The historic Division playoff game-Oct 6, 2010 part 1

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cincinnati	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Philadelphia	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	X	4	5	0

Just one more game, I told myself. I want to go to just one more game.
After the last home game on Sept 26, a disappointing loss, I  started scheming about getting to the game in DC with the Nationals, where it was inevitable that the Phillies would win the Eastern division title. That was just too much to plan and arrange in one day around my work schedule. I couldn't see going to a Phillies game in Washington as a good enough excuse to leave work early in a busy week. (I could see it being a good excuse, but didn't think my boss would!)
Instead, Monday night, as soon as they won the the title, I jumped onto StubHub to see how much playoff tickets cost. Seats were not yet that expensive for October 6 in the 416 level above the first base line, the section where I had found a home watching games over the past few months.

No hesitation. BUY.

Wednesday morning. Oct 6. I was going to the playoffs! Excited, giddy, I packed my bag with an overwhelming sense of glee. Stuffed inside my pink Olympics pack went a Phillies shirt, red hat, pants, some food,. At work, I waited impatiently for 4:00 to start my trip for the 5:00 game. My usual subway route on the subway, as expected, was filled with other fans of all ages.wearing many types of shirts, jackets, hats, and gear in reds, pinks, black and gray.
I have made it a ritual to talk with someone on the train, and that day I hit the jackpot. Next to me was a man who is part of the Philadelphia Boys and Men's Choir (http://www.phillyboyschoir.org/),  and has performed  for the opening day games and the World Series for 20 years. As we exited the subway he told me that he was off to sit in a box seat. I did my best to get invited there, but got distracted by a great brass band playing on the sidewalk. 
 There is nothing like entering a ball park, hearing the announcements of the teams, the cheers. the buzz. For a regular game, this is exhilarating enough. For the playoff game, the crowd was ELECTRIFIED. You could feel the energy elevated a hundred fold just walking around. Once settled into my 11th row seat, I smiled. Behind me was a group of college age guys. To my right was a nice couple, to my left another young man. Just in front of me, a whole family with a 2 year old in a new Phillies cap. Beside them was a man who, like me, came alone, and engaged everyone around him during the game. This was my gang for the evening.

Historic no hitter game Oct 6 part 2

The first pitch by Roy Halladay-a strike. Everyone leans forward, waiting anxiously.

Behind me, one of the guys says, "Is he nervous? I am!"  I think he was speaking for 46,000 people.
(His friend replied, "He's a professional.")

These guys were terrific, loud, boisterous. Sometimes when they were cheering, I looked back at them having the time of their lives, and I was enjoying their enthusiasm.
I engaged the couple next to me a few times. "Do you know anything about the Reds?" "What just happened?"
Other than that, I was glued to the field, hollering when there was a hit, groaning at the strike outs.

There is a song that is sung in my synagogue on Shabbat-The words 'Teach us to treasure each day' can be poignant and inspirational.
Here at the game,  I noticed the ups and downs, the high pitched arc of the 'whoas' when the ball was hit to the outfield, the  sinking 'oos', when it was caught. What came to mind was "teach us to treasure each moment', Every pitch became a momentous drama. The 3/2 counts with 2 outs. Such expectation, sometimes dashed, sometimes rewarded. Every strike out, a notch on the board for history. Every leap to catch the ball a save for the pitcher.

Roy Halladay walks one. There goes the perfect game, someone says.

Top of the 8th Inning. No one in the crowd is sitting down anymore, The rally towels are a flutter after every pitch. Phillies are up, and the Reds have not had one man hit to get on base

Top of the 9th inning. 

"Probably the toughest test for a Phillies defender came with two outs in the ninth, when Phillips hit a swinging bunt and the 10-foot roller hit the bat that Phillips had dropped onto the wet grass near the first-base line.
Ruiz, angling away from the bat, grabbed the ball and, as he went sliding forward onto his knees, threw out Phillips by more than a stride".

Ryan Howard catches the ball at first base.
Fireworks, a crowd ecstatic.

I take a peek to the guys in back, One of them with a ferocious smile purrs, " I'm so happy." The guy to my left, "This is awesome."

To me, that was a perfect game

Getting to a Yankees game Part 1

So, why you may ask did I, a Phillies fan, decide to go to a  Yankees game? I guess I don't know enough about baseball history or player salaries to be skeptical or even scornful about how it is that they win so much. All I know is that when I saw them beat the Phillies in the 2009 World Series, it seemed like they would be a fun team to see sometime. (And or course, it's always good to see the competition up close.)
When I suggested to my  friend, the wildly avid Yankees Fan From Birth (ffb), that we see a game together, the timing was perfect to see the Yankees and the Seattle Mariners (notice I didn't have to say the NEW YORK Yankees. Everyone knows where the Yankees are from).
We met in New York on a rainy Sunday, wondering if the game would be played, and how we were going to prevent ourselves from getting wet in the stadium.Walking towards 5th Ave, we noticed a long line of people huddled on the sidewalk with suitcases and other belongings. Curious as always, we decided to see what the hubbub was all about. It became apparent that these were parents and their college age children checking into a dormitory with bundles of belongings. What caught our attention was that they were all wearing the same type of plastic ponchos, probably provided by the college. In jest I must have said under my breath, "We could pretend to be parents and get ponchos for the game." Wouldn't you know it- a  cheery young woman comes up to us and says, "Would you like a poncho?" We took two and THEN she said, "Would you like one for your daughter, too?"

Having thus scored THREE ponchos and an instant child, we scurried off across the street, hoping that no one would notice that there was no daughter in tow.

Now that we were the proud parents of a young woman going to Stern College, we could more confidently be on our way to do some site seeing, then onto the subway to Yankee Stadium

Phillies Opening NIght Game 2010

Being at the Olympics in February renewed my love for Vancouver and the Pacific Northwest, as warm and generous Canadian hospitality seduced me into cheering for exceptional athletes from distant countries. My one time attending the rough and tumble Philadelphia Flyers match gave me the chance to connect with a friend who grew up skating on ponds in Canada, and brought into view others who love  hockey, a sport that I'm just getting warmed up to. 

But it has been The Philadelphia Phillies baseball team, at home, in a beautiful ballpark, with a tremendous view of the city, who were to turn me into a phan.

How  did it all get started?

Sometime after I returned from the Olympics, I bought three 100 level tickets on the third base line to the Opening Night Home game in April. After all, one must adhere to ritual openings if you are to become an initiate into a new religion. Mind you, I was still a relative novice at understanding some of the finer points of the game, but knowing that I would be between two of my favorite Phillie Phanatic Phans  was comforting.

In March, I suffered a traumatic hand injury that put my busy life on pause. [Understatement of understatements] March 31 was surgery day, so even by game day on April 14, my hand was still bandaged and  I was in a lot of pain. -You can imagine that this is just the bare minimum of a longer story,- but I digress from the main point here. By gosh, by golly, I was determined to go to the game.

Game night
The phans arrive from all over the city, most in jerseys, or T-shirts of their favorite players. Black caps festooned with the words 'World Series 2008 Champs' are some of  my favorites. I have yet to acquire any gear-instead, I wear my light blue Olympics hat and sling my bright pink Olympics bag over my shoulder.


The energy is light hearted, family oriented. People saunter to the gates where  the guards check out our bags, scan our tickets, and give out X-Large grey Opening Night T-shirts (courtesy of McDonalds!). Darn-My first Phillies attire, and its too big, and its grey. (That goes straight to the nightshirt drawer).


We find our seats in the 11th row to the left of 3rd base. I can't believe how close we are, how green the field is, how brilliant all the colors are from that angle. I am so used to sitting up in the  last row of the 400 level and now we are royalty.



Phan story and quote of the night: so much of any sporting event is the fan drama. In our section sitting in the first few rows, there was a father and mother who brought their 4 small children.At one point in the game, all of us were taking in bits and pieces of a recurring theme as the mother shlepped herself, her children and several bags up and down and up and down the stairs for various shopping excursions. Finally, a man in the rows behind us couldn't stand watching her do all the work. He stood up, indignant, and shouted, "Get your husband to help, for God's sake".





The first pitches go badly, and Melvin bites down on his knuckles "I have a bad feeling about this."  But the Phillies don't disappoint that night. Their bats are hitting, keeping us jumping up to our feet for 14 runs. 


I didn't know it when I bought the tickets back in February that what I would need in April would be to scream, to yell, to jump up and down with all my energy focused on something else other than pain. I didn't know that I would so enjoy being a part of a crowd of people all going through the same expressions of joy, anxiety, nervousness and exhaltant release. I didn't know that being at the ballpark on April 14 would be the start of a summer and fall adventure that would bring me back to life. 


But that's the rest of the story...


Final Series:

Final

Series:

Close

Philadelphia leads 2-0 (as of 4/14)

Game 1: Monday, April 12
Washington	4	Final
Philadelphia	7
Recap »Boxscore »

Game 2: Wednesday, April 14
Washington	7	Final
Philadelphia	14
Recap »Boxscore »

Game 3: Thursday, April 15
Washington	7	Final
Philadelphia	5
Recap »Boxscore »

Ironically, this was taken on my last morning in Vancouver