On June 24th we took
Matthew to see his first baseball game, a minor league game between the Staten
Island Yankees—the New York Yankees minor league (single A) affiliate stationed
here on Staten Island—and the Pittsburg Pirates minor league affiliate, the
West Virginia Black Bears. Here are some
pictures.
At the gate, Matthew dressed as a
complete Yankees fan.
At taking a picture with the team
mascots. That’s Scooter, the Holy
Cow. If you know Yankees legend, you’d realize
where they got that name.
It was one of those minor league
special days where they (1) gave out a ball to each fan, (2) allow small kids
on the field and at the end of the game run the bases, and (3) fireworks after
the game. It was a really good one to go
to.
We got there early, and mother and
child were restless.
Staten Island Yankees stadium is
located right on the harbor with a magnificent view of the Manhattan
skyline. Here’s a zoomed in shot looking
out over the right field fence.
And Matthew loving it on the field.
Single A league are the players just
drafted, and Matthew got his new baseball that he’d just receive signed by one
of the Black Bears players. As it turned
out, that player had been a local Staten Island kid who had gone to one of our
high schools. And to Matthew’s pleasure,
they shared the same first names. That
young ball player was Matt Diorio, and he got a hit and an RBI. We hope Matt makes it someday to the big
leagues. Matt is number 18.
Here’s a picture Matthew took with my
camera which he was very proud of. He caught
the Yankees pitcher in action.
As luck would have it, the Staten
Island Yankees, who had trailed all night, tied the game up and won it in the
bottom of the tenth inning. You can see the box score here. And here’s a picture of the fireworks.
What a spectacular night for
Matthew. He said “it was the best day of
my life.” Don’t take that as
absolute. He says that about a lot of days…LOL. But he did have a great time.
