just to watch. He plays a lot with the people in left field. (I have never seen anyone have so much fun in my life. I think that is the key to his success.)

I look forward to tomorrow's game. It will be hard to top this one. I had such a great day in the ball park.

[Gosfgiants]

I went to my first game of the season at Pacbell last night and watched the Giants get shelled by the Padres. Since the game was carried on ESPN2 I will not comment on the game itself. I did want to note to the scoreboard in center. It used to be that the stats posted were mostly your standard counting stats. They have now expanded the stat line to include, slugging, OBP, doubles, triples, and walks. I had a good time calculating the OPS for various guys. It was a small consolation compared to how bad the Giants looked on the field. It's gonna be a long year for Giants fans.

[satchel]

On Friday night, I went to Legends Field in Tampa, FL, and saw the low-A Tampa Yankees take on the Dunedin Blue Jays.

What a great night! It started at the will call window, where my brother was supposed to have left me two tickets. I explained this to the fellow behind the window, and gave him my name. He couldn't find the tickets.

"Is your brother a player?" He asked.

No, I said, just a fan. He said, "well, I can't find anything under your name, so here are two tickets for you." And he just handed me two tickets.

I called my brother on his cell phone to find out what section he was waiting for me in. It turns out that the seats he got us were in the first row, over the Yankees' dugout. I've never watched a baseball game from this vantage point - it was a real treat.

We only made it through six and a half innings - that was more than we expected my three-year-old nephew to tolerate, so it was a pretty good night. I saw some good baseball. A young man named Shelley Duncan hit a homer over the left field wall - it would have been in the monuments in Yankee Stadium - and then, in his next at bat, clocked an RBI double off the wall in the same part of the park. We cheered as hard as we could for these kids who were chasing their dreams in rookie-ball.

[Crash Course]

Shelley Duncan is Dave Duncan's kid, FWIW.
I saw him play in Staten Island a ways back - thought then too that his stick had some promise.

[rpackrat]

I made it out to Minute Maid Park for 2 of the 3 Mets-Astros games this past weekend. The funniest sight (in hindsight) was seeing many, many Astros fans get up and head for the concourse with 2 outs in the top of the 9th, a man on second, and Piazza coming to the plate with the Mets down 2-0. I was thinking: "The tying run is at the plate in the form of a first ballot hall of famer. Where are you people going?" A minute later, many of them were heading back to their seats. :)

[gyb13]

i was at Camden on friday for the wild Angels-Orioles night (angels up 9-0, o's score three to tie it in the bottom of the 9th, angels win it in 10)... it also turned out to be fireworks night after the game....i'll post more stories (and photos) on that later

[RedSeat]

I saw Kevin Youkilis' first major league walk(s). 0-2 with 2 BB's and 2 R's. Ably handled 2 routine chances at 3rd. Just as advertised.

I just missed seeing a statistical oddity. David McCarty entered the game as a pinch hitter in the 8th. The Red Sox batted around, but the inning ended with him in the on-deck circle. I believe that had he come up, it would have been an unaccounted for at bat. You can only pinch hit once, but he had not yet entered the game defensively, so the at bat wouldn't have been included in his positional splits.

[hmrsf]

Were you sitting next to Judge Judy?

[Gosfgiants]

You can only pinch hit once, but he had not yet entered the game defensively, so the at bat wouldn't have been included in his positional splits.


I saw this happen at a Giants-Marlins game a few weeks ago. The Giants led off the the inning with a PH and them proceeded to score seven runs. The PH did bat twice. I can't remember who the pitch hitter was.

[SmedIndy]

I saw Kevin Youkilis' first major league walk(s). 0-2 with 2 BB's and 2 R's. Ably handled 2 routine chances at 3rd. Just as advertised.

I just missed seeing a statistical oddity. David McCarty entered the game as a pinch hitter in the 8th. The Red Sox batted around, but the inning ended with him in the on-deck circle. I believe that had he come up, it would have been an unaccounted for at bat. You can only pinch hit once, but he had not yet entered the game defensively, so the at bat wouldn't have been included in his positional splits.


Actually, they would have counted that as a pinch-hit at bat, since he still was a pinch-hitter.

[RedSeat]

Actually, they would have counted that as a pinch-hit at bat, since he still was a pinch-hitter.
Are you sure? I know I read about that scenario somewhere. I have no reson to trust that source more than you, I'm just curious if you have a source on that.

I looked up the SF-FLA that GoSFG referenced. I found that Dustan Mohr was the batter. For the year, he has 46 AB's. 37 as an OF and 8 as a pinch-hitter. That leaves one unaccounted for.

[SmedIndy]

In the box score he would be listed as a ph for both at bats. that's what I was going on - if they don't give him another pinch AB then they're not doing the splits properly.

[bucconut]

I got to my first game yesterday. It was a AA game at Altoona as they took on Reading.
The strangest thing I saw was a catchers interference. I've seen it on TV, but in the hundreds of games I've attended, never.
Also, I would like to comment on the entertainment provided by 3 young women in the row behind me. First, they hollered "get down ! that's in there!" on a routine fly ball that the outfielder was camped under, pounding his glove. Then, one of them yelled "grand slam!" on a 2 run homer.
Lastly, one wondered aloud what all the K's on the railing were for. And asked why some were backwards. That one, I explained to them.
Altoona won 6-3. All in all, a great day.

[gyb13]

i was at Camden on friday for the wild Angels-Orioles night (angels up 9-0, o's score three to tie it in the bottom of the 9th, angels win it in 10)... it also turned out to be fireworks night after the game....i'll post more stories (and photos) on that laterhere's the link to that thread: http://www.netshrine.com/vbulletin2/showthread.php?t=15065

i saw the Yankees start five switch-hitters against the O's...

[hopbitters]

Two interesting auditory tidbits from yesterday's game at Yankee Stadium. We arrived about thirty minutes early and found our way to our seats just as they put up a picture of Ed Ahlstrom, the new organist, on the big screen. He promptly broke into The Band's "Chest Fever", my favorite organ piece. The intro is from Bach's Tocatta and Fugue in D minor and then it just goes off into the wild blue yonder from there as only The Band can. Ed is obviously not Garth Hudson, but I was still impressed. The fiance gave me that look I usually get when I'm all pleased with myself for recognizing some obscure piece of music. Yeah, like that one you're making at the screen now.

The other oddity is that they missed Mariano's entrance. I don't know if they were (like everybody else) applauding Mussina (or booing Torre for taking him out), but by the time "Enter Sandman" started up, Rivera was almost on the infield.