Pictures From an Exhibition

In the bottom of the tenth inning, the American League loaded the bases on two errors by Dan Uggla and an intentional walk issued to Carlos Guillen. At that point, I figured the game was moments away from ending, and fitting, Mariano Rivera would get the win. I snapped a picture of my ticket and scorecard to preserve the moment forever. Little did I know that I would still be in Yankee Stadium for an hour and 38 minutes.

What follows are a select bunch of photos from my vantage point in Row N of Tier Reserve 31. For the first seven innings, I used my mom’s high-powered zoom camera, and I have some nice shots of the pre-game ceremonies. You can see them all in my flickr set. Click on any picture for bigger versions and click through the jump for a select bunch with my comments.

The pre-game ceremonies began with the reserves lining up in the outfield grass. Here, the AL pitchers and bench players await the Hall of Famers. Only in New York (and probably Boston) do fans boo at the All Star Game, and the loudest boos were reserved for Jason Varitek and Jonathan Papelbon, an undeserving All Star and a disrespectful All Star, respectively.

For much of the night, Mariano Rivera had a camera crew tailing him. As you’ll see in the 8th inning bullpen shots, the crew just filmed Rivera throughout the evening. Here, he waits in the lineup next to Roy Halladay. I snapped the lineup of reserves here, here and here. I’m not quite sure what David Ortiz is doing in that last picture.

The NL Reserves, with Cubs manager and Bronx fan-favorite Lou Piniella in front, lined up behind third base.

It’s 8:13 p.m. Do you know where your first pitch is? (Answer: Still 33 minutes away.)

At this point, the special Hall of Fame ceremony began. Joe Buck announced every living Hall of Famer (who could make to the stadium). The photos are as follows: managers, pitchers, first basemen, second basemen, A-Rod and the third basemen, the short stops, the DHs and the outfielders.

Derek Jeter jogs out to his familiar spot at short stop. As he does so often these days, Derek hit into an All Star double play later in the game. He also picked up the AL’s first hit.

Derek acknowledges the applause.

With everyone on the field, Yankee Stadium looked regal minutes before the game began.

After Sheryl Crow sang the National Anthem and the Stadium crowd witness the olbligatory military flyover, we were ready for the first pitch. A golf cart carried George Steinbrenner and the ceremonial baseballs out to the mound.

The Yankee Greats threw out to the Yankee All Stars, and with that, the pre-game ceremonies ended amidsts red, white and blue streamers. Meanwhile, Reggie practiced his ball-flipping skills.

Derek singles before…

…A-Rod fouls out to end the first.

During the seventh inning, the Village People joined in on the YMCA absurdity. The real fun would begin seven innings later, however, with the 14th-inning stretch.

Mariano threw in the ninth and tenth, but he would be long gone when the game finally ended, much to Dan Uggla’s delight, in the 15th inning, nearly five hours after it started.