July 26, 2004 [LINK]
Our pilgrimmage to that sacred green field in The Bronx last week was rewarded with a Yankees win (against the Blue Jays), but just barely. The only score came in the bottom of the ninth inning when Ruben Sierra knocked a home run that just cleared the center field fence. To my dismay, neither Derek Jeter nor Jason Giambi played, and Jorge Posada didn't enter the game until the 7th inning. It was a pleasantly warm, humid, partly sunny day, and our seats were in the shade. The Yankee Stadium page has been revised with four photos and much new text based on our experiences and other recent research. There will be minor corrections to the diagrams in the near future. Because of the heavy rain on Friday, we cancelled our plans to see either the Braves-Mets game at Shea Stadium or the Cubs-Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park on the way home. To my surprise, the latter game was held after all!
The four-hour Yankees-Red Sox game in Fenway on Saturday afternoon had plenty of runs and entertainment value, though there were too many errors and wasted opportunities. Every time I try to wish well on the Red Sox, another senseless brawl breaks out. I thought A-Rod reacted fairly mildly to being hit by a pitch, and there was no reason I could see for Jason Varitek to get in his face like that. (OK, I did lip-read A-Rod's retort, but still...) Bill Mueller's stunning game-winning homer in the bottom of the ninth gave Boston fans a sweet memory that will last for years. It gave me heartburn.