First day in Tampa!

After a long day of getting lost (sadly I have a GPS and still managed to get lost), I ended up getting to the stadium around 3:30. When i arrived, I approached the ticket office to find some seats for the game. Now understand, I have been going to games for at least 6 years and I have never had a problem buying tickets. When i got there, the lady told me that all of the tickets were sold out and that they had only the standing room tickets that are in the outfield. I decided to pass on that and hope that more tickets were released.

Well anyhow, I lucked out and ran into a nice man that sold me his tickets for a little bit under face value. He was just looking to get rid of them since he already had tickets. These seats ended up being right behind home plate, i guess in the players family section.

Some interesting notes:

1. I ended up sitting behind John Sterling. He was busy reading printouts of the NY Post and Daily News that were about A-Rod. The best part is that he was apparently sitting in someone elses seat and was asked to move, or in this case leave I suppose as I did not see him sitting in the other rows in the area that were open.

2. I am really starting to get annoyed with the Yankees. Every single year they end up adding another element to the stadium that makes it more unfriendly to the fan. First it was raising the fence around the side field. Then it was not allowing the fans to stand near the railing to take pictures. Then the following year they told the fans they couldn't stand to take pictures around where the pitchers warm up. Now get this. You are NOT allowed to take pictures unless you are in your seat or are outside the stadium. A guy was threatened right in front of me by the cop to obey him or he would be kicked out. This place is a real joke.

3. Reggie Jackson is a real piece of work, aka a real jerk. He actually started yelling at the fans today because they were interrupting his conversation with another person by yelling his name. Apparently when Reggie is on the field, none of the fans are supposed to call out his name. he then proceeded to tell us all that hes great with us and always signs and that we shouldn't be bothering him. Its funny because in the 5 or 6 years I have been going to Spring Training, I have never seen him sign for anyone, instead he mocks people pretending he is going to sign and then spits in their face and walks away.

4. I met some of the nicest people today. Yankees fans in Tampa are great and are one of the main reasons I love coming down here so much. They know so much about baseball and there are so many people with such great stories to tell

5. Damon is great with the fans, as is Swisher. he was hilarious today. Damon was signing and in the background we hear Swisher yelling "Johnny Johnny, can I have your autograph." Sure he was mocking us but it was still funny.

6. I was sitting next to the scouts, and saw Gene Michael and a bunch of the medical people for the Yankees. Was quite fun.

Ill try to post pics later