Wednesday, May 12, 2004
Possibly the Worst Baseball Experience Ever
I've been thinking about disbanding the blog recently - obviously, we haven't been posting much recently, and readership has gone down significantly (and with it, ad sales). Joanna's brush with Kim Catrall hasn't created much buzz (I guess people really don't like celebrity sightings). But after last night's story, which several people have already called 'blog-worthy' (though not quite 'spongeworthy') I felt the need to share with you all.
A little background. I'm a huge Cubs fan, Mubin's a huge Cubs fan. Who is the bigger Cub fan is up for debate, and not for right now. (Basically, he claims he is a bigger one for going to hundreds of games, most of them for vending purposes. While he has gone to more games, I philosophically refused to vend - despite my father's wishes - he vended in the 60's and was photographed in Sports Illustrated in 1967 during an article about the Cubs selling a pretzel - I refused to vend because it would take away my enjoyment of the game). Regardless, we're also big baseball fans, and our friend and blog-mate D has recently expressed an interest in Cubs baseball. Now D hasn't had any baseball knowledge to speak of - he left a gathering of Cubs fans during last year's game 6 in the 7th inning, and holds as much of the blame for the Cubs' collapse as Steve Bartman nad Alex Gonzalez - but his interest has made us proud. It's like taking a date to a baseball game and showing off your expertise. So Mubin and I decide to take D, and his fiancee, DJ, to a Yanks game.
Now, the Angels are in town and they're a good matchup so we agreed to go this week. Dan (a huge baseball fan as well) and Wendy were also interested but didn't come. Now D, thru work, had to go to Philly yesterday, and said he'd be at the stadium by 8. The game starts at 7. So I proposed to do it another night - like tonight (though it's pouring rain right now), but D and DJ said they wanted to do it yesterday. While I said it wouldn't be great if we're teaching them nuances of baseball and they arrive in the 5th, they insisted, and since it was a pleasant looking night and I was able to get tix from Avi, who has season seats, we agreed.
It was raining at 6 - it looked like it would be off and on - so Mubin and I held tight at our respective locations (me at Avi and Jennae's, Mubin at Grand Central, having drinks) to meet up at the Bat at Yankee Stadium (where Finn stood up Vito on last weeks Soprano's) until the rain ended, which it did at 7. So I got on the B form the West Side, Mubin the 4 and we went North. D and DJ were also making the journey on the $ form the East Side. I get to 161st St at 730 - a bit late, but certainly the 1st inning - the subway stops, and the door doesn't open. Then we continue to 167th St. Why? An incident at the 161st St station - it's closed to everybody. So I have to walk from 167th and Grand Concourse- a good 15 minute walk (which I do with random Penn alumni Vince and Ariella, also on my train.) Mubin has to get off at 170th and walk - so I have to wiat for him a good 20 minutes. I keep calling Mubin's cell phone to tell himto meet me in Center Field and not the bat - because it would be closer for both of us and our seats - but he doesn't answer - the vibrator's not working (a common problem for Mubin - just kidding). Finally Mubin and I meet at the bat at 815 - top of the 4th (Angels 3-2).
So now we have to meet D and DJ. They call - they're getting off at 145th and walking, so they'll meet us in the seats. We tell them where we are located, and actually leave an extra ticket with Hector at the Famiglia stand for them to pick up - because Mubin had an extra from a friend. So as we head into the stadium, we tell D about the ticket we left for him, and that he would only need to purchase one to get in - we told him to offer 10 bucks to a scalper for a ticket, as it was a rainy nite and the game start 90 minutes ago - a buyer's market (unlike Wrigley this year). As we head into the game, it starts pouring, and another rain delay occurs.
So we're waiting on D and DJ in Avi's great seats, which are fortunately under the upper deck, so we're protected from rain. And we wait, Mubin wants a hot dog, so I tell him to call D and ask him to pick one up (as the kosher hot dog stand is right by the Bat, where they'd enter). D says he'll get it later, as "he has a lot of stuff to drop off". Uh-oh. They don't allow bags in Yankee Stadium. So we figure the wait is that they'd have to drop off their backpacks at Stan's, a bar across the street where you can leave bags.
Finally, after a half hour or so, watching a rain delay, Mubin getting his hot dog and knish and Coors Light (total - 17 dollars) and me talking to an elderly couple from Tampa making the trip to Yankee Stadium and Cooperstown for their 40th anniversary (I recommended Wrigley), D calls. "Can I get to you guys from the bleachers?" The answer, obviously, was no. So D and DJ decide to stay in the bleachers! We watch 2 outs, and the rain starts again. The whole purpose of this whole exercise was to experience the game with D (and DJ), and they blow us off by sitting in the bleachers. So what do we do? We leave - we wanted to get back and watch the Cubs - Dodgers game, starting at 10.
Back at my place, we get the voice mail from D. "If you guys haven't left yet, can we have your tickets?" Ugh. And the Cubs played possibly their worst game of the season (or at least 2nd worse - after the Opening Day shellacking to the Pirates, which Mubin attended), and Kerry gets injured - hurting his arm, no less. Other than game 6 or 7 agains the Marlin's last year, probably my worst baseball experience ever. Needless to say, no baseball games with D or DJ for a long, long time.
As long as I'm writing, just want to give a shout out to Velvel for mentioning an attendance at "The Roof is On Fiddler", a comedic "Fiddler on the Roof" that I saw a few years ago at a comedy club. Excellent. And Jay may lose his priveleges to post on this sight after the Queen's Day debacle, which almost shut us down. I'm thinking about it.
Well that was cathartic. Feel free to add, D, if you so dare.
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A little background. I'm a huge Cubs fan, Mubin's a huge Cubs fan. Who is the bigger Cub fan is up for debate, and not for right now. (Basically, he claims he is a bigger one for going to hundreds of games, most of them for vending purposes. While he has gone to more games, I philosophically refused to vend - despite my father's wishes - he vended in the 60's and was photographed in Sports Illustrated in 1967 during an article about the Cubs selling a pretzel - I refused to vend because it would take away my enjoyment of the game). Regardless, we're also big baseball fans, and our friend and blog-mate D has recently expressed an interest in Cubs baseball. Now D hasn't had any baseball knowledge to speak of - he left a gathering of Cubs fans during last year's game 6 in the 7th inning, and holds as much of the blame for the Cubs' collapse as Steve Bartman nad Alex Gonzalez - but his interest has made us proud. It's like taking a date to a baseball game and showing off your expertise. So Mubin and I decide to take D, and his fiancee, DJ, to a Yanks game.
Now, the Angels are in town and they're a good matchup so we agreed to go this week. Dan (a huge baseball fan as well) and Wendy were also interested but didn't come. Now D, thru work, had to go to Philly yesterday, and said he'd be at the stadium by 8. The game starts at 7. So I proposed to do it another night - like tonight (though it's pouring rain right now), but D and DJ said they wanted to do it yesterday. While I said it wouldn't be great if we're teaching them nuances of baseball and they arrive in the 5th, they insisted, and since it was a pleasant looking night and I was able to get tix from Avi, who has season seats, we agreed.
It was raining at 6 - it looked like it would be off and on - so Mubin and I held tight at our respective locations (me at Avi and Jennae's, Mubin at Grand Central, having drinks) to meet up at the Bat at Yankee Stadium (where Finn stood up Vito on last weeks Soprano's) until the rain ended, which it did at 7. So I got on the B form the West Side, Mubin the 4 and we went North. D and DJ were also making the journey on the $ form the East Side. I get to 161st St at 730 - a bit late, but certainly the 1st inning - the subway stops, and the door doesn't open. Then we continue to 167th St. Why? An incident at the 161st St station - it's closed to everybody. So I have to walk from 167th and Grand Concourse- a good 15 minute walk (which I do with random Penn alumni Vince and Ariella, also on my train.) Mubin has to get off at 170th and walk - so I have to wiat for him a good 20 minutes. I keep calling Mubin's cell phone to tell himto meet me in Center Field and not the bat - because it would be closer for both of us and our seats - but he doesn't answer - the vibrator's not working (a common problem for Mubin - just kidding). Finally Mubin and I meet at the bat at 815 - top of the 4th (Angels 3-2).
So now we have to meet D and DJ. They call - they're getting off at 145th and walking, so they'll meet us in the seats. We tell them where we are located, and actually leave an extra ticket with Hector at the Famiglia stand for them to pick up - because Mubin had an extra from a friend. So as we head into the stadium, we tell D about the ticket we left for him, and that he would only need to purchase one to get in - we told him to offer 10 bucks to a scalper for a ticket, as it was a rainy nite and the game start 90 minutes ago - a buyer's market (unlike Wrigley this year). As we head into the game, it starts pouring, and another rain delay occurs.
So we're waiting on D and DJ in Avi's great seats, which are fortunately under the upper deck, so we're protected from rain. And we wait, Mubin wants a hot dog, so I tell him to call D and ask him to pick one up (as the kosher hot dog stand is right by the Bat, where they'd enter). D says he'll get it later, as "he has a lot of stuff to drop off". Uh-oh. They don't allow bags in Yankee Stadium. So we figure the wait is that they'd have to drop off their backpacks at Stan's, a bar across the street where you can leave bags.
Finally, after a half hour or so, watching a rain delay, Mubin getting his hot dog and knish and Coors Light (total - 17 dollars) and me talking to an elderly couple from Tampa making the trip to Yankee Stadium and Cooperstown for their 40th anniversary (I recommended Wrigley), D calls. "Can I get to you guys from the bleachers?" The answer, obviously, was no. So D and DJ decide to stay in the bleachers! We watch 2 outs, and the rain starts again. The whole purpose of this whole exercise was to experience the game with D (and DJ), and they blow us off by sitting in the bleachers. So what do we do? We leave - we wanted to get back and watch the Cubs - Dodgers game, starting at 10.
Back at my place, we get the voice mail from D. "If you guys haven't left yet, can we have your tickets?" Ugh. And the Cubs played possibly their worst game of the season (or at least 2nd worse - after the Opening Day shellacking to the Pirates, which Mubin attended), and Kerry gets injured - hurting his arm, no less. Other than game 6 or 7 agains the Marlin's last year, probably my worst baseball experience ever. Needless to say, no baseball games with D or DJ for a long, long time.
As long as I'm writing, just want to give a shout out to Velvel for mentioning an attendance at "The Roof is On Fiddler", a comedic "Fiddler on the Roof" that I saw a few years ago at a comedy club. Excellent. And Jay may lose his priveleges to post on this sight after the Queen's Day debacle, which almost shut us down. I'm thinking about it.
Well that was cathartic. Feel free to add, D, if you so dare.
