FEVER
three road trips of the 2005 season. Having gone to more games involving the Yankees than any other team, the
Yankees had also been the only New York or Philadelphia area pro team I had never seen play a road game -- at
least, not as a media person.
Well, that all changed when I traveled with the club on its September 13th - 18th road trip to Tampa and Toronto
(we actually started the trip on the 12th -- an off day).
St. Petersburg, Florida. These pictures were taken prior to the middle game of the three-game series against the
Devil Rays on September 14th. The picture to the right was taken from the visiting radio broadcast booth.
Supposedly, it's one of the smallest visiting radio booths in the majors, but I actually found it quite convenient
enough to work in. The Yankees wound up sweeping the three-game series against the Rays, who had given the
Yanks fits all season prior to this season series finale in Tampa.
I was taken very good care of in Tampa...An engineer/DJ/everything else in radio who I had gotten to know took
me out to dinner the night I arrived in town and one of my best college friends, Wiatt Bowers, who now lives in the
Tampa area, and I got together for lunch on Thursday, the 15th.
a bonus, whatever you want to call it. The strangest part of this trip was going to the Yanks final game in Tampa
on September 15th, and then all of a sudden, going to sleep that night in a Toronto hotel. That was an adjustment.
Toronto was hardly a strange town to me, as it used to be a part of my sales territory in my former life...I mean, er,
job. Well, I think traveling to cities like Toronto for the purpose of attending baseball games is a better idea than
traveling to Toronto to go on sales calls. Nevertheless, during my time in Toronto, I stopped in at one of the many
"Second Cup" shops that exist there. The one I stopped at was where I once had one of those sales calls, back in
April 1998....I caught myself reminiscing a bit.
This was not my first time at the Rogers Centre, or Skydome, or whatever you want to call it. I had been there
previously as a fan for a Toronto Raptors and Toronto Argonauts game. This trip would represent the first time I
ever saw the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. I had previously, in 1985, as a fan seen the Blue Jays play a home
game at their old ballpark, Exhibition Stadium.
The Yankees wound up winning 2-of-3 from the Jays in this most recent series, losing the finale to end a six-game
winning streak.
next trip, which would begin September 25th in Baltimore, continue in Boston to conclude the regular season, and
then....who knows???? Well, let's find out.
AL East division crown, there was a lot of scoreboard watching, at least by us working in the radio booth. I had a lot
more preparation to do, and that included bringing more radio equipment with me in anticipation of a Yankee locker
room celebration should they clinch the division crown on this trip. And the moment hit pretty much as soon as we
arrived in Baltimore. I walked around the Inner Harbor after we arrived Sunday night and there were Boston Red Sox
fans everywhere....EVERYWHERE. The Red Sox had just completed a three-game sweep in Baltimore and their fans
were enjoying the moment. Now, the Yanks were in town to start a four-game series.
Baltimore itself was a lot nicer than I had expected...I had plenty of time to walk around the Inner Harbor and Little
Italy. The only problem I had with anybody on this trip was with the ushers at Camden Yards, who usually gave me
wrong information on where to go and also came across as a bit "power hungry." But, enough of that.
I had been to Baltimore Orioles home games before...actually, I attended a game in 1985, a game in 1995 and now
here I am again in 2005. I also did attend a game in 1999 (against the Red Sox, no less) but left before the game
ended.
The Yankees wound up winning three-of-four games from the Orioles and would head up to Boston with a one-game
lead over the Red Sox for the division crown. The two teams would battle in a three-game season-ending series to
decide things.
eight times in the playoffs. The problem was all those games were played at Yankee Stadium. Finally, I would have
my opportunity to work some Yankees - Red Sox games at Fenway Park. I had actually been to Fenway before as a
fan, but not since opening day in 1985 when the Red Sox defeated the Yankees.
The atmosphere outside Fenway was incredible...it is an absolutely amazing atmosphere that any baseball fan
should appreciate. However, inside the park during the game, the stadium seemed quieter to me than I thought it
would...granted, it's not that big a place, but I thought it would be more crazy and less corporate than Yankee
Stadium. Nope, I guess no place can match the Bronx...though my mind on that would change shortly after leaving
Boston...more on that later.
The Red Sox would win the first game of the series, leading to what might have been my wildest day ever as a radio
engineer for the middle game on October 1st, a day game. I knew the Yankees could clinch the division if they won
and the Indians lost and thus in that scenario I would have to set up equipment in the Yankees clubhouse so we can
do our full-post game show from there amidst the celebration.....but I thought based on what MLB.COM told me the
night before that the Indians would play on Saturday night. So, I figured that even if the Yankees won in the
afternoon, they couldn't clinch the division -- or the playoffs -- until later that night. So, sure enough just before the
Yankees game started, I found out the Indians game was being played in the afternoon. Egads, I hadn't set up any
equipment in the locker room in anticipation of a clinching celebration. So, when it became more apparent as the day
wore on that the Yankees could in fact clinch the division on this day, I got somebody else (thank you, Marc Malusis)
to run the broadcast upstairs for me, while I went downstairs around the 6th inning to set up equipment in the
clubhouse.
It all paid off. The Indians lost about 15 minutes before the Yankees would defeat the Red Sox and clinch their eighth
straight AL East crown. Our post-game show from the Yankees champagne soaked clubhouse worked perfectly and
drew some praise from the big cheeses over at WCBS, and a wild day had become a successful one. All-in-all,
Saturday was a long day. I started it by engineering Mike and the Mad Dog's radio broadcast on WFAN at 9:00 a.m.
and they also did a post-game talk show that ran until 6:30 p.m. So, I was on the air for 9 1/2 hours. But the evening
was fun...I saw my family, which had just recently moved to Boston from New Haven. It was my only time in Boston
where I was able to escape from all the baseball hysteria.
AL East. All would be calm, the craziness was over...I have time now to enjoy myself and take some snapshots. What,
are you kidding? What we didn't know was where we were going to fly to after this game was over. Were we going to
fly home? Or were we going to open the playoffs in Los Angeles against the Angels? Well, guess where we're
going......................................
in Minneapolis (I had never been to Minneapolis). At least for me, I had pretty much totally forgotten that this trip
started in, and included four days in Baltimore. That part of the trip had become such an afterthought. When I woke
up the morning of October 3rd, I could've been in any part of the country...Kansas City, Maine, Alaska...it wouldn't have
mattered. That's how much the trip was starting to wear on me....of course, I was having a blast at the same time, but
this was the hardest I had ever worked and the most I had ever traveled.
Thankfully, October 3rd was an off-day, the Yankees first off day since the day before the Tampa trip (I had also
worked all the Yankee radio broadcasts on the homestand that took place between these two road trips). This gave
me plenty of time to go to Angel Stadium, set up at my own leisure and not have to work on any time pressure.
For the Yankees first two playoff games, Angel Stadium was absolutely electric, I think it at least matched the Bronx in
terms of playoff intensity. And, at least for me, the energy in the stadium was very much welcome; it was a long trip
and I needed a wake up pill, and the loudness certainly helped. The Yankees would win the first game, but not be able
to hold a 2-0 lead in game 2, so the two teams were tied at one in the first-round best-of-five ALDS as they headed to
the Bronx for games 3 and 4.
These were my first baseball games I had seen in Anaheim since I saw the Yanks play the Angels as a fan back
in.......you guessed it, 1985.
And not to forget to mention, the radio booths in Anaheim were the absolutely best I had ever worked in, in any stadium
for any sport. Never did I have more room to work, and never do I remember working in a booth that was so clean and
well kept. But how in the World can you be in Southern California and not have any air conditioning vents in the
booth? At least our games in Anaheim were played primarily at night.
after finding out we'd be flying out to the West Coast
from Boston, here I am in Angel Stadium. This picture
was taken from the visiting radio booth at the ballpark.
American League Division Series. That game would be played in Anaheim, setting up my third road trip with the team.
4 of the series was played at Yankee Stadium on Sunday evening. Both teams had to travel out West after the Yankees
won game 4...the Yankees got to the hotel at about 4:00 a.m. Pacific time. Of course, I had to be at the ballpark at about
10:30 that same morning to set up a potential locker room celebration show (similar to what I did in Boston) in anticipation
of a Yankees victory. So, once we arrived at the hotel, I was there for a total of six hours before checking out. The game
itself started at about 5:15 pm (PDT).
And once again, we weren't sure during the day where we were going to be headed after the game. If we win, we go to
Chicago to start the League Championship Series, if we lose, we go right back home -- where we all had just been less
than 24 hours earlier.
It wasn't meant to be for the Yankees...they lost 5-3 in the deciding game and the season was over. And the only thing
that prolonged a very short trip to the west coast was the fact that our plane that was supposed to take us back home
"broke" before we ever moved out of California and we wound up waiting for about three hours for another plane. Then,
we had to stop in Houston (I had never been to Houston) to change crews. We finally got back to Yankee Stadium at
about noon on Tuesday and my Yankee Odyssey had ended.
and for giving me the opportunity to have a working experience I had never had before. Special thanks go to the
Yankees announcers, Suzyn Waldman and John Sterling, and regular producer/engineer Brian Fergenson, who were
my direct co-workers, for both their patience and for their giving me all the guidance I needed to do the best job I can. It
was an experience I'll never forget.
