In Toronto - Day 2

We awoke at 7:45am, ready to start another day and cheer the Yankees on to victory.  The plan was to be at the stadium and in line by 9am, which meant being showered and checked out by 8:50.  Everything went smoothly and we arrived at the stadium at 9am, and headed down to gates 5 and 6.  There were already 5 or so people huddled at gate 5, no one was at gate 6.  We took our place in line at the gate 6 doors and waited the 2 hours for the gates to open.  As the time passed, more people showed up, the majority of which went to gate 5, same as they did the day before and every other time I'd been to a Jays game. ********. 

The doors opened at 11am and I again sprinted down to the front.  This time I decided to go all the way to the little corner closest to the dugout.  First one there.  Mission accomplished.  The wife, who is a little slower, wasn't too far behind, which was surprising considering they stopped her to look through her purse.  The Jays were still taking BP and some Yankee pitchers were in the outfield playing catch.  Usually when the gates open, the visiting team is just beginning to stretch.  There weren't any Yankees out and I knew what that meant, no batting practice.  Bummer.  I still had hopes that Guidry would be out working with the staff.  He was.  Now all he had to do was stop by and sign some autographs.  Which he did, but he started way down the first base line, nowhere near where I was standing.  He was slowly making his way down toward the dugout when Chien-Ming Wang and Kyle Farnsworth started signing autographs.  They were even further down the first base line, pretty much in right field. 

Things weren't going well in my corner.  Guidry had stopped signing and was making his way back to the clubhouse.  He got near and I yelled "Gator!"  He stopped, looked, and came over.  He signed a ball for me on the sweet spot.  He signed for a few others and went back into the dugout. 

Wang and Farnsworth were still pretty far down the line.  Scott Proctor was then coming in and was called over to sign, and he obliged.  He signed for everybody.  He would be walking away, thinking he was done, then someone else would call his name and he'd go over.  Nice guy.  I didn't have him sign anything though.  Not really sure why.  I try to be somewhat selective in who I have sign a ball.  If you've read my previous posts, you know I'm not high on Proctor.  He's doing pretty well and I'm glad, but I still didn't want to use a ball on him.  I'm sure I'll wish I had at a later time.

Farnsworth and Wang eventually made their way down the line and both were happy to sign for the fans.  They both signed on the sweet spot for me and I was very thankful. It's always nice when these guys take the time to stop over to sign.  They all spent quite a while signing for everyone.  They probably each took an hour out of their time to stop over.  Everyone was pretty thankful which was nice to see because most people don't say "thank you."  It goes a long way.

Eventually everyone got kicked out of the area so fans that hold tickets for those seats could sit down.  It took a lot longer though then the Jays staff would have liked.  They usually kick you out 45 minutes before game time.  With probably 50 minutes to go, Rivera came over to sign and no one was leaving.  The ushers were pretty helpless.  They had no choice but to let everyone stay.  It was probably 20 minutes to first pitch when Mo left.  I didn't get his autograph because I already have it.  I got it last year outside the Yankees' hotel.  I've seen Rivera sign many times.  He's probably the most accessible Yankee.

Our seats were in the first row down the right field line.  They were pretty nice seats.  We had a good vantage point of the action. Mussina looked awesome.  He was definitely on his game.  Moose made the Jays lineup look pretty silly at times.  Glaus in particular.  Teach him to go deep on us twice in a game.  I'll go into battle with Mussina any day.  The guy may not own any rings or Cy Young hardware, but he's a top tier pitcher and is always sharp in big games. With some run support, he'll finally have a shot at both.

The big offensive highlight of the day was A-Rod's solo HR that broke the scoreless tie.  I captured the swing on camera and it came out rather nice.  There are more in the photo album.  Alex had a good series and has been on a little power trip of late.  The Yankee offense is just awesome.  There was 1 point in the game where the entire batting order, with the exception of Andy Phillips and Posada were hitting over .300, and Posada was at .295.  It was good to see them finally win a game where they didn't have to score 10 runs to win.   We very well could have scored more if not for that bad call by the umpire.  Horrible call.

The bullpen looked good yesterday as well.  Farnsworth pitched solid in relief of Mussina.  Mo was Mo.  You knew when he came in that the game was in hand.  It would have only been better if he came out to "Enter Sandman."

It was good to pick up the "W" and get back to the .500 mark.  We're trailing Boston in the standings but if you ask me, the Yankee schedule has been much tougher to date.  No question about it.  In time, their lead will diminish and we'll be back on top.  Yankees win!!  Thaaaaa Yankees win!!

J