American Baseball in Panama

The Yankees came to town and played the Marlins this weekend, and we were able to go with a big group of people.  Tickets were $17, $65, or $130.  Of course, we opted for the $17.  The point of the game was to celebrate Panamanian Yankee Mariano Rivera, as he retires from the MLB.  They honored him before the game started, and he threw the first pitch.

 

Dollar beer stands inside the stadium

 

There were tons of people there.  The stadium is about 15 minutes away from our house, but we decided to take a cab because we figured traffic and parking would be chaos, and it was.  We had the cab drop us off about a mile away and we just walked the rest of the way.  There were cars parked all over the place, and not in any organized fashion.  Half of our group took a different cab and we lost them by the time we got to the stadium.  As we approached the entrance, it took us a while to figure out which door we were allowed to go into.  They told us there was an entrance on the right and one on the left.  We went to the left.  Little did we know, once you go left, you’re stuck on that side of the stadium and can’t walk to the other side without having to leave and go back in. 

We got some $1 beers and headed up to our general admission seats, which were just long concrete slab with bird poop all over.  We attempted to find the second half of our group.  They said they were in section 224.  Oh perfect, we are too.  We looked around and looked around.  We couldn’t find them anywhere.  And, really, it shouldn’t be that hard to find another big group of white people.  Are you sure you’re in 224?  Yes, in 224.  They finally told us they were in the nose-bleeds in right field.  Well shit, we’re in the nose-bleeds in left field.  What stadium makes two sections with the same number?  And now we can’t even get to them without going out of the stadium, and then probably wouldn’t be able to get back in.  So, the two groups stayed separated the whole game.  Oh well. 

 

This little baggie was helpful!

I was pretty hungry so Alex went a got me a hot dog right away, during the 1^st inning.  It was pretty American tasting, for the most part.  Some others left at the end of the 3^rd inning to get a dog as well, and the stadium was sold out.  Sold out of hot dogs??  By the 4^th inning?  I guess they didn’t anticipate the crowd…

The game wasn’t that exciting.  The Marlins ended up winning 5-0 and pitched a no-hitter.  Too bad for Rivera.  Panamanians don’t know about the 7^th inning stretch.  We were the only ones standing and singing “Take me out to the ballgame” and they all stared at us.  Then everyone stood up between the 7^th and 8^th inning.  Hmm….  They were pretty enthusiastic about doing The Wave, though. 

Toilet paper being handed out in the bathrooms

The beer stands on the way out

The streets were packed with people as we left and walked the mile back to the shopping center to catch a cab.  We crammed 6 of us in a tiny cab to get back to the city.

Overall, successful American experience in Panama!