I'm going to make an exception today by posting on an entirely non-musical subject: namely, my last game at Yankee Stadium. It's been a great run, but the listless, lifeless kind of play I saw today has me concerned for all of baseball, since the Yankees were the last magical thing about it. Derek Jeter had three hits, a couple of nifty defensive grabs and generally played as if it was the World Series. I could care less what people say about him; he's a class act and he loves this game. Many others on the team will go home like any other employee at a job, thankful for their salary but glad the day's over with. Sportswriters will recalculate their sabermetrics on Moose's effectiveness, bookies will cash out in favor of the Yanks not making the playoffs, Joe Schmoe will capitalize on his free agent status at season's end and where will I be, the loyal fan, who feels nothing but emptiness? In fact, I'm not going say anything else other than that pictures really do tell a thousand words. Despite erasing the scoreboard, this picture was taken of me after the game. Cheers to great memories. Cheers to my days as a Bleacher Creature. Cheers to those four World Series, and cheers to the joy that is true baseball -- a child's game, not a man's science.
13 comments:
Jesus fuck! 7 to 1 loss to the fucking RAYS? I know the team's finally gotten it together, but it's from fucking florida! It should be written into the US constitution that they HAVE to lose, under penalty of nuclear holocaust for the most disgusting terrestrial appendage in america. I'm pissed.
Know what's even sadder? Every year since their inception the Rays have had among the lowest attendance records in baseball -- to include this season! They're in first place and looking like a formidable contender for the crown and they can't even get anyone to support them. Ok, mired in last place all those others years contributed, I'm sure, but they really deserve better for having a winning team.
They don't deserve shit. They deserve to be burned alive.
Well, if anything's deserved, it should go to Jeter. After the loss yesterday, despite everything, he still believes they can make the postseason. "We can't afford to lose any more games." Does this sound like a guy who intends on packing it in? In the second game of the double-header, he notched another three hits; and today, another three hits. Nine hits in three games in two days. I read this as well and found myself obviously in large company: http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/ny-spdavidoff5842781sep14,0,974030.column
eh, good for jeter. I hope they pull it off.
Wait a sec. I thought you wrote this in a fit of bitterness; a loud and public statement that you would never go see the Yankees again. I didn't get that they were closing the stadium. I mean, I've heard talk about it for years, but I didn't know they were really doing it.
Fuckers. It's an ugly-ass stadium, but it's got history. I hope the Yankees lose every fucking season for the next 100 years.
Never see the Yankees again? Laughable. Just at the current stadium. As for my fit of bitterness, I'm still sorely disappointed not only in this season, but on the whole of baseball. It's become too much of a business and less of a joyous pastime. As for the stadium being ugly, who finds most edifices beautiful? A place designed to seat and feed and entertain 55,000 people -- and them being 55,00 highly demanding and raucous people -- isn't bound to be pleasant looking.
Camden Yards proved that a stadium can be both aesthetically beautiful and functionally useful. But your point is well-taken, and Camden Yards is certainly the exception.
The closing of Yankee Stadium is proof that the mind of the business has destroyed the heart of the game. The same thing is true in music, of course, but at least we have lots of obscure bands and indie labels whose actions still epitomize the soul of rock music.
Are there such things as indie baseball teams? Is it little league? The minor leagues? Guys playing ball on a school field after work? Where does the heart of this game still live?
I think the heart of baseball is in the fans. Sure, I'm highly disappointed in this year, but there's nothing like chanting "box seats suck," singing like a virgin to Jose Canseco in the outfield or just watching a home run that makes me get all stupid inside. The problem with the game I went to was the absolutely lifeless play and the lack of enthusiasm by anyone (myself included); add that to the fact that less seats are available to fans in the new Yankee stadium (read: more luxury boxes), and there's a sad sort of feeling to it all. Premium fans are the new thing, I guess. Why let the average joe and his family enjoy a game when you can charge thousands just for the right to have NFL season tickets, or sitting behind tinted glass panaromas while sipping your wine and watching athletes do their thing. I mean when I was in college -- dirt poor and flying by the knuckles in my face -- I still managed to haunt Section 39 much oftener than I ever could now. There's a reason the Mets -- a lousy fucking team with losers for fans -- will also have a new stadium next year called "Citi" field. Hmmm, wonder where they got that name? I realize I'm rambling, and maybe my argument will become an afterthought if baseball becomes what I fear the most, but the heart of it really is in our memories -- because baseball brings out so much of childhood, and it almost feels like being a kid again when you're there. It's hard to be carefree, though, when paying for parking, hot dogs, ice cream, soda, beer, etc. could cost you upwards of a bill. And that's not including the ticket. Just for you. Forget the kids. It just feels like I didn't just lose the game. It feels like I lost again something bigger. Maybe not just me, but many people. Bank of America - 57; the Mad Hatter - 0. Fucking billboards.
I hear you.
I used to love going to the Brendan Byrne arena. Not that I actually liked the arena, because it was faceless and dull and a horrible place to see concerts -- plus, the whole time I lived there and supported the Nets, they were a buncha fucking losers. But I liked going to the Brendan Byrne arena. I didn't know who Brendan Byrne was, but I figured he musta been pretty damned special to get a venue named after him... a venue shared by both Paula Abdul and one of the worst teams through the '90s.
Then it became the Continental Airlines arena, and who the fuck cares about going there?
I bet you can't buy $5 tickets to see the Nets anymore, either.
I think it's call Izod arena now. Just think, the shitty Nets get transplanted to Brooklyn and they'll be my problem, then.
Speaking of shitty, I just found out Citibank is leasing the name "Citi Field" -- the new Mets stadium -- for a term of 20 years. Ergo, all I need to do is get rich and lease it under the much preferred McFucky's Chicken House. The Mets might win, then.
That last comment just might be the most brilliant thing you've ever written.
Well I certainly hope so. Because if that's the case I've accomplished all I ever wanted to in life, and can therefore quit. I actually wrote something several years ago that I showed to Master Cianan with the addendum that I could not possibly write anything better and was pondering snuffing out my literary career. Thank heavens for that rabid little monsieur in my head who hates everything because I now dismiss it as trite flubberghast and keep writing to edge towards a perfection I never really want anyway.
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