Kristen and I went to New York on our honeymoon, and not surprisingly, one of our most memorable experiences of the trip was the Yankee game we went to. Since the Yankees lost the three games I went to as a child, I wanted more than anything to finally see the Yanks triumph in person. With the Yankees trailing the Angels 4-2 in the 4th inning, I went to grab some hot dogs and drinks. As I started to head back out to our seats, I was greeting by throngs of fans trying to take cover from the rain. Kristen and I found a ledge in the concessions area where we stood and ate our slightly damp dogs.
The rain let up and the game resumed after about 45 minutes. But after another half inning or so, the rain started again, and the game was once again delayed. The rain only lasted a few minutes, but the delay was much longer this time, as they were likely waiting to see if the storm was gone for good. We sat waiting long enough that we watched the entire Goose Gossage Yankeeography on the big screen in center field.
The game finally did start up again, and by the 8th inning, the Angels held a 5-4 lead. The Yankees rallied with two runs in the bottom of the 8th to pull ahead 6-5, their first lead of the game. In came Mariano Rivera for the save in the top of the 9th, game over right? Wrong! Rivera, who typically only blows a few saves per season, surrended the lead on a two-run homer, Angels 7-6.I was a little upset after this turn of events. So much for getting to see my first live Yankee win. Kristen was just tired of watching baseball, since we had been at the ballpark for nearly 6 hours at this point. But I perked up a bit as the Yanks once again started to rally in the bottom of the ninth. As they were putting runners on, Kristen famously declared "if this goes into extra innings, we are NOT staying." Well the Yankees tied it, and on to extras it went, and yes, we did stay.
Mercifully, in the bottom of the 10th, at 1:23 am, six hours and 18 minutes after the first pitch, Gary Sheffield laced a double down the left field line to drive in the winning run. I was giddily snapping photos of the scoreboard, and of the team celebrating at home plate, as Frank Sinatra's New York, New York began to triumphantly blaze over the sound system. Meanwhile, Kristen was already halfway out of the stadium.
Welcome to marriage.
2 comments:
In my defense, it had been 6.5 hours of rainy baseball, the entire Yankeeography of Goose Gossage, and ridiculously overpriced concessions... and we also had the trip back to our hotel to look forward to (on the subway, in the Bronx, at 1:30 AM). Perhaps you can see why I would've been eager to leave.
Of course, it did give us a nice honeymoon story to tell... and we'll certainly never forget it. I have since warmed up to the Yankees. I would say that if it happened all over again, I wouldn't change much... except maybe the hot dogs would've been cheaper... and yummier.
Sounds like your marriage got off to a rough start. Kristen you always stay for extra innings. Thanks getting more baseball than you actually paid for.
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