Classic Rant #534 (June 27, 2011): Take Me Out to the ... Museum

My family and I, and my son's friend, went to Yankee Stadium to see the Yankees take on the Rockies this past Saturday.

The Yankees won the game 8-3. The game was basically over in the first inning, when the Yankees scored two runs. The Rockies' runs were tagged on during the last two innings, and the way C.C. Sabbathia was pitching, they were lucky they got anything that day.

And it was a giveaway day. We received Yankees lunch boxes, probably big enough to put a sandwich in and that's it.

And no, you can't get your $10 beers into that lunch box.

That aside, our seats, in the upper deck, were about the worst I have ever had. They were in section 414, I believe, right on the aisle, which was good for my legs and feet, but not so good for my sight line.

There was a railing right in front of me that was in my sight line for home plate, and you can see it in the photos on the bottom left. I tried my best to not include it in the photos, but I failed miserably.

Also, this was a busy area, as people kept on coming up and down, with food, having to go the bathroom, with kids, etc. I couldn't get a clear view of a lot of what was going on because people were in the way.

That being said, the Yankees won the game, and that was fine with me.

Prior to the game, we finally got to the Yankees Museum, which is right in the new stadium.

Although it isn't very big, it stores a wealth of memories and memorabilia from this storied team.

You can see old uniforms, balls signed by every player ever to suit up for the Yankees, and Thurman Munson's old locker, which has been preserved since he died in a plane crash years ago.

And you are allowed to take photos of anything you want, as long as you don't use a flash.

I tried to get as many photos as I could, and a sample of them are here.

Back to the game ... the last photo is one of my lucky ones, showing Mark Texeira hitting a home run in the eighth inning.

Usually, I try to take my pitcher/batter photos just as the pitcher goes into the end of his windup. I usually wind up with nothing much, but this time, you can actually see Texeira rocketing the ball into the stands.

What a lot of luck from my crappy seat!

Getting home was, as usual, a mini-nightmare. We proceeded correctly, but we tried to get onto the Major Deegan South, I believe, and they blocked the entrance.

Rather than sit in a line of cars that must have stretched into New England, we saw a sign for the Whitestone Bridge--now known as the RFK Bridge--and took that into Queens and then into Long Island and home.

It took us a little more than 90 minutes, and that is better than I expected, especially since we couldn't get onto the highway that we needed.

And that is the final Yankee game we go to this year.

It is very, very expensive, and I would rather watch the games from home.

We'll go next year, but it is getting increasingly difficult to do so.

But it is fun. And I guess that's really all that counts, isn't it (as I count my lack of money in my wallet)?