Question from baseball virgin

[Barry Izbak]

My only experience of baseball was going to see the Oakland A's once.

I love baseball, and there's nothing like a live game.
BUT Oakland was the biggest shit hole I've ever been to, with the worst fans this side of Smelhurst. Avoid.

 

[Gwylan]

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/

Some great tips there. As I said, I'm a veggie so I'll skip the full English but my hotel is not far from Times Square so Jimmy's Corner is worth checking

 

[patchamalbion]

that first video is hilarious...and the girl in the 3rd is pretty hot

went to the Baseball in Florida last year and it was a let down really! only 25% full,beer expensive and average,pretty boring game and got lost in the ghetto after....

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

One other place worth visiting if you were thinking of going to Williamsburg in Brooklyn is DBA. There is a British guy called Alex Hall who is the co-organiser of Glastonwick with Atilla. Alex is now based in New York and has set up a micro-brewery called Wandering Star and, at the minute, the only bar that has their beers is DBA. It’s got a load of Belgian beers as well and is open until 4am!

http://www.beermenus.com/d-b-a-brooklyn

 

[RexCathedra]

List of concessions inside Yankee Stadium, for those who insist on throwing in their lot with the Dark Side of the Force.

You'll enjoy the human sacrifice during the 7th inning stretch, and just before weekend games, the fly-by performed by Nazgul

Go Sox!

 

[Gwylan]

Go Sox!

Indeed.

That's the other question, if I loudly cheer the Sox on, am I likely to have my head kicked in?

 

[Eggman]

The food available at the Phillies CBP is incredible. Tony Luke's roast pork sandwiches.

They also have a Brewarytown there serving local brews.

Going in August. And I am going in HUNGRY.

 

[Barry Izbak]

I'm in NYC next week and have seen that the Yankees are home to the Red Sox ...........

So? How was your trip? Did you get tickets? Where did you sit? How was the food/drink?
How did the NSC Do's and Don'ts tips work out?

 

[Gwylan]

So? How was your trip? Did you get tickets? Where did you sit? How was the food/drink?
How did the NSC Do's and Don'ts tips work out?

As I posted in the other baseball thread, it was great to see the Yankees get a good pasting - the Sox hit 3 runs in the first inning (including a homer off the second ball) and the Yankees were playing catch up all game. I tried some American beer and it was even worse than I remembered it - drank Heineken after that; nowhere near my favourite but it tasted like nectar after the Coors.

Amazingly, I found some veggie food. I had a plate of nachos big enough to feed a Mexican family. We moved around a bit and watched the game from different vantage points, which made it more interesting.

Absolutely loved the whole experience. Can't wait to go again - although I really want to go to Fenway Park.

 

[fataddick]

I went a couple of years ago. Had vowed never to set foot in the Home of the Scum, but it was the last season of the old Yankee Stadium, thought I'd better see the shithole before they knocked it down. Red Sox won 7-0 and the only people left in the stadium by the middle of the fifth was us Sox fans. Great day.

I was in a cheap seat, and it was a pretty crap view, but then I'm used to compact Fenway where almost all the seats are pretty close to the diamond. They built a new stadium next door to the old one, but apparently it's exactly the same shape/dimensions, just with less seats (bizarrely. The Mets moved to a new stadium with a lower capacity at the same time too, a sign of how few fans the NYC teams have perhaps?).

I'd say go for seats below the suite level (ie front half) if you can afford them, and don't forget to chant "Yankees suck" at every opportunity.

 

[Barry Izbak]

As I posted in the other baseball thread, it was great to see the Yankees get a good pasting - the Sox hit 3 runs in the first inning (including a homer off the second ball) and the Yankees were playing catch up all game. I tried some American beer and it was even worse than I remembered it - drank Heineken after that; nowhere near my favourite but it tasted like nectar after the Coors.

Amazingly, I found some veggie food. I had a plate of nachos big enough to feed a Mexican family. We moved around a bit and watched the game from different vantage points, which made it more interesting.

Absolutely loved the whole experience. Can't wait to go again - although I really want to go to Fenway Park.

Sounds great (except the Coors Light) and I'm pleased you enjoyed the ballgame.
The whole thing is so much more of an event than anything we see in the UK
I'd be dead envious - if I wasn't going to be a AT&T Park on 4th July to see the Padres get thumped by the Giants. I cannot fecking wait.

 

[Gwylan]

The other thing that was brilliant about the whole experience was how efficient the whole operation was. I got off the subway and there, right in front of me, was an information booth so I could find out where to pick up the tickets. And when I got to the ticket booth, it took about two or three minutes of queueing and I had my tickets. That line would have taken about 20 minutes to move in England.

And today, I received an email from the Evil Empire giving info about the game and asking me if I had any comments. Never received that from any sports organisation over here.Streets ahead they are.

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

I agree. You can argue about whether or not Baseball and American Football are good sports but what you cannot argue about is how slick the whole operation is. I’m a season ticket holder at Red Bulls. At the first game of the season the food and drink concessions were a shambles. The next day all season ticket holders were sent an e mail by the RB chairman taking full responsibility for the cock up and enclosing a $10 voucher as compensation. That just would not happen in the UK.

 

[Dave the OAP]

Phillies mullering the league so far>

44....

atlanta 39

mets 34


looking goood so far

 

[Gwylan]

OK, another question for the baseball fans to explain. Why are the Red Sox playing the Brewers and the Yankees playing the Chicago Cubs when they're in different leagues?

 

[AZ Gull]

OK, another question for the baseball fans to explain. Why are the Red Sox playing the Brewers and the Yankees playing the Chicago Cubs when they're in different leagues?

Slightly more than 10 years ago, they introduced inter-league play. Each team now plays a few series each year against teams from the other league. These opponents are rotated from one year to the next. There is still an ongoing debate about whether it is a good thing or not. In the National League the pitcher has to bat in the rotation. In the American League the batter doesn't bat, instead the team nominates a "designated hitter". When these series are played, the rules of the league of the home team are implemented; the Yankees are currently playing in Chicago against the Cubs, so the pitcher from both teams bats. If the series was being played in Yankee Stadium, both teams would have a designated hitter in the line-up.

 

[Gwylan]

Slightly more than 10 years ago, they introduced inter-league play. Each team now plays a few series each year against teams from the other league. These opponents are rotated from one year to the next. There is still an ongoing debate about whether it is a good thing or not. In the National League the pitcher has to bat in the rotation. In the American League the batter doesn't bat, instead the team nominates a "designated hitter". When these series are played, the rules of the league of the home team are implemented; the Yankees are currently playing in Chicago against the Cubs, so the pitcher from both teams bats. If the series was being played in Yankee Stadium, both teams would have a designated hitter in the line-up.

Thanks. Really clear and concise answer.

So, if these are friendlies, do they count on players' records. If someone hits a homer, is that added? Do they count towards averages?

 

[johnhammond]

Thanks. Really clear and concise answer.

So, if these are friendlies, do they count on players' records. If someone hits a homer, is that added? Do they count towards averages?

They're still regular season games (part of the 162), not friendlies. So all of the stats & results that are accrued during the interleague games get added in with everything else (although I'm sure someone somewhere has got them all separated out).

 

[Man of Harveys]

I still can't quite work out how they decide who gets to play against whom in this interleague play: apparently there is some method to it. It does seem a bit of a novelty for its own sake really; here they were going on and on about how the Red Sox hadn't played the Chicago Cubs since 1918 etc and they played one game of the series in slightly ridiculous-looking 1918-style strips.

 

[Gwylan]

They're still regular season games (part of the 162), not friendlies. So all of the stats & results that are accrued during the interleague games get added in with everything else (although I'm sure someone somewhere has got them all separated out).

Thanks for that. It's a bit of a bizarre system though. Imagine if we had a break in the middle of the season had to play a Scottish Div 1 club. And it would be a bit of a lottery - imagine a team six points ahead of its league and having to pay Rangers while its closest rival had to play Stirling Albion. .