Take Me Out to the Ball Game on Opening Day

"Take me out to the ball game.


Take me out with the crowd.


Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,

I don't care if I never get back.


Let me root, root, root for the home team,

If they don't win, it's a shame.


For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,


At the old ball game."

It’s Opening Day and I am glad that the new season got off to a good start as the New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers 6-3 (thanks to the mighty swinging bats of Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson). And to commemorate that occasion, I’m embedding this video of Yankee great Bernie Williams playing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”.

I have seen hundreds of live baseball matches but I have never been to the Opening Day game. Sounds weird, huh? Yep, chalk that up to collusion between work and something that gets in the way.

Like that rite of spring, Major League Baseball’s back and just watching the highlights from afar, I get that tingle down my spine. It’s that familiar adrenaline rush of a game I love.

Whether I was living in New York or in New Jersey, I’d make that regular pilgrimage to Yankee Stadium to watch games. The long night games were especially tough when I had to cross the Hudson back to the Garden State because it would take a while for the 99S bus to arrive (fewer trips at night) and if the lines were long I ended up waiting for as long as two hours before I got a ride that was usually standing room. By the time I got off Clinton Avenue, it would be like 1am. And it’s a short two-minute walk from the curb but I’d wait a bit before I walk. A neighbor of mine got jumped by some guys before. My two next door neighbors were cops and sometimes, if I felt uneasy, I’d wait by the gas station about another block away where I’d hitch a ride with my cop friends back. But that didn’t happen much. They were baseball and Yankee fans so they understood the devotion.

Sometimes, I’d take the PATH train to the City and there was this Filipino family that lived in the Grove Street area who always went to the games who’d ride from that station. We eventually got to talking and I found it amazing that their entire family of six would watch every chance they got and they’d be dressed up in full Yankee regalia.

It was rare that I sat in the lower boxes -- the bleacher seats were far out from the action -- as I could only afford the upper tier ones (that’s because I saved my money for other things like going to Nassau and my hobbies that did cost me quite a sum). But it didn’t matter. I loved it anyways. Take a look at the photo to the right to get an idea of where I sat.

I almost always went with my friends but there were occasions when I’d be alone. But the great thing about baseball is it’s a family sport so I made many friends high up in the stands. And almost always, like tradition, people purchased tickets in certain sections where they wanted to be during games.

As for me? I too, went in Yankees garb. My routine was to get to the ballpark at least an hour before the game. I’d get the new program, buy a hotdog and a drink then settle in my spot high up there. And there’s the seventh inning stretch where we’d sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”. Gotta love that. It’s hard to believe that it started out as a Tin Pan Alley song written by two guys who never even went to a ballgame. You got me there.

On the occasions that I stayed home to watch the games on television, I’d have a friend or two at home and we’d have some snacks and beer around. And we’d still dress up in Yankees attire! What a bunch of nuts!

But that’s okay coz the new season’s here. Hope that it’s going to be one long summer. Now here's hoping that I'll be able to attend Opening Day in my lifetime.


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Mariano Rivera with his high socks! But it's the same calm, poise, and result. Thanks to Andrew Mills of the Star-Ledger for the photos.

And the post-match handshake -- Mo Rivera shakes with the Yankees new starting catcher in Russell Martin (after Francisco Cervelli broke his foot and is out indefinitely). Before him the really regular backstops were Joe Girardi and Jorge Posada.