Part 1: (The Orient Baseball Nerds’ Adventures in the USA- Part 1)

Stop 3: Boston Red Sox @ New York Yankees

After another fun day in Atlanta during which we enjoyed some excellent BBQ food at Twin Smokers (well when in the Deep South and all that!), we headed back to New York on Thursday afternoon, as there was important business to attend to the following evening: a trip to Yankee Stadium to watch my beloved Yankees take on their fierce rivals the Boston Red Sox.

For those not fully up to speed with the shared history of the two teams, it dates back to almost the very beginning of baseball. Between 1901 and 1918 the Red Sox (originally known as the Boston Americans) were the most successful team in the sport, winning the game’s ultimate prize, the World Series, 5 times in those 18 seasons. The Yankees were originally founded as the New York Highlanders in 1903 and really didn’t make much of an impact in their early years. Then in 1919 everything changed.

In need of cash to fund a musical production, Red Sox owner and Broadway producer Harry Frazee took the somewhat drastic step of selling a certain Babe Ruth to the Yankees, prompting an almost complete reversal of both teams’ fortunes. The Yankees went on to win more than twice as many World Series titles as any other MLB team, while the Red Sox did not win another for 86 years. The Red Sox drought became known as “The Curse of the Bambino” and was only broken in 2004 when the Red Sox miraculously came back from 3 games to 0 down to win the American League Championship Series (basically the semi-final) against… the Yankees of course! The Red Sox then swept the St Louis Cardinals 4 games to 0 to bring home the Commissioner’s Trophy for the sixth time in their history.

As the two teams continue to compete in the American League East division, matchups between the two teams, especially in the postseason play-offs, are often seen as pivotal indicators of which is the better team each year. While not exactly like a football derby as we would know it, the atmosphere in these games is both exciting and intense and there isn’t a great deal of love lost between the two teams.

While Kay had visited the Stadium previously, she had done so very much under duress, so I thought I would try to give her the full experience, even if she insisted on wearing her newly acquired Atlanta Braves hat!

We rode the subway uptown to the Bronx nice and early for two reasons: first I/we had experienced previously how long it can take to enter the stadium with long queues and in-depth security checks, and secondly because there is a row of bars just down the street that provide the perfect location for some pre-match refreshment. We ended up trying all three of the bars each offering a different atmosphere: Stan’s is a traditional sports bar, Billy’s is more like a cavernous nightclub with a roof terrace right next to the elevated subway line, but Kay’s particular favourite was the Yankees Twin Eatery which was fairly small but created quite a party atmosphere spilling out onto the pavement even in the late afternoon/ early evening.

Pre-game partying in the Bronx

We made our way into the stadium (the Yankees’ home is always referred to as The Stadium) in surprisingly quick time, but sadly there was no promotional giveaway as this wasn’t exactly a matchup that fans needed to be encouraged to attend.

Opened in 2009 the new Yankee Stadium has endeavoured to retain many of the features of the previous incarnation and while it is certainly impressive, it is also seen by normal fans as being too expensive, too corporate, and too focused on generating revenue rather than being atmosphere driven and fan centred. A number of fans that I have spoken to in the past have described it is almost like a mega ATM. For football fans think Emirates Stadium, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium or the new Wembley, only even more commercially driven. Having said all that though it is still a spectacular venue to watch a game in.

Your author outside The (New) Stadium

The view inside

The game itself, as is so often the way in clashes between the Yankees and the Red Sox, turned out to be the very definition of a “pitchers’ duel”. That is how low-scoring games where the pitchers on each side are dominant and the batters struggle to get many hits are described. The fact that it was settled by a single run in the top of the 7^th inning really sums up how tightly contested the game was. For many fans the abiding “highlight” will be a squirrel breaking onto the field and running up to the pitching mound, which kind of sums up the lack of offensive action!

Although for Kay, the ice cream that I insisted she had served in a mini batting helmet (it being a scientifically proven baseball-watching fact that everything tastes better served in a batting helmet!) and the generous cocktails will also be fondly remembered.

The two teams would end up meeting in the postseason play-offs with the Yankees emerging triumphant before being knocked out by the Toronto Blue Jays in the Divisional Series. Still as always, well for yours truly at least, it was another very fun evening watching the Yankees.

Stop 4: The Jackie Robinson Museum

For those who may not be aware of Jackie Robinson and his story, he was unquestionably one of the most inspirational people, not just in US sports, but the entire history of the US nation. To put it simply he was the first black baseball player to play in the major leagues when he took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Prior to that the sport had been racially segregated through a “gentleman’s agreement” (sic!) which barred African Americans from Major League Baseball for decades, leading to the creation of separate segregated leagues. 

It was Branch Rickey, club president and general manager of the Dodgers, an innovative baseball executive and a leader in the Civil Rights Movement, who also knew a thing or two about marketing and making a buck, that convinced Jackie to sign for the Dodgers on a minor league contract in 1945.

One of Jackie’s jerseys and bats

Born in Georgia in the Deep South, Jackie had excelled in four sports while at college but was actually better known for his prowess in American football rather than baseball. After college he was drafted for service in the US Army in the Second World War, where he was court-martialled for refusing to sit at the back of a segregated army bus.

From the very outset of his journey with the Dodgers organisation Jackie faced discrimination and prejudice at almost every turn. Anticipating that this would be the case, Rickey famously advised Jackie that he was “looking for a ballplayer with guts enough not to fight back” despite what might come his way.

Despite everything Jackie went on to have a stellar 10-year career with the Dodgers, putting up hugely impressive stats as a player (a .311 career batting average, 137 home runs, 734 runs batted in and 197 stolen bases), won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1947, the Most Valuable Player Award in 1949 and in 1955 he was part of the first Dodgers team to win the World Series when they (finally) defeated the Yankees.  In 1962 Jackie became the first African American inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. 

After his baseball career Jackie went on to become a leader in the Civil Rights Movement and used his celebrity status to further human rights and to endeavour to change the landscape of race relations in the United States. Quite some player, but more than that, quite some human being!

We both found the museum and Jackie’s story emotional and inspiring, and if you ever find yourself in New York wanting to find out more about his inspirational life, we would both highly recommend it.

Stop 5: Southern Maryland Blue Crabs @ Staten Island Ferry Hawks

After spending a good couple of hours at the Jackie Robinson Museum we did a bit more thrift store shopping (well it can’t all be about baseball can it?), had another quick pit stop at the excellent Smacking Burger and then headed down to Wall Street where the Staten Island Ferry Terminal is located.

Staten Island is the smallest and most southern of New York’s boroughs and is separated from the rest of the city by New York Bay. There are other ways to get there, I believe, but the easiest and definitely the most picturesque is to get the ferry across the Bay which is free and takes just over half an hour from one side to the other. It passes near the Statue of Liberty and offers great photo opportunities of the famous statue and Ellis Island.

Once we arrived on the other side, we had a quick look around the shopping centre next door to the terminal, but in the absence of a bar we decided we would explore the area a bit further. A couple of streets away we discovered, (thanks in the main to Google Maps!), Steiny’s Pub. As soon as we opened the door, the heads of the few local drinkers at the bar turned enquiringly (menacingly?)  towards us and we were faced with a familiar dilemma: were we brave enough to style it out, or would we be better off turning back on ourselves and finding somewhere else for our pregame preparations?

Being Brits with one of us hailing from the East End of London and the other from the North West of England, we simply walked up to the bar, grabbed a stool each and ordered a couple of beers! Eventually more unfamiliar people started to drift in and the menacing stares from our fellow patrons subsided, even from the one fella who looked like he had come straight out of the TV drama “Sons of Anarchy” about an outlaw motorcycle gang! We were even given a “discount” on a round after the lady behind the bar worked out that she had overcharged us on the previous order.

Suitably refreshed and wanting the chance to have a mooch around we decided to head back down towards the ballpark. We arrived as the gates were just about to open. Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH) Community Park, to give it its official title, was originally opened in 2001 and looks directly out over the bay back towards Manhattan. Take it from us the view is utterly stunning especially as dusk draws in and the Big Apple starts to light up.

Manhattan from SIUH Community Park

The park housed the Staten Island Yankees, (a minor league affiliate of the Yankees of course) for 20 years before the reorganisation of the minor leagues, the Covid pandemic, and the decision by the Yankees to withdraw from Staten Island left the borough without a professional baseball team.

The Ferry Hawks were officially launched in 2022 and play in the independent MLB partner league (ie not affiliated to Major League Baseball) the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.  The team name was chosen in a fan ballot (commonly used in the minor leagues to choose names) based on the team’s location near the Staten Island Ferry and local birds of prey (red-tailed and Cooper’s hawks), not as we had hoped on the name for the staff of the ferry itself.

While there were sadly no promotional giveaways, it was Disco Night with a post-game disco party complete with DJ and fireworks. With a bit of time to kill before the opening pitch we headed straight towards the deserted bar we had spotted down the left field line. only to be stopped halfway there by an elderly usher who insisted we needed a special wristband to go any further. When I asked him where we could purchase one of these he told me to go and speak to Guest Services. As soon as I got there the lady there told me to go back and tell him that that wasn’t the policy and that he should let us through. Our new friend the usher must have witnessed this exchange as he simply just waved us through.

While they didn’t have the buckets of cocktail that Kay had enjoyed at the Cyclones, there was a plentiful supply of drink options including ridiculously strong tequila as my darling wife was to find out later on in the evening.

As game time crept closer the park really didn’t seem to be getting any fuller, which felt a bit sad as the view and the planned postgame entertainment alone should have offered something of a bigger draw. We did however see a couple of people dressed as if they had come straight out of a 1970’s disco complete with glittery clothes, Cuban heels and ridiculous wigs, which lent the early evening a surreal feeling.

While we didn’t know a great deal about either team’s form coming into the game, it soon became apparent that the Blue Crabs were the stronger of the two. The visitors scored through a home run in the top of the first then put up 3 more runs in the third and another 4 in fourth to lead 11-0 after just 4 innings played. It may have been due to a stiffish breeze coming off the bay but some of the fielding under fly balls by the Ferry Hawks outfielders was reminiscent of watching a 3-ring circus, all it needed was the clown music as an accompaniment. Although the highlight of the opening part of the game was when mascot Frankie the Ferry Hawk engaged in a supposed impromptu dance to “You’re the One That I Want” from Grease with the third base coach.

A great place to watch a game – shame about the crowd

With the game pretty much over before the halfway stage I decided to go in search of some food as I am always keen to explore what’s on offer at different parks. Once I reached the concessions counter, to the utter amazement of the lady next to me and myself, we were informed they had run out of hot dogs. Hang on just a minute, we had only played 4 innings, there was hardly anybody here and they had already run out of the fundamental ballpark staple?? Thankfully a potential diplomatic incident with a hungry Brit was avoided when I was offered a rather excellent bacon cheeseburger and fries for the same price!

The excellent food sustained me through the remainder of the game in which the Blue Crabs notched another run, the Ferry Hawks got on the board with 4 of their own, although eventually lost 12-4.

After the game we of course headed back up to the left field bar, without an usher in sight, enjoyed a couple of tequila shots, the 70’s disco music and the fireworks before heading back to Manhattan on the ferry sharing the retro candy (sweets) that Kay had purchased at the park, which took me back to my childhood in Westfield.

It may not have been quite at the level or have the same atmosphere as some of the other games we had seen and parks we had visited, but it was a very fun way to spend a Saturday evening. Maybe they will find a way to grow “Hawk Nation” in the next few seasons, but I know for definite that they have gained two UK-based fans who will most definitely be back when we are next in town.

The following day was our last in the States and we treated ourselves to one final trip to Central Park to watch Kay’s favourite dance skaters before heading to the airport, both of us sad that our adventure had come to an end.

Since we’ve been home Kay has declared herself as an official Atlanta Braves fan, has been wearing her hat on a regular basis, and the pair of us have spent a not inconsiderable amount of time researching minor league baseball and all of its quirky attractions. Our “short” list of parks we want to visit grows by the week, and we are already booked to go back to Atlanta for the football World Cup next summer where we will inevitably be working a baseball game or two into our schedule.