Back in 1964 when Shea Stadium and the New York World's Fair opened simultaneously and adjacent to one another, there was a commercial that said that half the fun was the subway special that took you there. I was reminded of that today when I traveled to the North Meadow of Central Park (pictured above left) in New York City for the second day of the annual Gotham Cup. The Gotham Cup is a vintage base ball festival that draws clubs from up and down the east coast, from as far away as Providence and Maryland.
My team, the Eureka, played two games today, the first at the ungodly hour of 9:00 a.m. I remember going through the North Meadow almost three years ago as part of the New York City 1/2 Marathon, but today was the first time I was conscious of the magnificent quality of the grass and what seemed like unlimited baseball and softball fields. I got there about 8:20 and there were already games going on as far as the eye could see, which was pretty much the case until I left a little after 4:00.
Recently I have started using the New York City subway to get around in Manhattan, usually after driving and parking at the Port Authority. It has worked pretty well and with the AIDS walk going on in the same area, driving didn't seem like a real great idea. Getting to the Port Authority early on Sunday morning, was no problem, I followed the signs to the C train, used my Metro Card and all of the sudden saw a sign that said "No C trains - 5/16-5/19. My confidence took a big hit, but below that statement was the question - "How does this effect me," followed by directions to take the A train if you wanted to go uptown. Sure enough about 10 minutes later the A train arrived, I took it to 96th Street and Central Park West and arrived at the North Meadow.
With the uncertain weather forecast, I was focused on the possibility of rain and didn't pay too much attention to the temperature so I was fairly cold most of the day, especially when the wind picked up. As noted our first game began at 9:00 and it was somewhat reminiscent of last week's Mets-Braves game that Carol and I attended. It was a back and forth affair that we finally lost 11-10 in the bottom of the 11th inning, an exciting well played game.
Unfortunately, due to the vagaries of the schedule our next game wasn't until 2:15, giving us almost 3 hours to kill. There were other games going on at the time so I watched them including an overhand game by 1884 rules - the first time I had seen this version of base ball. Like the underhand game no gloves are allowed in the field, with the one exception being the catcher. The really strange rule, however, was six balls being required for a walk. If they used that rule today, games would last four hours.
Finally our second game began about 2:30 against the host team, the Gotham club of New York City. It was another well played game that we lost, this time 10-6 after being tied 6-6 going into the 7th inning. Although we have lost all five games this year, we have been in every one and could easily have won one, if not both games today. I hope the players don't get discouraged because we don't seem to be that far way.
The second game didn't end until a little after 4:00 and I was sure it would take me forever to get home. By the time some of my teammates and I reached the subway station it was 4:17, to my surprise, I pulled into our driveway almost exactly an hour later at 5:17. Carol didn't seem too impressed with that, but it surprises me that I could go from 96th Street and Central Park West to Verona in just 60 minutes. The subway ride may not be half the fun, but it certainly works pretty well and I am glad that I have been able both to understand and use it on a more regular basis.
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