I met my brother, my nephew, and a couple of my nephew’s friends yesterday outside the Stadium. Our first game of the year. Sat in the shade upstairs above left field–in fair territory–and we had a fine time of it watching the Yanks crank 5 home runs as they beat the Pirates, 7-1.

There were a few memorable images: Tony Sanchez going airborne as he slid headfirst into second base trying to stretch a base hit into a double. He was called safe. Jeter had tagged him and called for the replay himself–Joe Girardi didn’t even need to come out of the dugout. After it was reviewed the call was overturned. But seeing Sanchez’s body lift off the ground in the early evening shadows was cool, man. And we got a good laugh when Pirates reliever Jared Hughes sprinted from the bullpen to the mound. Brought John Rocker to mind. Hughes is a big dude and he was tearing ass. All of the Yankee home runs were fun to  celebrate (especially with 3 young kids)–but the most impressive to watch leave the yard was Zolio Almonte’s shot which was a bomb.

Port Jervis Solarte has been the pleasant surprise of the season–followed closely by Dellin Betances–but I gotta admit, I didn’t expect Mark Teixeira to hit the ball so well either.

We had a fine time. The weather was beautiful and we all left Heppy Kets.