Ode To Yankee Stadium

FROM NEIL, DOWN IN FLORIDA AND SAYING GOODBYE TO YANKEE STADIUM 2.0

I guess my arm will be twisted into upgrading to a complete season rather than "just" 61 games. Hey, Vincent!!! You can add Saturdays to your games!LOL...actually, since I am in South Florida most of the time I will be going through these shenanigans for just a handful of games. And to think the judge would not accept my insanity plea!!?? The nerve!

I have to say as bad as the baseball has been most of this season and I surely do not miss watching A-Rod choke with men on base, but I do miss hanging out with you guys. I mean....what's better than, Vincent "The Diva" Davis showing up in the 5th inning and complaining about the candy wrapper on his seat or seeing him and "Officer" Williams locked in an amorous embrace? Or Mike "The Volunteer Usher" Glitz guiding wayward (and sometimes inebriated) patrons to their seats (ummm...dude I'm in row H...why is HH before H???doh!) Or Colin "The Weekender" Brown getting his new A-Rod jersey imprinted with my son, JoJo's sneaker prints right between the 1 and the 3. Last but not least.....I miss Aunt Nannette relieving me of my parental responsibilities so I can watch a few innings of baseball in peace without being nagged for soda, chips, ice cream, lemonnn iiiccce, or worse yet, those $20 foam fingers!! Yes, Marlins baseball and its 5,000 fans in a 75,000 seat football stadium will never come close to parking at Concourse Village, the beer at The Bowling Alley, the long lines on River Ave, the hard ass metal bleachers, the brain dead morons who think sitting in section 39 is an excuse to act retarded, and everything else that goes into Yankee baseball. I fear that I have made my last venture in the great Cathedral of Baseball, as media types like to call it and as corny as it sounds, I am choked up imagining that the place where my Dad, rest his soul, took me to see my first ballgame is going to be rubble. I fell in love with not only a silly game there but with an atmosphere, an aura, and a place where all of my troubles seemed to be gone the second I walked through those turnstiles. Maybe I am waxing poetic just a tad here, but Section 39, Row HH, seat 3 (sorry Davis!)is more than just an overpriced ticket to a ballgame for me. It is a place where I felt happy, at home, where I shared moments with my kids when I was young and so were they. It is a place where I forged real friendships with real people and where I could come after a hard day to unwind and relax. No matter what palace they build across E161st Street and I do believe that the time had come for a better facility; nothing will ever replace the "REAL" Yankee Stadium and all the idiosyncrasies that came with it. When September 21 comes and goes and the doors are closed one last time things will change forever. Surely, from a baseball standpoint things will change and perhaps be better (hopefully...but, I have my doubts) but even more importantly, at least for me, life will change, a piece of my history will be gone, and life will never be the same. I do not know about any of you but that makes me sad, very sad.

No matter what next season brings, I want to thank all of you for adding a lot to the lives of not only Mookie, but Ari, Joey, and me as well. I will never forget you guys or any of the great moments we shared together as the "other" side of section 39. Maybe, we were not the commercial "Bleacher Creatures" with their novelties or their media exposure but we were there every night, cheering just as hard, bleeding Yankee pinstripes just as navy, and caring just as much. I hope that you guys stay in touch, although in all likelihood that will not happen. Even so, I wish all of you lots and lots of happiness, good health and good luck. May all your dreams come true and may the Yank's win another World Series before I lose my prostate and while Vincent still has hair! Go Yank's!

AND COLIN'S RESPONSE:

Man that was deep. And really got me thinking. I sure hope the rest of us are still able to keep the seats together. Vincent, are you gonna get a package for yourself? Neil we'll miss having you around yelling at people sitting in your seats and watching your kids wear their ice cream and ask about going home in the third inning (Jojo), listening to Mookie real off stats I didn't even know about. Whenever you come up for games make sure you catch a Sunday game so I can join in the reunion. And who knows I might be around full time in a year....