or I Got Handed Yankee Tickets with 24 Hours' Notice and All I Got Was This Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Home Run.
The thing about being a Yankee fan and yet living 2 hours from New York is that when you only have the occasional opportunity to go to a game, the outcome doesn't really matter. You're honestly just grateful to be there. It's Yankee Stadium, toughest ticket in the area, decent seats courtesy of a colleague that has been thanked and given reciprocal enjoyment. It's just nice to get the opportunity, y'know?
And the opportunity that night was...nice. I'm not gonna mince words, it was very cool. Apparently season ticket holders, for their troubles, get an extra game up in a suite every so often, and this colleague went 'shit, I can't make that night, how about Jordan and his dad', and so we went and there we were in a smaller space, no chance of getting beer spilt at our feet, easy access to popcorn and chicken fingers and the like, whatever sodas we wanted and a choice between three beers that the Yankees were willing to give out willy-nilly. It was one of those 'we may never be this way again' sort of things. And so with all of that, and a very nice view from right field, the game could have gone any which way.
Ultimately, though, this was the third Yankees-Blue Jays game I'd caught in the last 365 days, and the second one in regular season play. Like the last one, it was a loss for the home team, and very much like the last one, the Yankee bats refused to show up. It was like getting a throne's view of the most obvious lion chow in the coliseum. Oswaldo Cabrera hit a home run. Not any of the people that usually hit home runs, not Judge or Rizzo or Gleyber or any of them, but Oswaldo Cabrera had one. So that was nice I guess.
But really, the game was about the Jays' just outplaying us on so many levels. They outhit us obviously, as Vlad Jr. and, surprisingly, Brandon Belt made quick work of the pitching. They outpitched us, as Yusei Kikuchi was surprisingly sharp on the mound against a power-friendly Yankee team. And they outplayed us in the field, which...if you pay Kevin Kiermaier, you had better be. Kiermaier is still as dangerous in center field as he always was, and he robbed us of a few near-triumphs, as he's prone to.
It was really as simple as that. The Jays showed up, the Yanks didn't. Ya figure if we'd come all that way they would have maybe done something cool during the game but, hey, beggars can't be choosers. It was still an excellent night at the ballpark, and now that we're 5 days from it I can 100% confirm it didn't get me sick.
It's looking like I'll be back at the Stadium in a couple months. It will, refreshingly, not be against the Blue Jays. Moreover, it'll be an NL team that's a little bit more of an exciting matchup, with no offense meant towards Vlad Jr.
Coming Tonight: Look who finally decided to start hitting in Philly?
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