This has been going on for awhile. I've been at games where I found myself thinking ahead a couple of innings that Mariano Rivera would be making his entrance, and then look up to see a pack of misguided folks streaming out the aisles. Number 42 running across the outfield grass while "Enter Sandman" rocks Yankee Stadium, and watching Mariano dominate, are historic baseball sights that it seems one should drink in and appreciate; why would anyone go to the expense and effort of a trip to 161st St. and River Ave. and then blow off some of the game's most dramatic moments.
You do not have to be at the game for visual proof of the lameness of too many Yankee fans are. When watching on TV, I've too often seen the Yankees mounting a late rally while YES cuts to the Great Hall to show fans watching the rally on the Hall's TV monitors instead of in their bloody seats. And then when YES pans across the stands late in games, too often the Stadium looks as barren as a crime-ridden urban downtown as 2 in the morning, or Citi Field.
By comparison, whenever a game in Fenway is on TV, the bulk of the fans seem to stay to the end.
Now before proceeding, let's not get carried away with the comparison, Red Sox fans have serious issues. A good example is the self-righteous manner in which too many of them carry on about how much the Yankees spend while simultaneously ignoring how much they outspend the rest of the league.
Regardless, Yankee fans should show more loyalty to the team. If your main concern is traffic on the Major Deegan, stay stay home instead of embarrassing loyal Yankee fans by emptying out the Stadium. When the team is trying to rally, it is much more fun and dramatic when the fans are rocking the Stadium. And more importantly perhaps, those who leave early deprive themselves of an opportunity to see a comeback that will provide a lifetime's worth of memories.
The perfect example is a great game my wife and I attended on the afternoon of April 19 2007. The Indians took a 5-2 lead in the 7th and made it 6-2 going into the 9th, meaning the usual quota of bogus fans had fled the Stadium. Indians' closer Joe Borowski got the first 2 outs of the 9th, and I recall seeing more fans get up and leave after the 2nd out. Obviously the odds were poor - .baseball-reference.com calculates the Yankees had a 0% (zero %) chance of winning at that point - but after all, steep odds are the prerequisite condition of a memorable comeback. Josh Phelps then hit a solo homer, Posada, Damon, Jeter, and Abreu reached base, and then Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez slugged a no-doubter 3-run walkoff home run.
Yes, most of the time such rallies will not happen. But if you want to be present at such a great moment, you'll have to sit and root in hopes that this is the time it will happen.
True - waaaaaaaaaay back in 2004(?) when the Yankees were down and Bernie Williams hit his second homer of the day to send it to extra innings against Minnesota, the place was mostly deserted by the time Jason Giambi hit the walk off grand slam. true, it was raining, but very hard and I think the only occupants of the stadium by that time were me, my buddy and maybe 100 other people. (Smooth sailing on the Major Deegan that night!)
ReplyDeleteStill, Fenway holds less people and it's hard to get tickets, so if you actually get tickets, it's hard to leave early.
Yes, was watching that game on TV, and remember how deserted the Stadium was. What a moment - the first time since Babe Ruth that a Yankee hit a walkoff grand slam with the team down by 3 runs.
ReplyDeleteHere's the URL to an article on the game:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/news/2002/05/17/twins_yankees_ap/