Question from baseball virgin

[Gwylan]

I'm in NYC next week and have seen that the Yankees are home to the Red Sox and there are tickets available in most parts of the ground.

Anyone know if the view from the cheap seats is really awful or do I have to splash out a bit? And is best to be side-on or behind/in front of the batter?

What's the score going there? Any dos and don'ts. Obviously I won't turn up saying that they should put a silly mid-on in but is there anything I should do while I'm there?

 

[Notters]

I went to see the Mets when in New York and the whole thing was very relaxed. We found that you could move around the stadium a bit to get different views throughout. By the end of it, though, we were so stuffed with beer and hotdogs that it didn't really matter what was going on on the field.

They take the whole national anthem thing at the start very seriously and it was a bit difficult to know what to do at that point!

Oh, they had a fine selection of beers too - bud, bud light and bud superior (which tasted like bud).

 

[Tricky Dicky]

I have been to Yankee stadium once, although quite a while ago (95 ?) - and really enjoyed it. It was quite crowded for most of it, but later on it cleared and you could sit anywhere. It was strange, virually bang-on 10 o'clock loads of people left, well before the game ended, and I was told that because it was on every night during the season, people rarely stayed for the entire game.

The stadium is in the Bronx though, so don't hang around afterwards for long, not a nice area (although I have something in the back of my mind telling me the yankees moved, so maybe they're not in the same place any more).

 

[Gwylan]

I went to see the Mets when in New York and the whole thing was very relaxed. We found that you could move around the stadium a bit to get different views throughout. By the end of it, though, we were so stuffed with beer and hotdogs that it didn't really matter what was going on on the field.

They take the whole national anthem thing at the start very seriously and it was a bit difficult to know what to do at that point!

Oh, they had a fine selection of beers too - bud, bud light and bud superior (which tasted like bud).

I've resigned myself to not drinking or eating there. I'm going to make sure I eat before I turn up and I'd rather slurp my own piss than drink Bud - in fact, the piss would probably be better. In fact, my other challenge in NY is to find a bar that serves decent beer.

But that's good to hear about moving around. I did fancy trying out different views.

 

[Barry Izbak]

I must say I'm surprised to hear that there are tickets available for this match up. This is Liverpool v Everton or Man United v Man City.
If you really want to follow every nuance of the game, the nearer you are to the infield, and behind the catcher, the easier it will be. If you are not so bothered about that, you will see the game and more importantly get the atmosphere anywhere in the stadium.

Don't: Wear a Yankees cap, because you'll look like a plastic fan at Stamford Bridge or Old Trafford
Do: See if you can catch a boat called The Yankee Clipper from South Street Seaport up the East River to the stadium. This was the highlight of my visit to Yankee Stadium.

 

[johnhammond]

Don't give up on the beer, drinking is key to the game (or at least it is whilst watching Seattle). I have a friend who was at Yankee Stadium recently and they said the beer selection was similar there to here (a mix of Bud/Coors/crap and microbrews).

 

[GOM]

I've resigned myself to not drinking or eating there. I'm going to make sure I eat before I turn up and I'd rather slurp my own piss than drink Bud - in fact, the piss would probably be better. In fact, my other challenge in NY is to find a bar that serves decent beer.

I suppose you will be looking for somewhere to get a good old full English breakfast too, and fish and chips for tea.

 

[Lethargic]

I've resigned myself to not drinking or eating there. I'm going to make sure I eat before I turn up and I'd rather slurp my own piss than drink Bud - in fact, the piss would probably be better. In fact, my other challenge in NY is to find a bar that serves decent beer.

But that's good to hear about moving around. I did fancy trying out different views.

Not drinking or eating - that is the highlight I have never seen so much food being eaten at an event as I did at baseball. I am surprised there are tickets available I went to Boston a couple of years ago and the tickets were like gold dust. It shouldnt be too bad where ever you sit as its nothing like our sports events more like going to the theatre. Worth the experience but I could not do it regularly.

 

[The Merry Prankster]

Go Sox!

 

[Gwylan]

I must say I'm surprised to hear that there are tickets available for this match up. This is Liverpool v Everton or Man United v Man City.
If you really want to follow every nuance of the game, the nearer you are to the infield, and behind the catcher, the easier it will be. If you are not so bothered about that, you will see the game and more importantly get the atmosphere anywhere in the stadium.

Don't: Wear a Yankees cap, because you'll look like a plastic fan at Stamford Bridge or Old Trafford
Do: See if you can catch a boat called The Yankee Clipper from South Street Seaport up the East River to the stadium. This was the highlight of my visit to Yankee Stadium.

I won't be wearing a Yankees cap because I shall be cheering on the Sox. I have friends in Boston who are Sox fans and adopted them as my team.

I think getting tickets in Boston is a lot harder. I tried to get tickets for a Sox game when I was last there and they'd sold out weeks before. The Yankees stadium is bigger I suppose.

I suppose you will be looking for somewhere to get a good old full English breakfast too, and fish and chips for tea.

Nah, I'm a vegetarian and am used to eating before I got to any sports event as I know there will be sod-all to eat there. If there's a microbrew at the stadium then my cup of joy would overflow.

 

[Stat Brother]

It's dangerous out there Gwlyan





But don't do this.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

I've resigned myself to not drinking or eating there. I'm going to make sure I eat before I turn up and I'd rather slurp my own piss than drink Bud - in fact, the piss would probably be better. In fact, my other challenge in NY is to find a bar that serves decent beer.

But that's good to hear about moving around. I did fancy trying out different views.

First of all, DON'T eat before you go - in fact, leave a lot of room. Eating at a ballgame is one of the great pleasures of baseball. The new Yankee Stadium (just across the road from the old one) is a much more convenient and comfortable place, and there isn't a bad view - American sports fans don't tolerate such things. As has been said, the closer you can get to home plate the better, but even the cheap seats are good.

As for the game, Red Sox v Yanks is not so much Manchester United v Man City as Manchester United v Liverpool, and these games are often slugfests. They also bring the best and worst out of the New York fans.

And if you buy any Yankees gear, just remember that wearing it in the UK is the exact equivalent of wearing Manchester United-branded stuff in the USA. And you know how shite that would look. The Yankees are definitely the United of US sports - loved by the glory-hunters and despised by virtually everyone else.

 

[NMH]

You only need to learn one thing so as not to feel left out. Not the national anthem, don't matter where you sit - it's THIS!;

[yt]wXft83sjTSU[/yt]

 

[Wozza]

The stadium is in the Bronx though, so don't hang around afterwards for long, not a nice area (although I have something in the back of my mind telling me the yankees moved, so maybe they're not in the same place any more).

They're a few 100 yards away.

 

[Wozza]

I've resigned myself to not drinking or eating there. I'm going to make sure I eat before I turn up and I'd rather slurp my own piss than drink Bud - in fact, the piss would probably be better. In fact, my other challenge in NY is to find a bar that serves decent beer.

But that's good to hear about moving around. I did fancy trying out different views.

Something tells me you're not a good match for the baseball experience. Consuming food/drink is a MASSIVE part of it.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

They're a few 100 yards away.

Ah, ok. It was (is) one of the roughest areas. We had a work stretch-limo ready to pick us up afterwards, but anyway strongly advised to get away quickly.

 

[Gwylan]

Something tells me you're not a good match for the baseball experience. Consuming food/drink is a MASSIVE part of it.

Well, my experience of sports grounds that I've been to tells me there's not a lot of vegetarian food available. It's hard enough to find veggie food in the US anyway, I'm sure that options in the Yankee Stadium will be limited.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

My only experience of baseball was going to see the Oakland A's once. Things that leap to mind about the experience:

- They took a dim view if you didn't stand up for their national anthem
- They wouldn't sell you beer unless you had id despite that fact you looked double the legal age to buy it
- There was something very odd called seven-and-stretch after the seventh innings where you had to follow along to stretch exercises while the in-stadium camera pans round looking for shirkers
- If you enjoyed the game and wanted tickets for the following game, you could call a number on your mobile, tell them your seat number, and somebody would come to your seat and sell you them
- If there was any sort of extended break, like a team changeover, they flashed up a cartoon of a racing circuit and three dots, red and yellow and blue, raced round this circuit and you were supposed to cheer on your favourite colour. Seriously.
- Food came in BIG measures e.g. a Bucket o' Fries was more or less exactly that.

Well worth the experience, and infinitely preferable to American football IMHO. It's not cricket though.

 

[alan partridge]

I've been to baseball a few times. Not really into it but enjoy the atmosphere. Last time I went though I got some free tickets, right behind the home base. Was really impressive to see close up. You don't get a sense of it in the cheap seats, however, that's where the best atmosphere is.

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

I suppose you will be looking for somewhere to get a good old full English breakfast too, and fish and chips for tea.

A plug for my local – Jones Wood Foundry. A Brit pub which does a very good Full English and has a good selection of ales. It’s also on the way to the New Yankee Stadium – take the 6 train and get off at 77th Street, it’s about a 10 minute walk.

The beers at the ground are overpriced piss – wait until you get outside. Decent pubs I’d recommend- these 3 are all right by the Empire State , Rattle N’Hum, Heartland Brewery (right below ES) and make sure you visit Foleys to see the signed and framed Brighton shirt. The Landlord Shaun is a Brighton Fan. Jimmy’s Corner, just off Times Square, is the narrowest and probably the cheapest boozer in that area.

Enjoy the game.

http://rattlenhumbarnyc.com/
http://www.joneswoodfoundry.com/menus/brunch.html
http://foleysny.com/