My trip to the All-Star Game

When I had to decide whether to spend $368 for an upper deck seat to the 2008 MLB All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium, my first thought was, "No way." I wasn't going to blow a good chunk of my summer income on an exhibition game, of all things.

But then, I got to thinking: I'd never had a chance to go to a major sporting event like this before. The only playoff game in any sport I've ever seen in person was Game 4 of the 2000 ALDS between the Yankees and the A's. (Needless to say, it wasn't a fun experience -- final score: Oakland 11, New York 1.) I reasoned that for someone as big a Yankee fan as I am, what could be a better way to spend what, in all likelihood, would be my last trip to the current Yankee Stadium?

So I bit the bullet, ponied up the dough, and made one hell of a memory. Here is my account of the trip, in pictures:


First, allow me to introduce my travel companion. This is Mike, a rising junior at Johns Hopkins University and one of my best friends from high school. He votes Republican, but other than that, he's a nice guy and, above all, a Yankee fan.

Mike and I get to the Stadium at 3pm, a solid 5 hours before the game is supposed to start and a solid 2 hours before the gates even open. Yes, in retrospect, we probably could have planned that better. But at the time, we thought this gave us a good chance to crowd around the players' entrance and watch the All Stars arrive at the Stadium.

But we are sorely mistaken. The police have set up a web of steel barricades -- several rows of them, in fact -- to keep us away from buses carting the players to the game. We do manage to catch momentary glimpses of Mariano Rivera and Albert Pujols, however.

Honestly, are President Bush's windows even that tinted?

But, at last, we get a celebrity sighting. On the left in the gray suit is Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon, who for some reason, arrived in a car with Baseball Tonight's John Kruk and Karl Ravetch. Maybe, like the closing duties, Pap didn't want to share a bus with Mariano Rivera. To his credit, though, he did sign a few autographs despite being heckled mercilessly by a Yankee fan behind the barricades. (No, not me.)

At 5pm, we head into the Stadium and sneak down near the field boxes to watch batting practice. But since there are still three whole hours to kill before game time, I decide to take up a new hobby, something akin to a fan's version of ESPN.com's Uni Watch.

Didn't know these jerseys were still fashionable.

Of course, in New York, you'll always see plenty of bandwagoners -- although the woman in the Longoria jersey appears to be jumping ship now that the Rays have lost seven in a row.

Showing their support for the guys who just missed out on All-Star nods.

D-bag.

Back on the field: Joe Girardi and his son shagging fly balls on the field during AL batting practice.

No signs of Madonna as A-Rod takes some grounders. Mike liked the white cleats, but I thought they might have the potential to be a red hoodie-type jinx for A-Rod. And it was: 0-2, including a strikeout with Jeter in scoring position in the first.

That's pretty stealthy paparazzi work on my part. Mike and I also walked right past Spike Lee, but I wasn't quite as quick with the camera.

Time to retreat to our seats: Tier 13, Row X. Notice how there's nothing behind me except a concrete wall -- that's because we're in the last row of the entire stadium. Yup, that's all $368 gets you nowadays.

Still, it's hard to complain about the view.

The Captain makes his way onto the field during the pregame ceremony. I don't know if it came through on TV, but his ovation was way louder than the one A-Rod got. Josh Hamilton may have even gotten a louder applause than A-Rod did.

Quite an incredible sight: a packed house and 49 Hall of Famers on the field. It's already starting to feel like it was worth the investment.

The classic Jeterian batting stance.

A-Rod comes up to bat but doesn't stick around much longer. Kabbalah dinner with Madge, perhaps?

Look what A-Rod missed out on -- they got the actual Village People to do the YMCA!

A sight that never gets old: Enter Sandman.


Nope, we haven't left yet.

Crowd begins to thin out as the game drags on.

Well, so much for going to work tomorrow.

Finally! After squandering a bases-loaded, no-out chance in the 10th and having a runner thrown out at the plate in the 11th, the AL gets it done in the 15th...

...and not a minute too soon.