I'll keep this short. So we have our beautiful tickets. I convince Jenny that we should get there by 5:30 so we can watch some batting practice. And I enjoyed that, even though I didn't bother going down to right field to attempt to catch the well-hit balls. SO we sat in our seats. I bought a World Series Program ($10) becuase hey -- how often am I going to go to the Series, once a year? So I kept score, since I'm a nerd at heart.
When we walked in, we were given the official Ticket Holders, to be worn at all times under penalty of death. The Ticket Holders were sponsored by Pepcid AC. Some people got free samples, we didn't. I was kind of mad, but then I remembered I didn't care. Our seats were in section U10, row F -- that's roughly behind home plate, about 20 feet down the third base line. You can see our seats for yourself if you want to go to the Yankees web site (try here, although it's really more fun to go through the entire website first).
So, on to the game. The announcer managed to forget to announce Bernie, so we all thought Chili Davis was batting cleanup. Bernie eventually ran out of the dugout around the seventh hitter and took his rightful place. Jim Leyritz got a sort-of ovation, as did Tony Gwynn -- and of course Greg Vaughn was booed, after he failed his physical last winter which would have sent him to the Yankees. Tony Bennett sang "America the Beautiful" at the insistence of Major League Baseball. Whatever. He's a great guy and all, but how about a National Anthem, folks?
The Yankees started well, taking a 2-0 lead for David Wells. But a few of bad pitches equaled towering homers by Gwynn and Vaughn (twice), including back-to-back pitches in the fifth, staked the Padres to a 5-2 lead into the seventh (I'm leaving out details). That's when our favorite pitcher, Kevin Brown, gave up a one out single to Jorge Posada, who moved up when Ricky Ledee walked on four pitches. Knoblauch then launched a 2-0 pitch into the left field seats, out of Vaughn's reach, to tie the game. The crowd, drunk as it was, erupted, high-fives and strained screaming voices everywhere. We took the opportunity to mock the grouping of San Diego fans in the Tier Box in front of us.
Of course, it wasn't over yet. After Jeter singled, Brown was lifted for reliever Donne Wall, who promptly threw a wild pitch before O'Neill flew out. Bernie Williams was walked intentionally, and Davis walked on a 3-2 pitch. Then Tino worked the count full (some say he was out on the 2-2 pitch), before jacking Wall way, way out into the right-field upper deck. With the Yanks up 9-5, the game was ours!
Naturally, we had to play the last couple of innings, where Jeff Nelson gave up a single and a walk, leading to an unearned run as Mariano shut down the Padres in the eighth and ninth, preserving the victory for the Bronx Bombers. Kick ass!
Game notes: Most concession prices didn't go up for the Series games. I guess soaking us for double last year's ticket prices, they felt they could be easy on us (that was MLB's fault, not the Yanks). And Pepsi One? Apparently it is Awful, with a capital A. Pepsi was out front giving the stuff away and taping reactions, but the stuff is just Diet Pepsi for men. Sheesh. And in baseball news, I counted a grand total of three assists for the Yankees the entire game, out of 20 non-strikeout outs. For starters, Tino had four ground ball outs hit to him (and a double-play lineout), and there were eight outfield flies. Now you know.
