The Bronx Bombers
Even if you aren’t a baseball fan you have most likely heard of New York’s favorite team; the New York Yankees. The Yankees sports club is one of the most successful sports clubs in the world. The Yanks have appeared in 40 world series, winning 27. Many people scorn the Yankees for using a large payroll to recruit talent. They have earned the nickname, “the Evil Empire” by critics and the Boston Red Sox. Speaking of the Red Sox, every good team has a good rival. This famous rivalry began when the Red Sox traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees. This trade would haunt the Red Sox for the next 86 years as they would not win a single World Series during this time. This rivalry is one of the most famous rivalry in all of sports.
The old Yankee Stadium was paid for by the crowds Babe Ruth brought in. He hit a homerun in the first game there in 1923. That year the Yankees beat the New York Giants, their original rival, the the World Series. From then they replaced the Giants as New York’s iconic team. The new Yankee Stadium replaced the old Yankee Stadium in 2009.
The Yankees have many nicknames; “the Bronx Bombers,” “Pinstripes” because of their uniform, or the “Bronx. Other famous players from the Yankees: Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantil, and Derek Jeter.
My experience:
I come from a family of a long line of Yankee fans. Our family’s motto is that we cheer for the the Yankees first and then cheer for whoever is playing the Red Sox. So of course when that team is the same team and were playing just uptown I had to go. I went with a couple of friends in the Study Abroad group.
How to get there:
It was easy to get to the stadium. All you need to do is take the 4 train on the green subway line to 161 St-Yankee Stadium. If you are in Manhatten then that means you will take an uptown train towards Woodlawn or Bedford Park Blvd-Lehman College. Be warned the subway will probably be super packed! We left about an hour before the game began and the subway was already packed with fans.
Tickets?
We found a couple good deals online for tickets but found that to get most sites charge extra for using credit cards or getting electronic tickets. We decided to get tickets at the gate. We ended up buying the tickets about 20 minutes before the game. There weren’t a lot options but part of the problem was that there were seven of us. We could have paid more to get better seats but we’re cheap college students. We ended getting seats in the alcohol free zone, perfect for BYU students!
Weather:
So we went on a rainy night and it was rather breezy up in the nosebleeds so we were COLD! Keep an eye on the weather before you go! Our seats were nice because they were covered whereas some of the lower sections were not and were getting rained on
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Other Advice:
Go with friends. They make the in between inning stretches a lot more fun!
Make friends with the people sitting by you. We’re all here for the same team right? We’re all friends!
Don’t cheer for the Mets. You don’t want to be that guy.
Even if you sit in the nosebleeds, walk around the first level a little bit. There are some cool views and if security guards are nice they may let you take a picture down there so it doesn’t look like you were sitting in the nosebleeds.
Check out the merchandise. I actually saw some decent prices for hats. I didn’t get one because I already own one but I was tempted.
You don’t know anything about baseball to have a good time. Plus baseball is pretty simple, you’ll catch on.
How it ended:
Well our game came down to the 9th inning. Our New York Yankees came out with a 3-2 victory. We all marched out of the stadium proudly singing along to Frank Sinatra’s Theme from New York, New York. It was a lot for us sports fans and those of us who weren’t sports fans. I am going to make sure I get to go to another game while I am here in New York.
