The Philadelphia Phillies take the field for practice at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia Friday, Oct. 30, 2009. The Phillies host the New York Yankees in Game 3 of the Major League Baseball World Series Saturday night with the series tied 1-1. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)
Philadelphia, PA (WFAN) -- The Yankees traveling party left the Stadium this morning on 3 buses to go to Penn. Station, for the Amtrak Trek to Philadelphia. As the buses turned down 31st Street, we saw the crowds, the Yankees jackets and the fans lining the streets. The crowds were behind barricades, taking pictures, holding Yankees pennants and waving hats and cheering. All the way into Penn Station, all the way DOWN the escalators they were lined up everywhere. The team was waving, smiling and cheering. Great, just great support by New Yorkers. It was a fabulous send off. The younger players, who have never been through this before, had big grins on their faces...great to see. I told one of the rookies, "If you win the Series, and there is a Parade, you won't believe what this City will be like. "
The train ride (4 private cars of course) took about an hour and a half. Fruit, salads, pizza, sandwiches, anything you could want as everyone talked baseball, slept, read the newspapers and explained to those of us over a certain age who JZ is and why he would be on the field before a baseball game. I DO know John Legend, though, and think he did a fabulous job with the anthem.
We got off the train in Philly, and you could hear "it" from the train tracks. I turned to first base coach Mick Kellaher and said , "Here's the back swing of the pendulum." Going UP the escalators...there they were..hundreds and hundreds of Philly fans, booing, yelling "Welcome to Philadelphia"..screaming. I thanked the man who said , "Welcome to Philadelphia," because we New Yorkers are very polite. There were a few people in Yankees jackets yelling "Let's go Yankees"...but they were drowned out quickly. The Philly police were fabulous. As we passed by, I asked one of them, "Having a nice day, are you?" He smiled and said, "Oh yeah!"
All the way to the buses...and you know what? It was actually terrific. Two cities in the Northeast supporting their teams. I think the middle aged woman in the business suit giving us "the finger" with both hands was a little unseemly, but what the heck.
Joe Torre used to say that Game 3 was the most important game in a series. Andy Pettitte heard him say that many, many times. Now, tomorrow night, Andy gets to be the one on the mound to make that statement come true for the Yankees.
WOULD IT NOT HAVE MADE MORE SENSE TO TAKE BUSES ALL THE WAY THAN TO TRANSFER EVERYTHING FROM THE BUSES TO THE TRAIN BACK TO THE BUSES AGAIN. IT'S NOT THAT LONG A BUS RIDE TO PHILLY.
Go back to 1997, the year after the Yankees won their first World Series under Joe Torre, and two of the most talked about players were a couple of kids who were less than two years removed from their big league debuts in Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.
Welcome to February. It may not feel like it outside, but spring is right around the corner. Pitchers and catchers are just two weeks away, and if that’s enough to warm you up right about now then try another pair of socks and some hot tea.
I can’t imagine I’ll ever have the privilege of covering a player like Hideki Matsui again. The word “unique” is thrown around too much, but this was indeed a unique experience, right from Day One.
The Perks of This Job!!!!! The day started at 5AM. I had 3 alarm clocks and a coffee pot set, so I wouldn't oversleep. The call was for 7:30 at the Stadium to start getting on the 20 buses...
On December 26th, 1919, Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees to finance the musical No, No, Nanette. Since that day, every time the Yankees win the World Series, it's because they have more money than anyone else...
The Yankees traveling party left the Stadium this morning on 3 buses to go to Penn. Station, for the Amtrak Trek to Philadelphia. As the buses turned down 31st Street, we saw the crowds...
Back in 1986, a friend of mine, a 20 year season ticket holder at Yankee Stadium, said to me: "Who do I root for in this thing...it's THEM against THEM!" I guess Mets fans think the same thing right now?
I’ve heard a bunch of different reactions to Mark McGwire’s “revelation” (seriously, if you were surprised by what he admitted, you need to stop taking your stupid pills). Some people were angry, others were disappointed, some were sick of steroids becoming a story again and other people actually felt sorry for the man since he kept crying.
Someone is going to have to explain this one to me. Why wouldn’t the same reasons the Yankees had for not signing Hideki Matsui also apply to Nick Johnson?
The Yankees should just close up shop, and pack it in until 2010. The only thing left to do is leave a contract offer on the table to Johnny Damon to think about over Christmas. Santa Steinbrenner should be fairly generous with a two year contract in the neighborhood of 20 million dollars. If another team finds him worthy of a three year deal, the Yankees should be content to watch him walk and
I hate to be the Grinch that stole Christmas for all you Yankees fans out there, but this is going to be a quiet offseason. There isn't going to be a CC Sabathia. There isn't going to be a Mark Teixeira. There isn't even going to be an A.J. Burnett.
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