66 replies to this topic

[PortlandSoxFan]

Inspired by the Sandbox thread, and suggested by TheoShmeo, on the eve of the Sox last visit to the dump that is known as Yankee Stadium....share your favorite in-person memories here.

My absolute favorite of many:

In early 1999, my uncle got a block of 20 tickets for a September Sox/Yanks game. Since my family is pretty much divided down the middle, each fan base was pretty equally represented. I suggested to him that instead of taking a few cars down there, I would rent a van so we could all go together.

The morning of the game, it is POURING in CT. Absloute buckets. But the forecast called for clearing in the evening, so I went to Thrifty and picked up the van anyway. My uncle calls about 2 hours before scheduled departure time, and tells me that 4 people (Yankee fans) have backed out due to the weather. I call a couple people (Can you go? Can you leave NOW?), and fill the van. We head on our way, and arrive about 10 minutes before first pitch.

The game? Pedro's 17K masterpiece.

There have been many others, but I'll add them as the thread progresses.

[pk1627]

My least favorite set up the favorite.

Least favorite: Game 1 of the 2004 ALCS. Schilling looked horrible and Mussina had a no-hitter in the 7th. People throwing popcorn and other junk at me, and I decide to leave after we get our first hit. I'm standing on the subway platform as the Sox come back. I'm angry. I vow to come back to Game 6 or 7.

Favorite: I buy two scalped tickets to Game 7 and sit in the sun before the game thinking, "I can't believe I am here." Jeter throws out Damon (I thought he was safe) and the crowd assumes their normal swagger. Ortiz' shot dents that a bit, but it's still present as Damon comes to the plate to face Vazquez. And then life as we know it completely changes.

[Razor Shines]

I've been to Yankee Stadium twice, both times watching a pitcher named Martinez beat the Yankees.

My first trip to Yankee Stadium was in May of 2000. Pitching for the Red Sox was Ramon Martinez. Ramon, of course, was a shell of his former self and in the midst of a terrible season (he finished with an ERA over 6.00). Luckily, he was facing an even more washed-up pitcher in the form of 37-year-old David Cone (6.91 ERA that season) and Ramon pitched his best game in a Red Sox uniform, going 7.2 innings and beating the eventual champions 4-1. Sat in the right-field upper deck, and the animosity level there was pretty high, even though the Yankees were in dynasty mode and the Sox were at 82 years and counting.

My second game was in April 2004, this time watching Ramon's brother. Derek Jeter was in a terrible slump, hitting under the Mendoza Line, and he was getting booed by most of the stadium. Captain Intangibles went 0-4 with 3 strikeouts, and the boos were louder each time. My friends and I couldn't believe what we were hearing, and I think we started applauding him when he came up to the plate. Pedro spun a gem, and Manny hit an absolute bomb off of Javy Vasquez, and the Red Sox won 2-0.

[biollante]

When I was a kid, my dad got involved in a bus trip out of the Blue Moon - doesn't exist - on the E.Long/Springfield line to Yankee stadium. As a kid, coming out of the bowels of the stadium and seeing all the green was quite impressive. I really don't remember the game much but I do remember the green field.
This game was almost 40 years ago.

[Rocco Graziosa]

Jeter throws out Damon (I thought he was safe) and the crowd assumes their normal swagger. Ortiz' shot dents that a bit, but it's still present as Damon comes to the plate to face Vazquez. And then life as we know it completely changes.

That just gave me goosebumps.

[Average Reds]

Least Favorite: Game 2 of the 2003 ALCS.

Sat in the third deck down the left field line right in front of 2 sloppy, drunken Yankee fans. After listening to them scream obsenities all game and physically threaten us/any other fans who didn't think they were amusing, we asked a cop to intervene before a major fight got started. Cop looked at us and asked if we were Red Sox fans. When we said yes, he just grinned at us and said "Go screw yourself. You deserve what you're getting." Story only got uglier from there, but the cop's reaction sums up everything you need to know about Yankee Stadium.

Most Favorite: Game 7 of 2004 ALCS.

Sat in lower level of right field about 20 rows back from the fence. Went to the bathroom when the MFYs replaced Brown with Vasquez. Got back just in time to see the first pitch and was walking in the aisle right next to the fence when Damon hit the slam. As the ball flew almost directly over my head I just stood there with my arms raised screaming with joy at no one in particular. One of the more cathartic moments I have ever experienced against a backdrop of utterly deflated MFY fans.

Favorite: I buy two scalped tickets to Game 7 and sit in the sun before the game thinking, "I can't believe I am here." Jeter throws out Damon (I thought he was safe) and the crowd assumes their normal swagger. Ortiz' shot dents that a bit, but it's still present as Damon comes to the plate to face Vazquez. And then life as we know it completely changes.

I just have to say that these few words capture the mood in the stadium that night almost perfectly. Well done.

Edit: Damn Rocco, you slipped under the wire as I was adding pk's quote to my own post......

Edited by Average Reds, 25 August 2008 - 10:26 AM.

[Lose Remerswaal]

I've only been twice, so worst and best are easy.

Worst was this game. Reggie Jackson with a 2 run HR in the 9th inning to break a 0-0 tie. I was there with a friend in a genuine Red Sox jersey. You didn't see many of those back in the late 70's. Luckily, every time someone would give him shit, he'd stand up -- he was 6'9" (started at center for the Conn College Camels hoops team, for those keeping up with Conn College in that other thread), which shut folks up. But it was a long ride back to New London.

Other visit was much better, 4th of July this year.

[Oil Can's Liver]

I was present for the game where Pedro beaned Soriano and Jeter to start the game. I was sitting their giggling like a loony... the chorus of boos was positively deafening. To make it better...Jeter had to leave the game. The Sox lost..but watching Jeter walking off the field and seeing the disgusted looks in my direction was priceless...a memory I will cherish forever.

Edited by Oil Can's Liver, 25 August 2008 - 10:11 AM.

[KenTremendous]

I had excellent luck in the Stadium. I saw Pedro v. Clemens I, when Nixon broke the 0-0 tie with a 2-R HR in the ninth. I saw Pedro's 17 K game from the upper deck in left. I saw Game 1 of the 2003 ALCS when Wake shut them down and during the anthem that stupid hawk swooped right at Jeter. I used to keep track of my personal record there, and the last time I remember counting it was something like 15-7. But my number one "memory" came from a game I did not attend. A buddy of mine texted me during game 2 in 2003 (Pettitte handles us easily) -- he was sitting in the field boxes like 8 rows behind the plate, with all the Goldman Sachs guys who hadn't been to a game all year. He wrote: "[Nick] Johnson takes Lowe deep. These people cheering like they have any idea who Nick Johnson is. I would rather be in the devil's asshole than here."

That's how I always thought of that stadium, after that. The devil's asshole.

[ookami7m]

Jeter throws out Damon (I thought he was safe) and the crowd assumes their normal swagger. Ortiz' shot dents that a bit, but it's still present as Damon comes to the plate to face Vazquez. And then life as we know it completely changes.

I just sig'd that. That sums up 04 right there.

[TheoShmeo]

Living in the NY area, I have a lot of good and bad memories of the Toilet.

On the plus side, I was there for game six in both 2003 and 2004. The first one was more fun in that I was sitting in the Sox wives and friends section next to one of Pedro's brothers (not Ramon) and among pretty much only Sox fans. We were loud and unfiltered, and had the benefit of security protection. One of the guys a few row behind us was absolutely hilarious; he stayed in character, uttering four or five of the same ultimately infectious lines, throughout the entire game, and the Yankees fans one section over absolutely hated him, and by extension, those of us who were lapping his act up, and it only got worse as the Sox overtook the MFYs and won the game.

Game 6 in 2004 was also awesme, but for more conventional reasons. The one thing I'll never forget is the early realization that I had, and I could tell the Yankee fans near me had, that Schilling was probably going to be able to gut it out. The reversals on the Bellhorn homer and the Bitch Slap were otherworldly given the history.

The last game of the three-game sweep in early 2004 that was punctuated by Manny taking Vazquez deep, the Memorial Day game when Todd Walker et al ruined the Con Man's bid for 300 and the Pedro-Clemens-Nixon game merit honorable mentions.

By far my worst memory was the Grady game. Then again, there are few other moments in sports that were as bad for me. There's no point in re-living it but for one comment: I was sitting in that same wives and friends section (a broker friend got me tix that he had bought from one of the Sox players for games 1, 6 and 7) and I made such a stink when Pedro emerged from the dugout to start the 8th that several of the guys I had gotten to know during that series essentially begged me to shut up, given the presence of team personnel nearby.

Game 1 of the 1999 ALCS when Beck blew it and Bernie ended it ranks as a very distant second.

[BoSoxLady]

It was my first (and last) time in Yankee Stadium. I'd been pestering hubby to take me to a game there and he finally agreed, but he made me promise not to wear Red Sox gear. As we left the hotel for the game, he wasn't too pleased to discover that I was wearing a Red Sox road jersey. I made sure it was too late to change. Naturally, I was hassled at the game, had peanuts thrown at me, etc...which is exactly the reason hubby made me promise to leave the Red Sox gear at home. I hate to admit it, but he's usually on target in these matters. He figures that sooner or later, he's going to have to defend my honor.

The game was moving along nicely, with the Sox maintaining a 3-1 lead entering the bottom of the 9th. Two outs. Runner on 1st. Greg Harris VS Mike Stanley. Stanley hit a lazy fly ball in the direction of Mike Greenwell. Yeah, the Sox are going to win! Not exactly. Hubby exclaimed: "It doesn't count, the ump called time before the pitch." WTF? A fan ran on to the field along 3B. Grrrr.....Stanley had new life. He singled to left keeping play alive. Three straight hits later, the Yankees won the game 4-3. Talk about depressing. More fun was on the horizon. We were hassled big-time on the D train by a couple of guys wearing J-E-T-S jackets. We actually had to change trains to get away from them. All-in-all, not a great day in the Bronx. We haven't returned, and don't envision seeing the inside of the old or new toilet any time soon.

September 18, 1993

[Rough Carrigan]

Only went there once, the game in 2006 where Beckett got killed (I will always believe it was due to tipping his pitches). It was sort of an anti-climax. I kept thinking of Hannah Arendt(sp?)'s phrase about the banality of evil.

[Carmen Fanzone]

Of the games I attended at the Toilet

Best
Game 7, 2004 ALCS
What a thrill to watch thousands of yankee fans file toward the exits starting in the 7th. Waving to them as they left. The thousands of Sox fans literally owning that stadium by the end of the game.

Honorable mention
My son's first-ever MLB game in 1991.

Worst
Game 1, 1999 ALCS
Shooter.

[DosEquisMatsuzaka]

I have been to Yankees Stadium numerous times. I was there in the ALCS in 1998 and watched NY beat Cleveland. That sucked. I was there in 2004, the day the bullpen blew a terrific start by Wakes (the game before Jeter dove into the stands after making a routine catch and Nomar later refused to pinch hit). I watched the Jays beat NYY in Raul Mondesi's first game in pinstripes while wearing a red sox jersey and hat. I wore a Yankees Suck shirt that I bought from a NY street vendor into Yankee stadium.

The best memory other than taunting the MFY fans everytime I have gone was a game back in 1999. It was the day after Pedro masterfully struck out 17 Yankees giving up just 1 hit. It was the middle game of Boston's first sweep at Yankee stadium in 13 years and Boston used 5 HR (2 by Nomar) to beat the Yankees into submission. NYY scored 4 in the 7th and 2 in the 8th with the help of 4 Boston errors to make it close but in the end the right team won. It was the best because I was riproaring drunk, watching the game in the 3rd deck in RF and every time Boston hit a HR I stood up, turned to face the thousands of pissed off Yankee fans behind me and signaled HR as the boo's rained down on me. I will not miss that bedpan shaped cesspool smelling craphole of a stadium.

Edited by DosEquisMatsuzaka, 25 August 2008 - 11:40 AM.

[RedOctober3829]

Best game: Wakefield gets outdueled by Randy Johnson on September 11, 2005 1-0 on a Giambi HR.
Best Red Sox win: Early April game in '04. Red Sox win in extra innings on the day of the NFL Draft.

[Ryo Sen]

I only went a couple times and wasn't lucky enough to catch any of the awesome games described above, but the most interesting to me was the third game of the opening series in 2005, because it really drove home just how different things were after 2004.

I wasn't wearing anything obviously pro-Red Sox (as my friend -- and fellow female -- warned me of some sexually explicit threats she'd received the day before), and apparently none of the MFY fans around us figured out why we weren't cheering as Rivera came in to protect a 3-2 lead. (The guy wearing a Rivera t-shirt in front of us turned around and told us to get up and cheer.) The place was going crazy, because the MFY were about to sweep the opening series of the season, and they were going to move on from their epic collapse and wear their updated "Got Rings?" t-shirts with pride/power/pinstripes.

Only, Rivera was shockingly mortal. He walked Billy Mueller, and it got a little quieter. Rivera had blown the save the day before, but it was a cheap, short-porch home run to Varitek, and Jeter had homered off of Foulke to win it anyway, so that was probably just a bump in the road, right?

Then Bellhorn singled, Damon singled, and the entire section around us collapsed into their seats, deflated. The guy in the Rivera t-shirt slumped over, his hands in his face, watching what unfolded through his fingers. The mood change in the stadium was stunning -- from brash enthusiasm to resignation in three batters. The Sox hadn't even scored yet, but they all knew as well as we did that Rivera was about to blow it (though we did not suspect he would blow it so spectacularly that Torre would have to pull him). The Sox scored five runs, and just like that, Rivera had blown four straight saves against the Sox.

That glorious ninth inning also featured the ever-popular E-6, the Sox batting around (Mueller ended the inning with a strikeout) -- by the time Renteria (!?) singled, we were cheering openly without even a glare from the depressed inmates. For your enjoyment:

RED SOX 9TH: SANCHEZ REPLACED JETER (PLAYING SS); RIVERA REPLACED STURTZE (PITCHING); Mueller walked; Bellhorn singled to right [Mueller to second]; Damon singled to right [Mueller to third, Bellhorn to second]; Nixon struck out; M. Ramirez reached on an error by A. Rodriguez [Mueller scored, Bellhorn to third, Damon to second]; Ortiz grounded out (pitcher to first) [Bellhorn scored (unearned), Damon to third, M. Ramirez to second]; McCarty walked; Renteria singled to left [Damon scored (unearned), M. Ramirez scored (unearned), McCarty to second]; Mirabelli walked [McCarty to third, Renteria to second]; F. RODRIGUEZ REPLACED RIVERA (PITCHING); F. Rodriguez threw a wild pitch [McCarty scored (unearned), Renteria to third, Mirabelli to second]; Mueller was called out on strikes; 5 R (1 ER), 3 H, 1 E, 2 LOB. Red Sox 7, Yankees 3.

Edited by Ryo Sen, 25 August 2008 - 11:42 AM.

[Zupcic Fan]

I've probably been there 300 times, at least. My favorite moment, and one of the angriest my father ever got at me:

It's probably early 60's or so. I am under 15 years old. Ralph Houk is general manager at the time and is my father's patient, and gets us seats to a game in his box, kind of where the announcers sit. My father lies for some reason and tells Houk that we are big Yankee fans. We sit in his box with him and a few other guys----Yankees vs Twins. 9th inning. Big rally by the Twins, culminating in a crucial home run. I jump up and go nuts, completely forgetting where I am and who I'm with. They all look at me funny, and my father is fuming. And screams at me in the car. And he hated the Yankees even more than I did. It was kind of embarrassing, as I remember it.

[behindthepen]

I remember 9-18-04 when the game was almost rained out, and Derek Lowe showed up even more hungover than me, lasting just one inning while Lieber almost threw a no-hitter.

I remember the time I was on the train to the Toilet and that guy vomited all over the place.

I remember walking down the street to my car and having people scream at me like mental patients because I was wearing Sox gear.

I remember sitting the RF bleachers on Opening Day 2005 and having people throw stuff at me.

I remember the surly people who work there and the $10 beers out of a can.

[Doug Beerabelli]

It was my first (and last) time in Yankee Stadium. I'd been pestering hubby to take me to a game there and he finally agreed, but he made me promise not to wear Red Sox gear. As we left the hotel for the game, he wasn't too pleased to discover that I was wearing a Red Sox road jersey. I made sure it was too late to change. Naturally, I was hassled at the game, had peanuts thrown at me, etc...which is exactly the reason hubby made me promise to leave the Red Sox gear at home. I hate to admit it, but he's usually on target in these matters. He figures that sooner or later, he's going to have to defend my honor.

The game was moving along nicely, with the Sox maintaining a 3-1 lead entering the bottom of the 9th. Two outs. Runner on 1st. Greg Harris VS Mike Stanley. Stanley hit a lazy fly ball in the direction of Mike Greenwell. Yeah, the Sox are going to win! Not exactly. Hubby exclaimed: "It doesn't count, the ump called time before the pitch." WTF? A fan ran on to the field along 3B. Grrrr.....Stanley had new life. He singled to left keeping play alive. Three straight hits later, the Yankees won the game 4-3. Talk about depressing. More fun was on the horizon. We were hassled big-time on the D train by a couple of guys wearing J-E-T-S jackets. We actually had to change trains to get away from them. All-in-all, not a great day in the Bronx. We haven't returned, and don't envision seeing the inside of the old or new toilet any time soon.

September 18, 1993

.

I was at that game, too. It was actually kind of fun due to the drunk Sox fan stripping down to his boxers in our section, but bad ending.

In fact, all my memories are pretty horrible.

a) Game 2, 2003 ALCS. My brother in law MFY fan gave me the tix - 2 in the RF bleachers. My sox fan friend and I laid low, had to endure the horrible roll call thing, the typical asshattery, and, of course, the loss. 7$ bottled beers at the local bar didn't help. Stuck in the garage getting out.

b) Opening day, 1992. Horrible traffic plus bleacher seats = not seat to sit in when we arrived in the 6th inning. Parked two miles away from toilet, Clemens lost game.


Best game was a 1998 game against KC, only because we had club seats with waitress service., and my father in law was paying for the food. Both sucked. KC blew lead late, but that wasn't uncommon that year.

Second best was in 90s, Plentier went upper deck, Mo also homered. Sox won the game.

I've been invited to a few games by my brother in law over the past few years, including a Sox game, and I've really no interest. I've been to about 10 games there over the years, so that's plenty

Edited by Doug Beerabelli, 25 August 2008 - 11:55 AM.

[pedro1918]

September 18, 1993

I was there too.

I have two Toilet stories, one from a vendor at that game. We got there right when the doors opened. When the first beer vendor came out, he started yelling "I've got beer here! Who is ready to get f***ed up!" Later in the game, he was walking around yelling "Alcohol! Alcohol!"

The other was on opening day in 1992. The Sox lost 4-3. Mo and Phil Plantier hit home runs. I was sitting in the very last row of the upper deck, right behind home plate. I was there with about 10 people from work including one guy, Hank, who brought his son. The guy was sitting right directly to my right and his son one seat over. About the third inning or so, a guy two rows in front of us lights up a joint. You could smell it, but Hank's kid was about 6 years old and probably had no clue what was going on. The idiot sitting directly in front of Hank turns and says to Hank "I am so f***ing sorry that this f***ing jerk is smoking f***ing pot in front of your f***ing kid. It is so f***ing rude for this f***ing jerk to f***ing do that. What is the f***ing world coming too?"

Hank simply said, "Thanks."

I went to the Toilet about 15 times. I was probably about .500 in Red Sox-Yankees games. My visits were usually entertaining.

[curly2]

I was at a game in 1998, Pedro against Pettitte. The Sox put up an 11-spot in the third. Safe with Pedro on the mound, right? Not so much. He left after six up 11-4 (somehow Girardi hit a three-run homer off him), and suddenly it was 11-7 with the bases loaded in the seventh off Eckersley. Posada ripped a grounder up the middle but Lou Merloni, in his finest moment in the big leagues, made a diving play and started a 4-6-3 double play that ended the inning and killed the Yankees' momentum, and the Sox won 13-7.

In a much less significant game, I remember going down in 1993. The Sox weren't playing well, and the Yankees had won the first two games of the series. Three batters into the game it was 3-0, and the Yankees never seriously challenged against John Dopson. As we were leaving, we saw a guy a few rows ahead of us heading up the aisle carrying a broom. Obviously he's been meaning to wave it for a Yankees sweep, but never got a chance, and now he had to bring it back home so his wife wouldn't ask what happened to the broom.

[otiose]

I live in NYC now and go to a few games a year, but the first time I went to Yankee Stadium was in July 2003, the last game of a four-game series. The Sox had taken the first two and lost the third, but with Pedro on the mound, I felt really optimistic we could gain some ground in a tight AL East race.

I drove up from Providence with a Yankee-fan friend of mine. We were running late, hit nasty traffic, and didn't plan our gas consumption well; we were driving on an empty tank in the middle of the godforsaken Bronx, with no gas stations anywhere in sight. We wound up parking on an empty tank and praying we'd be able to find gas after the game.

When I first entered the stadium, I was struck both by its size and its crazily grotesque crassness -- the moronic scoreboard crap going on, the blaring music, the entitled sense of pomp and circus. The fans were predictably obnoxious but to be fair I and my Sox hat didn't get more taunting than what you'd expect, I think it got a lot worse during 2004 and after actually.

The game itself was a bit of a debacle. A fine Pedro-Moose duel was tied 1-1, and B-H Kim, after an effective eighth, completely fell apart in the ninth to lose the game. It was his first time facing the Yankees in a high-leverage situation since the 2001 WS I think... and for someone like me who had really championed the Kim acquisition, it was sickening to hear the crowd howling about how they owned this guy. It was a long drive home afterwards. At least we found gas.

[soxfaninyankeeland]

I was at a bunch of the games mentioned so far. In that 1992 opener, I was sitting in the front row in RF, about 7 or 8 seats from the RF foul pole. In the bottom of the 1st, a guy sitting literally behind the foul pole subjected Plantier to some of the most vile heckling I've ever heard at a baseball game. In the top of the 2nd Plantier hit a line drive HR that hit the RF foul pole and ricocheted nearly back to the infield. It was as if he was aiming at the heckler. I figured that would shut the guy up. I was naive.

I used to keep track of all the Yankee walk off wins I attended, but it got too depressing. June 26, 1987 was one of the shittiest. Dwight Evans hit a 3 run HR in the 1st, Jim Rice hit a grand slam in the 2nd, and the rout was on. Except that Clemens and the immortal Steve Crawford couldn't hold a 9 run lead. The Yankees scored 11 in the 3rd. Wayne Tolleson singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th.

Memorial Day, 1991 was another winner. A 5-0 lead wasn't good enough that day, capped by a Mel Hall 3 run walk off against Jeff Reardon. I'm pretty sure URI Sox Fan once told me that this is one of the first games he remembers.

When I started going there regularly, 1988-1992, attending Sox games at the Toilet was like going to Camden Yards for a Sox game today. Biggest crowds of the season, and mostly Red Sox fans.

Edited by soxfaninyankeeland, 25 August 2008 - 12:33 PM.

[Skiponzo]

I've been to the toilet 3 times in my life. Twice to see the Yanks and Royals play in the late 70's (when the Royals were actually my second favorite team) and once to game 2 of the 1981 World Series. (box score).

For the WS game, my dad (who's a HUGE Yankee fan) got tickets from one of the businesses his armored car company contracted with. We went with 5 big Yankee fans and me. I cheered so loud for the Dodgers that my dad threatened to let fans near us do what they were saying. The Yanks won that game (as well as game 1) but the Dodgers won the series. After the game I remember telling my dad that the Dodgers would still win. When they did, he wouldn't let me talk about it for a month.

Last time he took me to the stadium.

[joyofsox]

I was also at the Mel Hall game and the Greenwell/Guy on field game. In the latter, I had moved down to an aisle seat only a few rows from the field on the 3B side. The guy who ran on the field ran right past me. Shoulda tripped him.

My last time at the Toilet was the second game of the 2005 opening series. The game with the Tek and CI home runs. I was up in the right field upper deck, alone. I was getting up to leave after CI had won it and a bunch of shitheads a few rows down see my cap and start right in with the bullshit.

I say nothing. I just open my jacket to show off my brand-new 2004 Champs t-shirt. Their faces turned from delight to pure hatred in an instant. They looked like they were going to have a stroke. Probably good for me there were thousands of semi-normal people around.

Before a Yanks/Jays afternoon game many years ago, my wife and I were in the RF bleachers and I got up to get beers. Sox cap on. Bleachers were half-full maybe and at least 75% of them started in with chants of "asshole, asshole". That was kind of funny, actually.

For one O's/Yanks game, some guy in LF was standing up and threatening to drop his pants. Crowd egging him on, him teasing for about an inning. He finally does it and within 0.3 seconds, cops are there with the cuffs!

Was in the LF bleachers for Game 2 of the 1999 ALCS. Some MFY fans had taken a Sox fan's cap and lit it on fire in an aisle. Cop down aways just watching the scene, flames burning away, doing nothing. Only after the cap has completely burned and the fire is out does even move his fat ass. No one was ejected, obviously. Ahhh -- NY's finest.

Waited outside the park for a game in September 1999 for a guy to come up from midtown with tix. Fucker worked very late and without cell phones, we had no idea what had happened. We finally gave up and went home to watch on TV. Can't even remember if he showed up at all. ... Pedro's 17 K game. FUCK.

Fucking park lasted only, what, 33 years. Big fucking deal.

[The Long Tater]

As already mentioned by some of the others who were there, nothing will ever top Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS. By some bizzare coincidence, I was sitting next to some guy from my office who was a MFY fan. He left in the SECOND INNING. The most lasting image for me is after the game ended, Trot Nixon running around the field high fiving Sox fans.

I still have my scorecard up on my office door at work, to annoy the locals.

[joyofsox]

When I started going there regularly, 1988-1992, attending Sox games at the Toilet was like going to Camden Yards for a Sox game today. Biggest crowds of the season, and mostly Red Sox fans.

Yep. I moved from Vermont to to Brooklyn in January 1987 and for years, we went to every single Sox game (it took years for the novelty to wear off). We could always get nice main reserved seats behind the dugouts on walk-up. Sox fans at the opening games of any series were always loud -- it did seem like 50-50.

My first game was in September 1986 -- before I moved. It was the game Rice went into the stands to get his cap. I missed that -- was out buying beer.

[soxfaninyankeeland]

The second game of the 2005 season, mentioned by joyofsox here and another poster in the Yankee forum, featured the worst-behaved crowd I've ever seen in approximately 70 visits to the Toilet, including playoff games.

[PortlandSoxFan]

I was also at the 2005 game with Wakes/Unit

Only time I ever sat in the bleachers was Game 1 ALCS 2003. Most abuse I ever took in dozens of games there. Took less abuse the next night in Game 2, sitting with the rowdy drunks in the 3rd deck.

I missed Cone's perfecto by 1 day; saw Yanks/Braves (Millwood pitched IIRC) the day before.

I was also at the Lowe hungover game...was cheering in the Yankee Pub inside the stadium when Ortiz broke up the no-no.

[pedro1918]

I was at the first two games of the 1997 ALDS vs. the Indians. After taking game one, The Yankees went up 3-0 in the first. The crowd was so unbelievably arrogant at that point, the guy in front of me, in his oversized Uncle Sam hat, kept yelling at me "ANDY PETTITTE CAN NOT LOSE POST SEASON GAMES! NEVER!"

Well, Pettitte blew up in the 4th and 5th and the Indians won. Uncle Sam was demoralized and I had never been so happy at a (non-Sox) playoff game.

[OilCanShotTupac]

I remember 9-18-04 when the game was almost rained out, and Derek Lowe showed up even more hungover than me, lasting just one inning while Lieber almost threw a no-hitter.

I was at this game too. It sucked ass. The Derek Lowe Face was never more in evidence than here, as he gave up several runs in the first on a collection of bleeders, bad plays, and bases-loaded walks.

Papi broke up the no-hitter (perfect game at that point, actually, IIRC) with an opposite field homer in the 7th, and we left. It was 13-1 at that point and I was getting all kinds of shit from drunk Yankee fans in front of me, and I wanted to get out of the stadium safely.

I firmly believe that this was the game that sealed Lowe's fate in Boston.

[OilCanShotTupac]

I was at a bunch of the games mentioned so far. In that 1992 opener, I was sitting in the front row in RF, about 7 or 8 seats from the RF foul pole. In the bottom of the 1st, a guy sitting literally behind the foul pole subjected Plantier to some of the most vile heckling I've ever heard at a baseball game. In the top of the 2nd Plantier hit a line drive HR that hit the RF foul pole and ricocheted nearly back to the infield. It was as if he was aiming at the heckler. I figured that would shut the guy up. I was naive.

I was at this game too. Plantier and Vaughn were being touted as "the next Lynn and Rice" at the time, and I was giddy after they both homered in the second inning of that game. Plantier's homer was a laser, its trajectory was literally parallel to the ground. It looked like it was fired out of a bazooka.

Later in the game, an old guy fell asleep a section over from us. Behind him was a bunch of college kids. One of the kids balanced a big plastic beer cup on the old guy's head. It stayed there. The kid started stacking the cups. His friends were soliciting cups from all over the upper deck and people were passing cups to the kid. The stack got up to six, seven, eight cups, and pretty soon the whole upper deck behind home plate was paying attention to this and not the game. Every time the kid got another cup on the stack, the whole upper deck would erupt in a roar. It was loud enough so that the players on the field looked up and tried to figure out WTF the noise was for.

The stack eventually got to about a dozen cups before the old guy awoke with a start and the stack went flying. The crowd gave an ovation. It was fucking funny.

Then Clemens got cuffed around, the Sox lost the game, Plantier was a bust, and the Sox went on to a shitty season and a grim few years.

[kevlog]

I was at this game

Sept 30, 1973

which was the final game played before the toilet shut down for a couple years of renovation.

After the Yankees lost to the Tigers, pure chaos ensued; fans wildly tore out row after row blue wooden seats. As some of you know, I have a piece of the old toilet sitting in the Beer Can Museum, covered with German beer cans.

My friend's dad got the tickets so I went for free...I was never a Yankee fan. Ever.

[HighHeat]

The second game of the 2005 season, mentioned by joyofsox here and another poster in the Yankee forum, featured the worst-behaved crowd I've ever seen in approximately 70 visits to the Toilet, including playoff games.

Yeah, I was at this one as well. Easily the worst time I had at the toilet and the closest I ever came to getting into a fight at a ballgame. I wasn't even wearing Sox gear as it was a Tuesday matinee and my buddy had come up with an extra ticket at the last minute. I left work around noon and met him at the yard wearing business clothes.

I was in the upper tier on the 3B side, and some fat fucking mouthbreather kept screaming Red Sox suck and 'accidentally' dropping peanut shells on the back of my seat. My buddy had to talk me down as I almost pummelled this clown on two occasions.

The wounds from 2004 were still fresh and something was definitely in the air that day - it was retard central with fights all over the fucking place.

[HighHeat]

Later in the game, an old guy fell asleep a section over from us. Behind him was a bunch of college kids. One of the kids balanced a big plastic beer cup on the old guy's head. It stayed there. The kid started stacking the cups. His friends were soliciting cups from all over the upper deck and people were passing cups to the kid. The stack got up to six, seven, eight cups, and pretty soon the whole upper deck behind home plate was paying attention to this and not the game. Every time the kid got another cup on the stack, the whole upper deck would erupt in a roar. It was loud enough so that the players on the field looked up and tried to figure out WTF the noise was for.

The stack eventually got to about a dozen cups before the old guy awoke with a start and the stack went flying. The crowd gave an ovation. It was fucking funny.

You sure it wasn't Heep?

[FungosWithJimy]

A few memories come to mind of games I've been to at the Stadium.

4/4/94: Opening Day. I was a senior in high school and a bunch of us (most of my friends were NYY fans) skipped school to attend the game. Yanks/Rangers. Jimmy Key vs. Kevin Brown to start a doomed MLB season. Joe D. threw out the first pitch. I have always been grateful that I got to see him in person before he was gone.

7/1/96: Called in sick to work to attend this one. And I was glad I did, despite the outcome. The last time I saw Roger Clemens pitch for the Red Sox. He lost 2-0 to Jimmy Key in a pitchers' duel.

4/21/01: The first time I ever saw Manny Ramirez play, in person. He went 3 for 5 with a homer. Sox win. Love at first sight.

6/2/02: Another NY/BOS affair. Rickey Henderson starts in left for the Sox. The great Frank Castillo pitches a gem. I go home happy.

6/14/03: Unfortunately, I was dating a NYY fan and her college's alumni association was having an outing at the NY/STL game. Got myself a piece of a crappy tailgate sub, an earful of "Welcome Back, Tino" chants, and an eyeful of obnoxious fans celebrating a Yankee blowout.

7/1/04: Eight years to the day after the Clemens game, I get another disappointing finish. Jeter's dive into the stands...the Nomar bench controversy...Manny's extra innings homer that goes for naught. I walked onto the street outside the park that night wearing my Sox cap and got absolutely hammered by celebrating NYY fans. "Go back to Boston!", one of them yelled (minus the requisite obscenities, of course). Too bad I was from CT.

9/17/04 & 9/18/04: Took the trip into the city for a weekend that included seeing two BOS/NY games in a row. Euphoria to nausea. Manny makes an incredible leaping catch over the wall in left to save a home run and Johnny Damon drives in two runs to beat Rivera in the 9th on Friday night. Thunderstorms and massive amounts of rain overnight close dozens of midtown subway stations the next day. By the time we find our way to the toilet, Derek Lowe has already given up 7 quick runs and I'm being taunted on my way INto the Stadium.

But MY FAVORITE:

9/13/86: My very first game at the Stadium. Good seats, close to third base. I was 11 years old. Tom Seaver vs. Dennis Rasmussen. Similar to my appreciation that I got to see Roger pitch for the Sox one last time and Joe D. one last time, period, I have always been happy that I got to witness Tom Seaver pitch in person. Both starting pitchers were awful and the Sox ended up getting blown out, but the game became known for one reason. It was the game where a fan along the left field line stole Jim Rice's hat as he chased a foul ball, prompting Rice to climb up into the stands in a fit of rage. Rice recently explained it like so:

http://ask14.sullivantire.com/?p=70

However, years after that game, my father and his friend were working a charity event at Yale Field in New Haven. They ran into none other than Jim Rice in the parking lot (the New Britain Red Sox were in town playing the New Haven Ravens). According to my father (and to his surprise) Rice was as personable and accomodating as he could possibly be. He hung out and talked to them for a good 20 minutes. When my dad brought up the story of 9/13/86, Rice told a far different story than he told above (at least a more detailed one). Not sure if Rice reads message boards or if he was telling the truth at the time, so I don't want to spread false stories. But, if true, I can understand his momentary rage.

Edited by FungosWithJimy, 26 August 2008 - 09:58 AM.

[loshjott]

I only went there once. Memory is hazy, sometime in the 80s. It was the 3rd game of a 3-game series. Yanks had won the first 2, and on the subway up from Manhattan, all the fans were yelling "Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!" Our seats were lousy, behind the monuments. Sox won to avoid the sweep. That's all I remember.

[paulie102704]

celebrating a Yankee blowout.

7/1/04: Eight years to the day after the Clemens game, I get another disappointing finish. Jeter's dive into the stands...the Nomar bench controversy...Manny's extra innings homer that goes for naught. I walked onto the street outside the park that night wearing my Sox cap and got absolutely hammered by celebrating NYY fans. "Go back to Boston!", one of them yelled (minus the requisite obscenities, of course). Too bad I was from CT.

I was also at this game, and I was getting destroyed leaving the Toilet in my Sox gear. A d bag came up behind me, draped his Jeter jersey around me and said, "Now you know what it feels like to be a winner." To this day I wish I knew how to properly thank him after the Sox completed the comeback in the ALCS.


Not too many great games for me, but I was at a Memorial Day weekend game last summer against the Angels, and the Yankees were well on their way to getting swept. I started getting heckled and all I kept saying was, "Up 12 games bitches"....it was great to seethem squirm.

Edited by paulie102704, 25 August 2008 - 04:06 PM.

[TheoShmeo]

I was there for Yankee Elimination Day last season. Glorious. And, of course, the winning pitcher that night is getting the ball for your Boston Red Sox on this coming Wednesday night.

Two things, in particular, stand out. One was how little fight the Yankees fans had after the lead off homer by Sizemore. There were two die hards in my section who were loudly supporting the MFYs all night long, and the attitude of the vast majority of the fans in the immediate vicinity was along the lines of "enough already, give it a rest." The other thing that I'll never forget was how many Sox fans were on hand. I wasn't wearing colors but plenty of other folks were. And it didn't seem like anyone was bothering them. Weird all around.

[joyofsox]

9/13/86: My very first game at the Stadium.

Same first game! Cool!

I'll say one thing -- there was nothing like walking down the ramps from the upper decks after a close loss to those dushbags. Especially before 2004. The "Boston Sucks" and "1918" chants were deafening.

I was decked out in Sox stuff for that 2005 game, but for a number of years, I just stopped wearing my Sox cap. I'd still clap and cheer for good things, even stand for HRs, but the hassle was just not worth it. I wanted to see a fucking game, that's all, not hear the same three taunts all day long.

I said I was at the Mel Hall game. We were near the back of the grandstand in the first level behind 3B. Sox get an early run and this loud, probably-drunk Red Sox fan, starts in yelling "ONE RUN! THAT'S ALL WE NEED!" over and over. Gets the usual response. He must have fallen asleep after the 3rd inning or so and woke up late in the game. Hall bangs his dong and my partner -- who was a Yankees fan then* -- dances over to him and starts pointing at him and laughing. (This was when they played "Shout!" after a win.) All around us, MFY fans are laughing and the guy just looks sheepish. What could he do? It was a shitty loss, but I always thought that whole scene was pretty funny.

* - A number of things soured her on the MFY and over the course of the first half of the 2003 season, she began to drift over to the Sox. For years, I would watch or listen to the Sox on the computer and she'd watch the Yanks on TV. She's on our side now. I love it, but honestly, it's still a little strange.

Also, 17 years later, I almost always say "There's our run! That's all we need!" when the Sox get a 1-0 lead.

[Robinson Checo]

This is a great thread. I have never been to Yankee Stadium, and have in fact only been to Fenway three times (I live on the left coast). However reading these recollections makes things seem real, and I must add, I miss Pedro.

[URI]

The second game of the 2005 season, mentioned by joyofsox here and another poster in the Yankee forum, featured the worst-behaved crowd I've ever seen in approximately 70 visits to the Toilet, including playoff games.

That was me that mentioned it. The only gear I was wearing was a Sox hat and some kids (I would guess 16-18 or so...there were 4 of them) started yelling at me waiting for my girlfriend who was in the bathroom. After a 2090 comment, I asked how it took for him to add and he took a swing at me.

To their credit, New York's finest was right there to save me from getting in the first fistfight since I was in the 7th grade. Also, in walking from the gate to the car, Jocelyne got shit pretty much the whole way (she was walking about 2-3 feet behind me with her boss and his girlfriend...non-intimidating types), whereas no one said anything to my large ass.

That game reminded me how much I hate Yankee fans after talking myself in to empathy after 2004.

[bellyofthebeast]

Gotta say that I love the thread name!

I've got a few, but here's an obscure one:

September 12, 1986. http://www.thebaseba...198609120.shtml

I cheered wildly when Billy Buck hit his 2nd bomb into the upper deck in RF and got a beer tossed on me. The Sox were good, the MFYs sucked and nothing could bother me. Good times at the toilet!

[QUNate]

I'd say my best and worst experiences both occurred on May 28, 2005. The Sox destroyed the Yankees 17-1 behind a great performance by Matt Clement and a shellacking of Carl Pavano. It was such fun watching the Yankees getting destroyed and high fiving all the Sox fans in the area. The worst experience was being nailed by a hot dog and a beer in full view of security who did nothing about it.

[Sille Skrub]

I've had a great time almost every time I've gone to Yankee Stadium.

The tops was Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS. The best part was singing "New York, New York" as we exited the stadium.

A credit to the Yankee fans that remained, many of them wished us good luck in the World Series after the game was over.

I'll never forget that night.

[TheoShmeo]

A credit to the Yankee fans that remained, many of them wished us good luck in the World Series after the game was over.

On a similar note, I was there for the first Sox-Yanks game in 2005 (Johnson beat Wells), and to their credit, many Yankees fans were very gracious before the game started.

[Guinevere]

My most recent game at Yankee Stadium was September 30, 2001 -- Cal Ripken's last road game. It was originally going to be his last game, but 9/11 intervened, delaying the season, and he ended his career at Camden, which was right and good. The Yanks (or MLB) did a nice job, creating lanyards with orange and black 8s and some special inserts commemorating Cal's career, and his link to Gehrig. Cal's game that afternoon kind of summed up my feelings for the place -- he ended up 0-7 with 4 strike-outs. The game was tied 1-1 in the 15th when it was finally called for rain, but the fans did give him many nice ovations at every at-bat and I certainly got my money's worth in seeing him one last time.

My other visits were also during Os games (my BIL is a Yankees season ticket holder and will occasionally get extra tixs for those games and take my sister and I). I was never impressed with the place, and mostly I remember the rude crowds, even to a couple of girls wearing Os caps, and one game where the bleacher fans were tossing batteries at Bobby Bonilla.

There is a chance I'm going on Friday Sept. 19 -- the BIL is looking for tix from his group to take sis and she asked if I'm come along, so what the heck.

[TheYellowDart5]

The only Yankee Stadium game I've been to was this mostly forgettable affair. It only stands out for a few reasons:

1. Brian Rose started the game and was predictably terrible—he gave up home runs to Shane Spencer and Ricky Ledee, of all the people;

2. John Wasdin pitched in relief and was as expected ... the first batter, Jorge Posada, hit a HR off of him that I think is still traveling today and put the Yankees ahead 4-3. Some guy named Tim Young came on to replace him with two on, down 5-3 after a Jeter RBI single, with Paul O'Neill up, and O'Neill drilled a pitch into the RF bleachers to put the game out of reach;

3. This was Jeter's first game back after, I believe, a two-week DL stint for some injury or another. I remember that he wasn't expected to play and was a surprise insertion (hee hee) into the starting lineup for the day, prompting waves of cheers from the fans when the lineups were announced.

That said, the Stadium didn't strike me as particularly impressive, only really big (my family and I were way up in the upper level on the first-base side). Despite living in New York for the last three-plus years, I've never been back.

[Dr. Obvious]

September 17, 2004.

I had moved to Manhattan not even two weeks earlier for an internship, and while planning the move, I noticed there was going to be a Sox-Yankees game in town on what happened to be my 21st birthday. I'd sworn for years that the only way I'd ever go to a game at Yankee Stadium was if a) Steinbrenner died or b) they finally announced it would be torn down - my appreciation for baseball history exceeding my hatred of the Yankees - but this seemed like a special occasion.

So, I went online, bought a scalped ticket in the upper deck, and when the day came around, I threw on my Manny jersey and headed to the game. The Sox score early, the Yankees take a 2-1 lead on a home run by a favorite of mine from Seattle, John Olerud, and all the while, rain is coming and going. One delay lasts about an hour; the bottom parts of the stadium empty, and Yankee fans move downwards, leaving the upper deck to the Sox fans. At some point during this delay, the guy behind me starts a conversation about how bold I am, being in Yankee Stadium alone in a Sox jersey. It's surprisingly civil.

Then comes the fifth. Miguel Cairo (currently justifying my ire of him on the Mariners) hits a shot to left, and Manny uncharacteristically hustles to the wall and leaps, robbing Cairo of a home run. The Stadium doesn't realize it at first, and neither do I - the roar of fans in pinstripes leaves me shaking my head, until it dawns on everyone there that Manny caught the ball. Slowly, the Yankee fans deflate back into their seats, and the smattering of Sox fans around begin standing and cheering, myself included.

I still laugh at the look on Cairo's face in the highlight.

2Lqiss-Xtp4

The game continues, the Sox down 2-1 going into the ninth. In comes Rivera, and it's past 11:30, but still my birthday. Trot works a walk, Roberts pinch-runs and steals second. Tek strikes out swinging, Millar gets hit by Rivera, and Kapler comes in to run for him. OCab laces a single through the hole to right, tying the game, and two batters later, Damon brings Kapler home for a 3-2 lead. It was one of only two games that year when the Sox came back against Rivera, the other being the brawl game that July.

In comes Foulke in the bottom half of the inning, and it's past 11:45 now. I'm looking at the time on the scoreboard, knowing, just knowing that as long as the game is over by midnight, we'd win. Sure enough, Foulke gets the 1-2-3 inning, and the game officially ends at 11:51. I walk out of the Stadium with the Killers' "Smile Like You Mean It" on my iPod, and all is right in the world.

It's the only time I've been to Yankee Stadium. I was too nervous about the ALCS to go to any of the games that year, and have had no interest in going back since. After all, the Sox are 1-0 all time in games I've gone to there - why risk ruining perfection?