Lemme start by saying that I was waiting for a subway at 1:37 a.m. when the winning run was scored. I sat through 14 and a half innings of baseball, but I had a 3 a.m. train back to Baltimore that I was not going to miss at any cost. So, about five minutes after I walked out of Yankee Stadium, the AL won the game.
Needless to say, it was a very memorable evening of baseball in The Bronx.
All of the highlights, guests, batting practice stuff, celebrities, etc. will be on wnsTV by the end of the day.
A few notes, thoughts and observations:
Taking the train is great. It’s fast, clean, efficient. It seems like New York is the only place I ever take a train but when I do I’ll always wonder why I don’t do it more often. Amtrak rocks!
Where were the Cincinnati Reds during the opening ceremony honoring the living Hall of Famers? Joe Morgan, who was in the building last night for the Home Run Derby. Tony Perez? And what about Johnny Bench’s glaringly vacant hole behind the plate? Could it be a Pete Rose thing? I haven’t read anything about it yet, but I noticed the guys who were missing more than the guys who were there. And it was cool seeing our living legends all out on the field with those orange caps on. Very cool idea for the opening ceremony of the game.
Celebs: On a personal note, I got to meet Sheryl Crow at a press conference for Stand Up To Cancer. She might be the most beautiful woman on the planet (and yes, one of the afflictions of turning 40 is having the “hots” for women over 40). She was also extremely pleasant.
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New York, baby: All of the top local TV stations had anchors on the field at Yankee Stadium last night and the joint was jumping. Instead of being in a far-flung place like Arlington or Cleveland it was standard operating procedure for the locals to bring that famous “New York throng” with them. It was just packed and extremely active.
WNST landed many guests: On Rob Long’s show, Chris Myers, Black Jack McDowell, Keith Olbermann, Billy Ripken and Tim Kurkjian. The Fighting Ungers had a few seconds of “I have no idea what’s happening” with James Lipton from Inside The Actors’ Studio and a nice chat with Hannah Storm, who’s a really fun lady to hang around.
I geeked out when I saw George Brett. I’ve only met him one other time and he was “my guy” for most of my baseball childhood. If the Royals were in town, we went to the ballpark to see Brett play. My wife even got me a bobblehead for Christmas a few years ago. He still looks like he could play. And if he could, he’d still bat .300!
I caught up with a few old baseball and media friends, who I never see now that Peter Angelos has taken away my press pass. Harold Reynolds and Jeff Nelson (of Catonsville) were around the batting cage. I even saw Ken Rosenthal, who has certainly made his way up the ladder of network success with his Fox gig. I didn’t always agree with his column, but I’ve worked closely with Kenny over the years, both as his gopher at The Evening Sun when he was the Os beat man but also as a tandem for Sporting News Radio at the Seattle All-Star Game. I’m a Rosenthal fan and honestly, The Sun’s sports section has never been the same since. And, in retrospect, he correctly predicted the path the Orioles would be taking under the leadership of Peter G. Angelos.
Wandering around Yankee Stadium you can’t help but feel nostalgic. We’re putting together the trip for July 30th so I was doing some research for that trip as well. Man, the bleachers are a long way from home plate in New York and they’re also “alcohol free.” We’ve had some inquiries from folks who want to do the trip and we’re putting together all of the details behind the scenes. If you purchased seats on our bus, please stay tuned. We’ll have more information later in the week.
George Sherrill was sensational late in the game last night.
The game was actually pretty good for it not having a lot of drama at the beginning and for the crowd being kinda “extra inning” lame at the end. Doesn’t this happen at EVERY regular season game that goes 15 innings deep? And especially on weeknights? And on those wintry April nights there’s no one there to begin with in most cities.
