The day I went to a Red Sox-Yankees game in New York ... and lived to tell about it

This is another in a series of vignettes from the past that I'm running here before I return from a short holiday later this week.

In April 2004, I had the assignment of covering the NFL Draft in New York. Iowa's Robert Gallery was the second player selected, so that made the trip worthwhile, not to mention interesting.

On the rainy Friday night before the draft, I took the subway from Manhattan to the south Bronx to see if I could get a ticket to that night's Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees game. What a trip.

Here's is my account of that adventure in Gotham:

NEW YORK -- Last Friday night in the south Bronx, I climbed out of a hole in the ground to encounter life's rich tapestry.

It was the 161st Street subway station, actually. And one of the first things I saw was someone selling "Boston Sucks" T-shirts.

Apologies for that and all the following usage of the word "sucks." But I heard that word used more in three hours in and around Yankee Stadium than in perhaps in all my years on the planet up to then.

Outside the ballpark before the Boston Red Sox played the New York Yankees, thousands of people jammed the sidewalks and crammed into taverns and diners. All seemed to be cut from the same Sox-hating cloth.

"I love you," a young man said in wrapping up a cell phone conversation on a street corner. "And Boston sucks, by the way."

You could tell how the "Bronx cheer" got its name when you saw how Yankee fans treated those of the Red Sox persuasion. Two men wearing Nomar Garciaparra Sox jerseys were tailed and tormented for about 100 feet by a pack of Yankee fans.

"How was Game 7, Nomar? Was it tough?" they taunted, referring to New York's pennant-clinching American League Championship Series win over Boston last year.

"How about A-Rod? How'd you like that one, huh?"

The Red Sox failed in an attempt to acquire slugger Alex Rodriguez in the off-season. The Yankees then succeeded.

They capped that off by hollering "1918, baby!"

That was the last year Boston won the World Series. Many Yankee fans wore caps or shirts that simply read "1918" in Red Sox red numerals.

Boston fans despise the Yankees with good reason, since the Yanks have won 26 World Series since they acquired Babe Ruth from the Red Sox in 1920. But why Yankee fans return the hate, who knows?

Who knows why they do many of the things they do? Early in the game, I saw an older man hold a beer (which cost $8) with a straw in it to the mouth of a young adult man in a wheelchair.

Anyhow, Boston's Kevin Millar homered off Jose Contreras in the fourth-inning to give his team a 2-0 lead.

"Wow, Yankees suck," a New York fan near me muttered.

Then Mark Bellhorn followed with a homer to make it 3-0.

"You suck, Contreras!" multitudes yelled.

A single and a walk followed. Yankees Manager Joe Torre was cheered when he yanked the Cuban pitcher with a four-year contract worth $32 million and a 10.64 ERA.

Never have I heard a crowd boo one of its own players harder than when Contreras walked from the mound to the dugout.

Donovan Osborne replaced Contreras, and promptly allowed a three-run homer to Bill Mueller to make it 6-0.

"You're paying these guys $200 million and you put this (expletive deleted) out there?" someone shouted.

I roamed around baseball's high holy ground, the house that Ruth built and was home to DiMaggio and Mantle.

"I've got hot tea," I heard a mother wearing a Yankees jacket tell her son. "If you make me spill it, I'm gonna rip your lungs out."

In fairness, she didn't say it in a very threatening tone.

A man of about 80 whom people instantly recognized by fans as "Freddy" came by, banging the bottom of a frying pan with a tablespoon and encouraging others to take turns doing the same. They did. Because there isn't enough noise in New York.

In the top of the sixth inning, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and his entourage left their box seats and the stadium. Rudy must have known it was going to start raining a few minutes later.

Derek Jeter opened the Yankees' sixth by striking out. He was booed. The New York papers said it was the first time Jeter had ever been booed at home. It happened a lot Saturday and Sunday as the Yankees lost to Boston both days and Jeter's slump stretched to 0-for-25.

After Jeter, Rodriguez grounded out. Boos.

Then Jason Giambi grounded out. Boos.

Jeter was a key to the Yankees winning four World Series since 1996. Giambi averaged 41 homers and 115 RBIs in his two full seasons in New York.

But losing 11-2 at home to the Red Sox tends to make Yankee fans a little sour. As I walked back to the subway stop in the rain, I heard this about a dozen times:

"We suck!"

As is usually the case in New York, it was best for an outsider not to argue.