Indians – Yankees Game 1

In New York, it’s relatively hard to pick up tickets for Yankee games. In Cleveland, I stopped by the team store at Jacobs Field the week before Tuesday’s game and got two behind home plate, albeit towards the back of the upper deck. Much easier, and the ballpark is only a leisurely 20-minute walk away. Yes, it was past our bedtimes, but not that far past, and the following day was an easy one. It’s a pity the Yankees are in town only for this three game set, Tuesday through Thursday.

Here are the pictures:

yankees-indians game

The Yankees got an early lead with Tino Martinez’s home run, but Leiter didn’t last three innings. The Yankees were able to make a game of it with their big bats, but the Indians had too big a lead to squander at the end. The game turned on the 7th inning, when the Indians were able to keep the Yankee rally from overwhelming them.

Grace had the camera for a while, and there were a large number of Derek Jeter photographs.

On our way to our seats, we stopped by the Johnny Applestix concession in the middle of the field level concourse. One of its founders does aikido at Cleveland Aikikai and had been talking about his new business. Basically, apple slices in a cinnamon-flavored coating, fried, and served with some sweet dip (caramel or key lime). Tasty, and lighter than your standard issue French fry.

There were a large number of Yankee fans all over the place. Most of them were apparently in the upper decks, presumably because the field level seats were taken by local season ticket holders. To our left were a father and son in Yankee travel grays. Behind us were Spanish-speakers chatting about how Leiter was getting bombed. To our right, on the far side of the Indians fan tracking the game in his scorebook, were another cluster. Our seats, in fact, had been taken by Yankee fans confused about the section layout of Jacobs Field. After the game, walking back through Downtown, the various groups of Yankee fans — and they were always in decent sized groups — veered into the various hotels on our route home. Yankee tickets are easier to get out here, so you might as well make a trip out of it, eat out, see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and maybe take a daytrip south to see the Amish.

The mascot is of an unidentified species with bright green fur and Day-Glo yellow spots. This is the PC era mascot, and I suppose that the franchise would have used someone with warpaint and feather headress in more benighted times. He spent various moments shooting t-shirts into the crowd, or Super Soaking an uncouth and ill-dressed incarnation of the visiting team, finishing off this little Passion Play by smashing a Yankee-logo batting helmet. If there is a little voodoo in that smashed helmet, it must be working: the Yankees haven’t been able to hold a lead and have lost two so far, with the last game tonight. But Yankee starting pitching has sucked all season.

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