There are moments in your life you look forward to  years before they come to fruition.  I remember my father taking me to several ball games growing up, and that was always a great time.  Sure, if the Yankees lost, my head would hang low afterward, but going to the ballpark was always a great experience.  I think it was because my father worked so hard to give us a better life that he had limited time to spend with all of his 4 kids and his wife.  When you are at a football game, you can’t talk with who you are with.  Sure, you will enjoy the game itself, but you don’t get to truly bond with the person unless you count those awkward high fives after a touchdown.  Seriously, after we stopped playing sports, did we forget how to give a high five?  But a baseball game? I had some of the best times with my dad at those games.  The conversation on the drive to the game, the talks at our seat.  This is where I learned who my father was.  From the age of 12, I couldn’t wait to do the same thing when I finally had a son.  That opportunity came this past Monday.

I haven’t tried too hard to score Yankees tickets this season.  I couldn’t justify paying  $60.00 for a ticket that would give me an obstructed view.  Each time I tried Ticketmaster, the only tickets that were available were those, and other seats above $250.00.  I figured I would just have to miss the inaugural season at Yankee Stadium.  Then last week, I received a phone call from my father saying that his cousin has a couple tickets for the game on Labor Day that I could have if I wanted.  I needed to decide that night, or he was going to sell them.  Well, being that it was a holiday, finding someone on short notice would be difficult.  Most people had BBQ’s that they would be at or something of that nature.  My wife sure doesn’t care to go to games.  Then I started wondering if my 3 year old son was ready to go to a game.  Figuring that I didn’t have to pay for the tickets, it was worth a shot.  If I have to leave early, I wasn’t losing anything on the deal.

When I got home from work that day, I asked him if he wanted to go to a Yankees game.  He wasn’t completely sure what I was asking him.  I decided it was time to entice him with the one thing kids don’t say no to – ice cream. I offered up ice cream in a mini-helmet and that sealed the deal.  I was taking my son to his first baseball game.

Now I have been converting my kid into a Yankee fan from the moment he came home from the hospital.  He was wrapped up in Yankees security blanket on the drive home.  He had a Yankees pacifier, a Yankees knit cap and Yankees socks right of the bat. Ha! Get it?  Anyway, his indoctrination began 3 years ago.  As soon as his head was big enough I bought him his first Yankee cap.  Then this last spring, I was walking through a Marshalls and came across a Derek Jeter jersey in his size for only 15 bucks. I was all over it.  He has a shelf on his wall that has my old Don Mattingly Starting Lineups, the ball I caught off Derek Jeter’s bat at the 2003 World Series, and a commemorative Yankees coke bottle.   During the last few years I have also taught him the “Let’s Go Yankees” chant and clap cadence.  His training was complete.

We arrived in the Bronx at about 5:30, giving us plenty of time to check out the new digs and grab a bite to eat.  I told my son that we would get a dirty dog outside of the stadium first.  Big mistake calling it that.  For the next 10 mins, I had to convince him that his hot dog wasn’t actually dirty (in a manner of speaking).  Once we got through that ordeal, he hate that dog and now wants another.  Hot dogs inside or just outside the stadium just taste better.  It just goes with baseball.

When we were done, it was time to into the new cathedral and check it out.  Wow!  The place is absolutely outstanding.  Just walking through the gates was impressive.  Yankee history surrounds you when you walk in.  I tried as best as I could to take as much in as I could, but my son was in a hurry to ride up the escalators.  The old stadium was crowded when you walked in, the concourses were tight, and it was dreary.  This was just pretty impressive.  Food everywhere too.  You didn’t have to go far to fill your belly.  I would have liked to check out more stuff, but this wasn’t all about me.

The first thing one notices when they walkout to to their seats is the scoreboard in centerfield.  It isn’t ridonkulous like the one in the Cowboys stadium, but impressive nonetheless.  There are differences in appearances between the old and new, but for the most part it still seemed like Yankee Stadium.  My son however was amazed by the “giant TV.”  Every time a player, coach, or whoever walked onto the field as we waited for the start of game, my son swore it was A-Rod.  “I see A-Rod.”  It was really funny.  We had not even spoken about him all night, but yet he knew A-Rod was a Yankee.  For the next few minutes I spent time pointing out different parts of the field.  We identified the foul poles, the pitcher’s mound, the batter’s box, the dugout, and Snoopy on the outfield billboard.

Following the national anthem, I was all psyched for the first pitch.  Then the tug on the jeans and the saying I was afraid of hearing at that time “I gotta go potty.”  So I missed AJ’s only bad inning that night, so no big deal.  When we returned to our seats, my son got into the game.  He joined along with the chants, the clapping, the booing, he was pretty awesome to watch. I wasn’t even paying attention to the game at this point, as I was more just enjoying watching his reaction to things.   We enjoyed our ice cream during the next couple of  innings.  He wiped his spoon on my face, and I really didn’t mind.  We were having a great time together.  The Yanks were rallying and Mark Teixeira drilled a ball deep to centerfield and BJ Upton watched it sail over his and then the fence.  The crowd went nuts, and it was at that point that all the stimulation got to him. “Daddy, it is too loud.  Let’s go home, it’s quiet.”  It was the nearing the 5th inning at this point and we started to head out.  I wanted to watch one last Jeter at bat before we left, and we held up on the lower concourse and watched his at bat.  He grounded out to short, and we headed home.

We talked about the game on the way home.  He said he had a good time, that it was fun.  He even remembers the home run was by Mark Teixeira.  It was the shortest Yankee game I ever went to with them winning, but it was totally worth it.  I haven’t had that much fun at a game since I was about 14 years old, and little to do with what was happening on the field.

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