Opening Day 2008

For me at least, waking up on Opening Day beats the feeling of waking up on Christmas morning. A fresh start for your favorite team. 162 games of amazing plays, stellar pitching performances, walk-off victories, and ridiculous highs and unfortunate lows are on the way. It's a sign that summer is on the way and that countless hours of sitting in front of the television or commutes to the Bronx are right going to be aplenty. Opening Day this year had extra special meaning for Yankee fans... the last Opener to be played in the historic, Yankee Stadium - the house that Ruth built. Next year it's off to the ballpark across the street, a brand-new Yankee stadium. I woke up on Monday in Manhattan with Shelli by my side, much like last season. But, at least this year there was no challenge that we had to complete to attend! We wished one another a happy opening day and began to call or text just about every Yankee fan we knew to wish them the same. There was so much excitement as we headed down to the Bronx. The one and only thing that could possibly put a damper on this perfect day was the rain, and rain it sure as hell did.

As the skies opened and rain fell down on the New York City area, we did what every legal aged Yankee fan did and took in the bar scene across from the stadium. Have to give mad love for Billy's because they gutted that place during the off-season and it's looking really good. Come All-Star Game it's going to be the best place to be the only place to be on River Ave! Well, you know... other than Yankee Stadium but what fans actually get tickets to the game without spending their life savings? None. We entered the stadium much later on, hours past the original scheduled first pitch only to hear the game was officially post-poned. I think it really took a lot of the excitement away from Opening Day. All we really needed at that point was a good nap, Indio's place provided an excellent venue for that.

Tuesday had Opening Night on tap for Yankees fans and while it was more than exciting to be there and I wouldn't have missed it for anything in the world (just ask my boss), but it didn't hold the same electricity as the day before or even Opening Day of last season. There we were, four former Road Trippers out in Right Field Bleachers, witnessing a historic moment in Yankee Stadium history. The beginning to the final season. The game was filled with memorable moments... Melky was surely the star of the night - two amazing plays in center and a solo homer to tie the game, Joba's (some would say controversial) display of emotions as he struck out two, and Mariano's grand entrance in the ninth. The game was everything a Yankee fan could have possibly wanted out of Opening Day. We got the victory and I got to reunite with four of the people who mean so very much to me.

Three games down, 159 left to go. 78 games left at Yankee Stadium. 2-1. Let's go Yankees!!