Late As Usual

By the time Mariano Rivera struck out Jason Michaels to complete the 4-3 Yankee victory over the Houston Astros on Friday night, the Yankee Stadium crowd was rocking.   As always, the fans got loud when "Enter Sandman" started to blare over the PA system and Rivera trotted in from the bullpen (the fact that it was Mariano Rivera Collectible Figurine night only added to the atmosphere).   As he's done dozens of times before, Mo closed out the game with the strikeout as approximately 50,000 fans roared.

None of that surprised me; I've been to Yankee Stadium (both new and old) many times before, and I've seen the same script unfold again and again (though this was my first 2010 visit).  The other thing that never seems to change at Yankee Stadium?  How few fans are in their seats during the first inning.  For a team that draws a good crowd every night (and for a game that, according to Ticketmaster, was sold out of upper deck seating more than a week in advance, forcing me to buy my tickets from StubHub), the Stadium is always virtually empty when the lineups are announced, when the first pitch is thrown, and even sometimes when Derek Jeter comes up for his second at bat in the third inning.  The couple sitting next to us took their seats for the first time as Andy Pettitte threw his warmup pitches in the top of the fifth, with the score already 3-2.

Yankee Stadium was relatively empty when the Starting Lineups were announced.

Unlike some crowds that are loud from the start of the game in an effort to energize the home team (as I continue to watch the World Cup on TV, any soccer crowd comes to mind), regular season Yankee fans have almost no presence early in the contest.  Instead, the crowd trickles in throughout the first hour of the game, waiting for the Yankees to rack up the runs and convince them to expend some energy and cheer.  I know the Stadium is different in the playoffs, but it would be great to see a lively crowd at a meaningless Interleague game versus Houston in June.  At the prices the Yankees are charging, I don't think that's too much to ask.

This will be my last non-soccer post until I get back from my trip in July.  Stay tuned for another pre-departure post about Saturday's USA versus England contest, and be sure to check back regularly over the last two weeks in June for updates from World Cup 2010 in South Africa!