The View From 103

Going to the Yankee game tonight. Its threatening rain, but I think they'll get the game in.

The opponent is the lowly Kansas City Royals, who have lost thirteen games in a row.

The Yankees have, at $194 million, by far the highest payroll in baseball. The Royals, at $47.2 million payroll, have less than 25% of the player resources that the Yankees do. Which means that no matter how good a job the Royals do at managing their resources, they cannot possibly compete against teams like the Yankees.

In the 1970s and 1980s, there were great Kansas City Royal teams, lead by the great third baseman George Brett. They won the World Series in 1985. It will never happen again.

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1205am ( Saturday )

The rain that was predicted arrived late. It snuck up on us in the fifth or sixth inning, chasing the fans in unprotected seats for cover. Steve, Katie and I were in the loge section off third base. They're protected by the deck above, so we were fine.

The rain intensified. They used to suspend play in heavy rain, but they play through it now. It's the only way the owner/player money machine can be sated. If the fans don't like seeing the game played as a travesty, where batters squint to see the ball through the rain and the fielders slip in the grass, that's too bad. Don Fehr and Bud Selig do not feel the fan's pain.

After sizeable puddles had formed in the dirt part of the infield, they did suspend play in the middle of the ninth. That's when we and many others left. This was clearly going to be a long delay, so we headed to the D train and the long ride back to Brooklyn.

Play had just resumed when I arrived home, over 90 minutes after we left. In a stadium now very wet and nearly empty of fans, the Royals got a double-play to end the game. The KC Royals had won a game after 13 straight losses, in the mighty Yankee Stadium. Good for them.
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This game saw Derek Jeter get his 2000th base hit. It was a squib fielded by the pitcher, who threw it over the head of first baseman Mientkiewicz.

This is Fleet Week in New York, an annual event wherein US and other naval vessels visit New York for a week. For the sailors, its a big party. There were many of them at the Stadium in their dress whites. They received a very warm reception. Their money is worthless in any NYC bar this week.

Posted by The Phantom on Friday, May 26, 2006 at 4:46 PM | Permalink