Two Red Sox Fans Brave the Bronx
New York Yankees – 7
Cleveland Indians – 1
by Kaylyn Thornal, Founder – Fanzooloo and Natasha Bedu, Co-Founder
Upon arriving at the Evil Empire’s Death Star, the mood had already been set – it was pouring buckets and miserable outside. We had bravely headed out of Manhattan despite weather warnings, onward and upward to the Bronx to check out a much anticipated ballpark.
We were hoping to arrive early enough to check out some of the local bars recommended on Fanzooloo, but it was raining so hard that sticking to any plan was just impossibly messy.
We booked parking through the app ahead of time and saved $15. We recommend this spot about a half mile down River Ave because it’s still fairly close. But beware, they do pack the cars in so there’s a chance your car is going to be jammed to the back behind a dozen others.
"In my defense, it was raining and my curly hair was not responding well." - Natasha after having the nerve to put on the free Yankees cap we received upon entering the park
If you’re not leaving early, we recommend waiting out the traffic at NYY Steak right at the park (open until 11pm) or one of the local bars like Stan’s before returning to your car to deal with that mess. The trains can’t be much better either.
So instead of checking out any neighborhood spots, we darted in as soon as the gates opened to escape the horrid weather.
And ain’t it just like the devil to stop the misery just in time to allow his favorite team to rain on someone else’s parade? And that is exactly what happened. The rain abruptly stopped, the clouds parted, and the game was on.
Here’s our most memorable (good and bad) about Yankee Stadium:
1. We’re not usually fans of enormous parks and stadiums (looking at you, Cowboy Stadium), and usually more intimate settings like San Francisco Giants’ AT&T Park or Boston’s Fenway Park are preferred, so for us, a lot about this place was overkill. But when you’re the most popular baseball team on the planet, you DO need a big ass place to hold all your fans. The staff is pretty nice (for NY), and it’s very clean (not just for NY). The building itself is gorgeous, truly empiric. It’s just enormous.
2. Unlike many other parks, you aren’t obnoxiously overloaded with nothing but macrobrews at every turn. They have some great craft beer offerings, like Honker’s Ale – (which we saw a lot at the east coast parks) and Brooklyn Lager, and nearly every kiosk takes plastic. You may think this a small thing, but trust us, it’s huge when you’ve walked miles to find an ATM (we’re talking about you, San Diego Chargers). Make things convenient and people will spend more money. Well done.
3. Halfway up the “to all other levels ramp” you’ll encounter the Yankees History Museum. It’s pretty goose-pimply to see Babe Ruth’s and Mickey Mantle’s uniforms in person. Yanks fans or not, it’s something worth checking out. There’s also a shrine to George Steinbrenner, that exemplifies not only man, but also the enormous ego.
4. The food overall was great, which was surprising really because we’d read that the same concessions company also provide food for Cowboys Stadium, which is just…eh. But there’s a plethora of great and diverse options (for all options visit “During the Game’ section on our Yankees page). We checked out the sushi at section 128 (tempura shrimp with spicy tuna), which was fresh, spicy and very good. Apparently the do make the sushi in-house.
We also tried the Lobel’s prime barbeque beef brisket sandwich. This sandwich is pretty legendary, and with reason. They cut and prepare the beef right in the stadium. Line wait: 15 minutes. Price: $15. Luckily, it was worth the wait. The beef is super tender. A lot of au jus settled at the bottom of the sandwich carton and it was perfect. Worth the price? That’s up to the buyer. It’s New York, things are going to be expensive, but $15 for the sandwich alone is pushing it. For the 15 minute wait, give it to me for $12 and I won’t feel jilted as a one night stand. Because honestly, that’s kind of how it felt.
Nathan’s are also all over, and they do make a delicious hot dog but there are just too many great options to settle for just a dog. We had to try the cheese fries, really just to compare them to the guilty goodness of Shake Shack’s fries at Citi Field we had a couple days earlier. This is work after all. Where Shake Shack’s fries are thin and crispy despite being lathered with delicious cheese, Nathan’s fries are mushy and overly potato-y served with nacho cheese. If you’re into a thicker fry, then maybe these are the fries for you. But a couple of bites and it was a unanimous, “now I just feel fat.”
5. I recently got asked: “You know why nobody likes Red Sox fans?” Me: Blank Stare. Yankees Fan: “Because you’re all obnoxious.”
Maybe that’s partly true. But once we got to our seats way up in the nose bleeds, we found ourselves in the middle of 15 of the most loud mouthed, f-bomb dropping, disrespectful to everyone else in the vicinity obnoxious Yankees fans I have ever witnessed. I mean, dude, bro, shut up.
There’s really nothing worse than watching the team you hate the most play another team you don’t care much about and punch 5 homers by the 3rd inning surrounded by bros.
We left early.
Upon collecting our car from the parking attendant, we leave you with this crazy image. After moving no less than 8 cars to get to ours, the attendant drove our fancy Ford Focus rental up to the front to hand us the keys. And after, yes, after he put the car in park, a stray black cat jumped out from the under carriage, crossed our path, and dove back into the sea of parked cars.
We obnoxious Red Sox fans clearly underestimate the power of the dark side.
Next stop: Baltimore’s Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Stay tuned!
Also check out our photo blog on the Mets’ Citi Field if you missed it!