At the Ballpark in the Bronx

We are back in New York. It has been a minute since our last trip and we have really missed it.

We woke up on Thursday and headed to the airport. We were running a little later than usual, but we weren't too worried because we signed up for global entry a couple of months ago. This gives us TSA pre-check when we travel. Pre-check is the way to go. It makes getting through security such a breeze. The line is super short and you don't have to take off your shoes or take your laptop out of your bag. Right as we were boarding our plane we both got a notification that our plane was delayed. We were super annoyed. Apparently because of significant construction in NYC they occasionally have to close one of the runways. Our captain informed us it could be up to a 2-hour delay. Fortunately, it was only about 45 minutes. When we got to NYC they still weren't quite ready for us to land so we actually circled Manhattan. It was really cool to see Central Park and some of the other famous NYC landmarks from the plane. Since we arrived a little later than planned we had to hurry. 

We got off the plane and took the subway to Grand Central. The hotel we are staying at is a couple of blocks from Grand Central terminal. We stayed at the Seton hotel. It was a small boutique hotel. As we checked in they asked if we were okay with a shared bathroom. We definitely were not and fortunately for us, a room with a private bathroom was available. The room itself was pretty nice. We loved the location. It could not have been better. Overall the hotel was a win. As soon as we dropped our stuff we headed back to Grand Central. We jumped on the 4 train and headed for the Bronx. 

We were running way late because of our delayed flight and we were pretty sure we would not make it for the start of the game, particularly with the current state of security at Yankees stadium. Ever since MLB instituted metal detectors at baseball games getting into Yankee Stadium has become an ordeal. The lines get outrageously long, particularly right before game time. We arrived at the stadium and bought water (you can take an unopened water bottle with you into the stadium). As expected the lines were crazy. We decided to try something new and we went to gate 8. This is the gate to the outfield and bleacher sections. The gate was surprisingly fast and we were walking into the stadium right as the game started. 

We walked around the stadium. We love the stadium. We heard there were new amenities and food options. We also saw Mickey - Alison always loves seeing Mickey. It combines her two favorite things - Disney and baseball. There were some new food options. We settled on a chicken slider bucket. We have often gotten the chicken finger meal deal and it isn't great, but it is filling, and in reality, most of the food at the stadium isn't that great and is overpriced. We have yet to find a meal there we truly love. The sliders and fries were an improvement over the chicken fingers. I thought they were pretty tasty, but Alison thought they were mediocre. After we grabbed our food we found our seats. We decided to sit in section 203 since it is our favorite. We love the energy and passion of the bleacher creatures, although they have been tamed over the years and a lot of key members of the creatures don't come to games as much anymore. I knew we bought seats in the last row of 203. What I didn't realize was that we were on the handicap accessible row right above 203. They were great seats. We showed up and they set up a couple of padded folding chairs for us and we enjoyed the game. It was a fairly chilly night at the stadium. 

In the middle of the game, we got up and bought Alison a hot chocolate to help her stay warm. 

The game was a ton of fun. The Yankees were playing the Astros. Pineda was pitching for the Yankees. He did pretty well. He gave up a two-run home run in the first and later in he let a lead-off double come around to score. He pitched in and out of trouble, but he kept the Yankees in the game. Dallas Keuchel was pitching for the Astros and he pitched brilliantly for most of the game. He is a lefty pitcher and is the Astros ace. I commented early on that the Yankee's best chance of winning this game was to get him out early. I remember looking up in the 4th and seeing that he had only thrown 40 pitches. I was pretty sure we were in trouble. In the sixth, the Yankees put something together. They loaded the bases and had a ton of good at-bats. They never could strike the big blow. They did score a run when Ellsbury managed to get a catcher's interference call (those look really strange in person, we thought he struck out, and then a run scored). The Yankees bullpen did not give up any additional runs and in the bottom of the ninth Yankees had second and third with two out. Gary Sanchez was at the plate. We were all on our feet cheering GARY! GARY!. Then he hit a single to shallow left. One run scored, they sent Ellsbury and he was thrown out at the home plate. It was such a deflating way to end the game, and it clearly was a bad send. 

Here is the thing even though the team lost this was a fun game. This team is awesome. It never felt like they were ever out of it. They have #fightingspirit. It was a lot of fun to see the new stars on this team. Aaron Judge is huge. He has all the makings of a star. It was super funny because a bunch of people at the stadium were dressed like judges and brought gavels. Before his first at-bat, the scoreboard read, "all rise" and a good portion of the stadium got to their feet. It was also fun to chant for Gary Sanchez. This team has an exciting core. It was fun to experience that excitement in person. 

We made our way out of the Stadium and then we just hung out. We walked up and down the shops and bought Skylee a little stuffed Yankees dog. We saw the cool new garage art on the avenue and wanders over by the baseballs fields that are at the spot where the old stadium used to stand. We love this area of the Bronx. Alison called her dad and broke down the game. Her uncle, Kim, had also called Blake to talk about the game. Kim confirmed that the TV also showed that sending Ellsbury was probably a bad call. Although I think that it made the Astros execute a great play and that if any part of that play would have been offline we would have had a tie game. Also, I would rather see the tying run thrown out at the plate than for the game to end with the tying run standing at third base while whoever was at the plate struck out. I like that this team plays aggressively. Unfortunately, the Astros executed their game plan. 

We decided it was time to call it a night. We took the subway back to Grand Central and headed back to our hotel.