Yankees v. Cubs 7/8/23: Doubling Down

I don’t know why I’ve gotten into the habit of going to Yankee games and expect not to have anything worth writing up.

That’s kinda where we’ve been at the last year or so. I’ve been to two games in the last year, and both times I’ve shown up and the Yankees haven’t. Both were tough matches against the Jays. 

I didn’t used to go to the Stadium this often. My dad has this friend who has nice seats for his season ticket package, and it’s gotten to the point where we’re high on his list to hand tickets over to. I’m very grateful, and we’ve reciprocated best we can, but it would always be nice to be there, even if the game wasn’t worth it. 

This time was already different in one sense; it was an inter league matchup, and it was against the Chicago Cubs. And Cubs fans are just more fun to be around than most rival fans. It’s the midwestern hard luck attitude, and they’re loyal as hell. A guy I was next to on the train up from Jersey was bringing his family into Manhattan for the first time, Tennesseans. He saw my jersey, went ‘you going to the game’, sure enough he’s a Cubs fan. The vibe I got was that he’s just sad it’s not 2016 anymore. 

As far as baseball is concerned, that is. We didn’t talk politics, though the wife had a very pious tattoo, which is very oxymoronic now that I say it out loud. 

Once I arrived in the Bronx, I’d honestly say I saw more away colors today than I had at any normal Yankee game I’d been to. Cubs fans travel well, and they don’t often pass up an excuse to see the city. Not that there were no Bronx loyalists, as it was a packed house, but it was more even than one might think. 

For the sake of modesty, all I can say is I can see why my dad’s friend is generous enough to let us have his seats every so often.

All starters were accounted for on both fronts, save for Judge on the home team and Swanson on the away team. IKF and Stanton took outfield spots for NY, while Hoerner took short and callup Miles Mastrobuoni took second for Chicago. Everyone else you’d expect made it: Bader, Rizzo, Trevino, Bellinger, Gomes, Happ. 

The pitching matchup was two guys I’d seen pitch before. Drew Smyly I saw start during his short tenure in Philadelphia. Gerrit Cole I’ve seen twice during the regular season and once this past spring. I’ve liked what I’ve seen every time. 

Today was no exception. Dominant, long haul start and only a few hits allowed. He pitched into the eighth, which I wouldn’t have done; sure enough, former Yankee Mike Tauchman took advantage of Cole’s tiredness for a two run homer late. Michael King mopped accordingly, but the fact that they really couldn’t do anything til Cole was tired says a lot. 

Not that Smyly fared much better. Two outs in the first inning, Giancarlo Stanton gets up and annihilates a baseball for a run. Then Josh Donaldson hits a two run homer. Then Bader, with the bases loaded, drills one where they weren’t and lets two runs score. They went by on a 4-1 cushion for a while and let Cole work. It was a great feeling. The couple in front of us were very rambunctious and were all about Cole, and I couldn’t really stay mad at him. 

Then, with a man on and Michael Rucker pitching, Stanton is up again. And again he pounds it. It’s a ball that we’re not sure will fall fair or clear the fence, but as it stands it scores the run and gives Stanton a rare triple. The guy in front of us, though, was convinced it was a homer. Meanwhile, I got a flashback to the umps in Philly stripping Castellanos off a homer last year and worried it was foul. 

The umps announced they were reviewing the play, which did scare me, but they clarified that they were seeing if the ball did leave the playing field. It was either gonna count as a homer or a triple. Which is the single best kind of review there is. Either way it’s a win. 

Sure enough, the guy in front of us was right, it left the field of play. Which means we had just witnessed a two homer day from Giancarlo Stanton. I bet he wouldn’t have if we hadn’t shown up.

While it wasn’t an overwhelming force of a Yankee team, this team did its job and still looked formidable. Stanton played right competently. Rizzo and Gleyber had nice hits at the right time. Bader can still be the hero, and ended the game with an incredible catch. And Gerrit Cole just proves why he’s above the marquee. 

The Yankees finished this one with a 6-3 win over a team that held them down the previous night, and gave me a wonderful game that I enjoyed watching. Not sure if I’ll be back at 161st this year, but it’s gonna be hard to top this game as a pure Yankee Stadium experience.