Kebobs With Giambi In The Boogie Down.

I saw the Mets lose an otherwise great game last night out at Yankee Stadium. Noted alleged steroid-fiend Jason Giambi smacked-down reliever Braden Looper at the bottom of the 9th to send the Mets, who'd not been behind the whole game, back to Flushing with their only loss of the three game series.

Here was my view from the cheap seats:


This was my first trip to Yankees Stadium since a seventh-grade Little League trip. I'd not gone back there because as a Mets fan, I've always felt that going to see any game out there would result in some sort of implied support for Steinbrenner's gang.

However, how could I pass up tickets for a Subway Series game? I had gone to the first series at Shea earlier this season, and had a ball, so this was a no-brainer.

Surprisingly, I was amazed at the friendliness of the Yankee fans, as compared to the cranks that I always seem to sit near at Shea. Another thing I thought cool was the scene out on the streets adjacent to Yankee Stadium. Since Shea is in the middle of parking lots and train yards, there's really no real neighborhood there. But The House That Ruth Built has all kinds of local bars and shops to cater to fans. And as the missus and I walked down the street in search of some pre-game food decked in Mets gear, we didn't hear a single wiseass comment. And this is in New York, where you usually stand an 85% chance of getting razzed for looking at someone the wrong way...

I got a killer spicy beef kebob at this joint:

which featured a comical and tiny man acting as maitre'd/barker collecting money, taking orders, and generally confusing things at a stand that sold only kebobs. Usually, your choices would be either "hot sauce" or "no hot sauce", and "how many". This guy turned it into an ordeal similar to choosing the options while building a computer. Whatever, that was was some tasty meat on a stick.

Newsday's got the best headline of the day on the game:
Looper’s lament on loss: ‘I stunk’.

Here's my favorite Looper, a Scottish band affilliated with Belle & Sebastian.