Got Melky? My first Yankee Stadium Experience

Yankees.

Red Sox.

The greatest rivalry in sports.

A rivalry that goes back to the days of Babe Ruth.

It had always been a lopsided rivalry, with the Yankees always coming out on top…until 2004.

The Sox got the best of them, in the very worst way.

Now, some would say, it’s a real rivalry.

Every game they play means more than anything else.

Every game they play has a memorable moment.

And I was there to witness one of the greatest regular season games ever played between the two teams.

On June 5^th, 2006, my father and I flew to New York City. We had tickets to see three Yankee games. Not just any Yankee games however. These were Yankee-Red Sox games, being played at historic Yankee Stadium.

On June 6^th, we spent our day in Manhattan getting ready for the games. I bought a Bernie Williams jersey, while my Dad bought a Jorge Posada tee. We ate at ESPN Zone for lunch, and spent the rest of the day counting down till the game. At around 4 o’clock we walked to Grand Central Station and got our subway tickets all the way to the Bronx.

The subway ride was about 25 minutes, but it felt like so much longer. I was so excited to finally be seeing my team play. I could tell my Dad was getting excited too.

Finally the subway stopped at 161^st street. We got off, and to the right was Yankee Stadium. I could see the famous white facades, and the blue seats of right field.

I was so excited.

We got out of the station, but since we were kinda early, they weren’t letting people in yet. We walked around the entire stadium. We walked down the long street in the back that is filled with nothing but shops that sell Yankee merchandise. It was heaven to me. We saw a graffiti mural with all the Yankee legends painted on it. Finally, we saw the very front of the stadium. It was absolutely amazing to me.  

Finally, we got to go into the stadium. I was freaking out. We walked into the stadium and went straight to Monument Park, which is located behind the center field wall. Monument Park has all the retired numbers, and all the plaques of Yankee greats.

We then took our seats, in left field. We were seated right next to the Boston bullpen, where I felt it necessary to remind Boston catcher Jason Varitek, that he does indeed suck. It was one of my finer moments in life. We sat around for about an hour, watching batting practice, and seeing the 80,000 seats fill up. I loved being around so many Yankee fans, being around people who share the same love for the Yankees as I did.

I sat in the seats and looked at the field, and I couldn’t help but think that I was sitting somewhere where so much baseball history has been made. All the World Series, the records that were broken, the plays that have been made there.

At 7:05, the game finally began.  It was mostly a pitcher’s duel for most of the night, but the Red Sox drew first blood when their slugger David Ortiz hit a solo homerun that barely cleared center field, in the top of the 3^rd.

In the bottom of the 5^th, Bernie Williams went up to bat, and hit a solo shot of his own, almost to the exact same place Ortiz did. As Bernie rounded the bases, every person in Yankee Stadium was on their feet. “Ber-nie, Ber-nie, Ber-nie”, everyone shouted, until he finally came out of the dugout and tipped his hat. It was the first curtain call I had ever witnessed, but it wouldn’t be the last.

Not until the bottom of the 7^th did anyone else score. First, Miguel Cairo singled, then Johnny Damon singled, and then Melky Cabrera was walked. The bases were loaded, with 2 outs. Jason Giambi came up to bat, and everyone was on their feet again, praying for a hit, but what we got…was a walk. Giambi walked a run in, and the Yankees went ahead 2-1.

This whole game, everything that had happened all came down to the top of the 8^th. Less than stellar pitcher, Kyle Farnsworth came in for the Yankees. He promptly got Mark Loretta and David Ortiz to fly out and strike out. Then, Manny Ramirez was up to bat.

The pitch was delivered.

The ball was hit.

Long.

Deep.

It was gone, it had to be gone.  Manny started into his homerun trot. A collective groan from everyone in the stadium was heard.

But then, Melky Cabrera, the Yankees 21-year-old rookie left fielder tracked the ball, he jumped at just the right second, but his hand over the wall and brought the ball back in the park.

Everyone in left field has a birds eye view of him catching it, and as people realized what had happened, everyone raised their hands in triumph and cheered like they never have before.

Manny Ramirez, who had been rounding second, stopped, looked back, and his jaw dropped in awe.

As the Yankees ran back to the dugout, the Stadium was cheering for Melky, a once not so loved rookie, now was the hero.

Melky came out and tipped his hat to the crowd, in a rare curtain call for a defensive play.

It was amazing. 

But the game wasn’t over.

It was the 9^th inning, which only means one thing.

Mariano Rivera.

The most feared closer in baseball.

As his signature song “Enter Sandman” blasted from the speakers, he jogged from the bullpen to the mound and warmed up.

It was amazing, everyone in the Stadium knew the words to that song, and everyone was singing.

The Stadium was on its feet the entire inning. Mariano did his job, and set them down  1, 2, 3.

Everyone in stadium cheered with joy as Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” rang over the speakers.

It was a day, a game, a moment, that I will never forget, and I am very happy I got to experience it all with my Dad.

To this day, that game is called one of the greatest regular season games between the teams. Bernie Williams said that Melky’s play was the best in Yankee Stadium he had ever seen. That play is still seen in many great play highlights, and whenever I see it, I can’t help but recall the bliss that that stadium felt at that very moment. It might very well have been, the best day of my life.