Coping, Part 4

A comfy robe, a pair of slippers, a song on the radio, a certain pair of handcuffs - there are little things that comfort us that we don't think about, but would miss if they were gone. I had to give one up upon moving to Phoenix and I didn't realize how much a comfort it was until it was gone.

Yankee baseball.

In New York the Yankees have their own channel, YES. When YES isn't arguing with Cablevision, their games are viewable by every New Yorker. There's a certain pleasure to getting home from work and eating dinner in time to see Rivera finish the game. It was always there, like that ringing in my ears, or Seinfeld at 7. One comes to rely on it without even noticing.

Here in the Valley, ESPN shows Yankee games from time to time, but one has to think ahead and account for a time difference. Even if I remembered to check the schedule and get home from work in enough time to see a 4 pm local time game, I wouldn't be able to devote my energy to watching until the kids were in bed, meaning that the Yankees would be in showers and on the way home before I could turn the game on.

So I catch as catch can, on weekends and occasionally when my team hits the west coast. On the whole, it's unsatisfying.

But there is one hope - inter-league play. Sure enough, when I checked the MLB schedule this winter, the Yankees would be coming to Chase Field for a three game set. I could go see them live! Catching a game in the Valley would almost make up for missing most games. Plus, unlike Philadelphia fans, Phoenix fans don't make me uncomfortable or call security on me.

Excited, I checked when the tickets would go on sale.

"The Lottery for tickets opens March 15."

Apparently, the Yankees are such a big draw in other markets, the powers that be don't want a first-come-first-served basis for tickets. Chase Field takes everyone's email address and selects people at random for the privilege of buying tickets to see the Yankees play the D-Backs, thus ensuring equality of access.

Fine. I'l roll the dice. Put me down. I'll even schedule a calendar reminder to buy tickets on March 15, first thing, in case I roll a seven.

A few weeks before the drawing, I get a phone call.

"Hi, is this Carl from the Diamondbacks, how are you today?"

"I'm OK, my daughter kept me up last night with a fever, so I'm a little tired, and they're looking for an answer on this thing from me at work in like 30 minutes and I'm hungry and I keep meaning to schedule an appointment concerning my Toyota's recall and my wife is going to give birth to our second any day now, but you aren't really interested in hearing all that, are you?"

"No, I was just being polite. I see you signed up for the lottery to buy tickets to the Diamondbacks game on June 21, 22 or 23, is that right?"

"The Yankee games, that's right."

"May I ask your interest in those particular D-Backs games?"

"I was planning on streaking in front of the largest possible audience at Chase Field," is what I didn't say. What I actually said was, "I'm a recent transplant from New York, and I was hoping to see my Yankees in person, if only once."

"I understand. You know if you bought our six-game saver package, you could select to buy tickets to one of the dates the D-Backs play the Yankees and get your tickets to that game now, instead of having to wait for the lottery. Does that sound appealing to you?"

"Well, I work full time and have kids that go to bed around the third inning, so I don't think I'll be able to actually make more than two or three games, given my constraints and a wife that only seems interested in the Phillies, who won't be on the field at that particular time."

"All right then, here's my number in case you change your mind..."

Phillies - Diamondbacks tickets were much easier to come by. But luck was with me. I'll be there on June 21st, in my robe and slippers, ready to toss one back with the team.