Opening Day

 

  Sammi and I went to Opening Day at Yankee Stadium on Monday. It was my first visit to the new Stadium, my first Opening Day since a bunch of us working at DC used to go to Shea to see the Mets back in the mid-'90s, and my first Yankee Opening Day since 1978. (As you might imagine, it was Sammi's first Opening Day ever.)

  We had a package deal that included a round-trip bus ride, a tailgate party with plenty of food before the game, and tickets. well, certainly not the best tickets in the world, as we were in the very last row of the grandstand, though we were overlooking third base and had no trouble seeing everything.

  Not that there were that many familiar Yankees to see, since half the starting line-up (Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Alex Rodriguez, and Mark Texiera) is on the disabled list. I'm sure I wasn't the only Yankees fan who looked at the line-up and asked, "Who are these guys?"

 

 

 

 

  Since we'd arrived early, we had time to walk around inside the Stadium a bit and Sammi took a lot of photos. (We also got a very helpful and friendly Stadium employee to take the one above as we posed in front of the giant batting helmet.)

 

  The game itself could have gone better for the home team but Boston jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second inning. The Yankees scored a pair of runs and kept it close into the late innings, but then the weather and the fans' hopes went from warm and sunny to cold and cloudy-dark. The ninth inning, as the Red Sox scored three more runs, was punctuated by a rain shower, which prompted most of the folks in the stands to head for the exits.

  We had actually left our seats in the eighth inning and were working our way down, level by level, stopping along the way to watch the remaining portions of the game from different spots. It was just starting to rain as we reached the gate and headed back to the bus.

 

  All in all, a fun time and some great- father-daughter bonding.