Monday night after work I came home and I made myself dinner. After I ate, I went out and I did my laundry.
Tuesday night after work I went up to the Bronx to see the Yankees open up a three game series with the Seattle Mariners. 17 years ago to the day was the anniversary of Dwight Gooden's no hitter which ironically was against the Mariners who had A-Rod in their line up at the time. It was the first no hitter I ever saw live in person. It was a very memorable night for me.
This time on paper history looked like it could repeat itself with Felix Hernandez starting for the Mariners and CC Sabathia going for the Yankees.
Before I went into the Stadium, I stopped off at Burger King a few blocks away to have a pre game meal. When I got done, I went up to my seat in section 420B row 7 where I was greeted by my pal and avid reader of my blog, Greg Venuto who came down from Norwalk, Connecticut to see his Yankees play. He told me he was in Washington DC over Mother's Day weekend. He went to visit his friend who lives down there. While he was there he went to see the Capitals play the Rangers. He also saw the Nationals host the Cubs. He enjoyed his time away. It was great to see him again.
It should be noted our friends Steve Tepperman and Pat Gorman were also in attendance on this night.
As for the game we saw, it didn't exactly live up to the billing. It turned out to be an ordinary occasion between two of baseball's best pitchers these days. The Mariners got to CC but they couldn't capitalize on their opportunities. They wound up getting ten hits off of him in six and a third innings before he departed. He allowed three runs only two of them were earned and he did strikeout ten in the process. Former Yankee Raul Ibanez felt right at home as he hit a two run homer to give the Mariners a 3-0 lead in the sixth inning. The Yankees finally scored a run off of Felix Hernandez who had kept the Yankee bats quiet as he struck out eight over his six innings of work. Once he left for the night, the Yankees bats awoke. In the seventh inning, they scored three runs to take the lead, 4-3. Robinson Cano delivered a two run double and Lyle Overbay hit a sacrifice fly to put the Yankees ahead for good. Mariano Rivera came on in the ninth inning and he closed it out. As a result, he notched his 624th career save as the Yankees took the opener of the series.
Wednesday night after work I went back to the Bronx for game two of the series. I stopped off at the Court Deli Restaurant first so I could pick up sandwiches for the King and I. I had a corned beef and he had turkey. After I rounded up some snacks at a few different stores in the area I went into the Stadium.
When I got up to my seat in section 420B row 7 I was joined by our pals Vincent Ascanio, Larry Peim, Phil Butleman, David Sack and Rich Wolber who were also present & accounted for.
I want to congratulate our pal Vincent Ascanio aka the Kid who saw his 700th live baseball game on this night.
As for the game we saw, the Mariners jumped on Yankee starter Phil Hughes who failed to finish the first inning as they scored seven runs which included a grand slam by former Yankee Raul Ibanez. He also hit a two run homer in the fifth inning. Kyle Seager added a three run blast in the sixth inning as the Mariners cruised to a 12-2 victory.
Despite the blowout it was an historical night because the Yankees called up third baseman David Adams earlier in the day and he made his major league debut on his 26th birthday. He became the 30th player in MLB history to do so. In addition, he was the first Yankee to do it since 1916. I got that fact from our pal Michael Abrams who has been to over 900+ consecutive Yankee home games. To cap off his memorable special day, David Adams got his first major league hit in the sixth inning.
Thursday night after work I went back to the Bronx to see the rubber match of the three game series between the Yankees and the Mariners. I wound up eating dinner at Burger King again.
As for the game we saw, the Mariners held on to beat the Yankees, 3-2 to take the series two games to one. I was happy because I was thinking about a few ballpark chasers I know from Seattle who like the Mariners.It should be noted that Yankee starter Andy Pettitte left the game with two outs in the top of the fifth inning with an injury. Former Yankee Raul Ibanez finally cooled off after destroying them in the first two games. This time he was held hit less in four at bats and he struck out three times.
Friday night after work I went back to Yankee Stadium as the Toronto Blue Jays came back for a weekend series in the Bronx. Since I had a big lunch I didn't eat before the game. I went up to my seat and I was joined by our pal William Frank Guthrie who was there. It was nice to see him again.
It should be noted that this day marked the 15th anniversary of the first perfect game I saw live in person as David Wells accomplished the feat against the Minnesota Twins on a Sunday afternoon at Old Yankee Stadium.
As for the game we saw, the Yankees got a stellar pitching performance from starter Hiroki Kuroda who threw eight shutout innings. He allowed just two hits as the Yankees beat the Blue Jays, 5-0.
After the game, Bryan Gilligan drove the King and I to Donovan's Pub in Woodside, Queens for our usual post game meal. We were also joined by our friend Frank Anichiarico who met us there. It should be noted that Donovan's recently changed ownership but many of the people we know are still there and the menu has been expanded. In addition, they now accept credit cards too.
Saturday afternoon the King and I took the subway up to the Bronx for game two of the series with the Blue Jays. We were joined by Vincent Ascanio and Bryan Gilligan who were there as usual along with our pal Pat Gorman.
As for the game we saw, the Yankees got two home runs from Robinson Cano, one in the third inning and the other in the fifth as the Yankees built a 5-1 lead. In the top of the eighth inning, the Blue Jays' Edwin Encarnacion hit a solo homer to make it 5-2. In the bottom of the eighth, Travis Hafner hit a two run homer that made the score 7-2. As a result, Mariano Rivera who had been warming up was forced to sit down since it was no longer a save situation. The Yankees got the last three outs as they beat the Blue Jays again.
Since the game was played in a timely fashion, Bryan who was driving us decided to skip going to Trenton, NJ. Instead he drove the King, Vincent & I to Allentown, Pennsylvania. By doing so, we got to go to Coca Cola Park, which is the home of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Phillies' Triple A affiliate. They were hosting the Rochester Red Wings, the Minnesota Twins farm team. After we parked the game, we walked over to the right field gate. We decided to ask around for tickets before we walked down to the box office. We lucked out. We came across different people who had extra tickets and they were kind enough to give them to us. We were very grateful. I wound up getting one in the Red Robin Tiki Terrace area which is located out in left field. The best part of it was it included free food. I was able to help myself to hot dogs, burgers and pulled pork. They also had chips and cookies along with soft drinks. Since we had time before the game started, I went out there and fed myself. When I had enough, I walked back to stand behind the plate with the King, Bryan & Vincent. We also had a guy who is a big fan of the King's signature strikeout call on hand which made for a captive audience.
As for the game we saw, the IronPigs broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the eighth inning thanks to a costly error which allowed the winning run to score by journeyman Ray Olmedo who has seen limited tours of duty in the major leagues from time to time from 2003-2007. For the most part, he's been a Triple A player the last five years. He continues to play in hopes of getting another shot at the major league level.
Sunday afternoon the King and I took the subway back to Yankee Stadium hoping to see the finale of the three game series with the Blue Jays. As we were getting ready to cross the street to go to the Stadium, we found out that the game was postponed due to rain. We got back on the train and we went home. We wound up watching TV unexpectedly.
Thank you for reading and following along.
Yours truly,
Gary Herman
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