The clouds parted and the sun came out. I took the key out of the ignition and got out of the car with my friend Eric. We surveyed the scene from the parking lot of Bright House Field and it was packed. I had yet to buy my tickets and was hoping for standing room seats to still be available, but the parking lot attendant informed me that they were sold out. That’s what happens when the Yankees are in town to play the best team in the National League.
I went up to Mr. Scalper and asked if he had any standing room tickets left and he nodded. Face value was $12.00. I paid $40.00 along with the $8.00 parking fee. I tried to put that behind me and made my way into the park. Eric and I met up with some friends along the left field fence and walked around a bit before the game. The crowd was in a great mood and everyone was decked out in red Phillies gear, or green Phillies gear for St. Patrick’s Day.
We stood in attention for the National Anthem and just continued to walk around the stadium as Joe Blanton started the game off. Everywhere that you stood gave a really nice view of the game. It was a great opportunity to see some of the best players in baseball in a more intimate setting.
After Jayson Werth hit his two-run homerun to put the Phillies up for good, both teams cleared out the starting lineup to play some lesser known guys looking to make an impression. All the while, you could see Charlie Manuel sitting on a foldout chair next to the stairs leading to the dugout. He barely moved the entire game and just sat there, chewing on his gum, while sitting in the bright sun with his jacket on, never to come off.
When the game got into the 7th inning, Eric and I were laughing it up behind home plate. A man and woman were coming up from their seats down on the 8th row. Randomly, they asked us if we wanted their tickets and we took them quickly. As I turned to thank the guy, I noticed that he was wearing a green hat, but something was wrong. It was a Yankees hat! I took the tickets and we went and sat down. I still couldn’t believe that a New York fan did something nice for us, but he did make the remark that giving us his tickets was our consolation prize for the world series.
We watched the rest of the game from the 8th row, soaking in the sun, eating peanuts, and enjoying a frosty beverage.
The Phillies did a really nice thing after the game and that was keeping Frenchy’s open for an extra hour out in left field and they had a band playing. A lot of the crowd made their way there and I even met up with a fellow tweep that came down to watch our team spank the Yanks.
It was a great day. And, it was much better than work.
