You haven't lived until you've had a utility infielder pour Budweiser on your head
Fun night of scoreboard watching at Target Field on Monday. The Yankees' magic number to clinch a postseason berth was one, meaning one Yankees victory or one Blue Jays loss would get the job done.
Early on, the Blue Jays led the Tigers 2-0 but the Yankees led the Twins 1-0. Then The Twins took a 2-1 lead, but the Tigers surged ahead of the Jays 4-2. Then Toronto got a three-run homer to take a 5-4 lead in the seventh and it appeared we might not have a champagne-soaked rager in the clubhouse for at least another 24 hours.
Then North St. Paul native Louis Varland gave the Twins one more reason to regret trading him, as his error gave the Tigers a 6-5 lead in the ninth. No worries – the Yankees exploded for six runs in the eighth to sink the Twins, and the celebration was on.
In case you spent significant time wondering about the answer to the question posed in my previous post, the key elements to the outfit were a poncho to protect my top half and sturdy high-tops to keep the feet and ankles dry. And let me tell you, they did their jobs.
The Duluth Trading poncho was the star of the show. Not that it was all that bad – the clubhouse was raucous to be sure, but I'm not one of the guys who follows the team all season long, so most of the players wouldn't really have any interest in nailing me with stray alcoholic beverages. What you see above is mostly the residue from an unrelated spraying 10 feet away as I interviewed Yankees rookie outfielder Spencer Jones. (Best Jones quote, talking about Aaron Judge: "I like to describe him as a force of nature. He's inevitable in lot of cases." Like Thanos, but with an even stronger jawline.)
The leather Adidas did their job nicely as well. I'm sure if I'd stuck around longer as the carpet got more and more soaked, it might've gotten a little squishy, but I was in and out of there in about 10 minutes.
The only direct contact I had was when José Caballero gleefully drained the last couple of ounces of a can of Budweiser over my head. We were all laughing by that time. And I noticed my hair had a bit more body and shine this morning!
Overall, I would highly recommend covering a champagne celebration if you have the chance. It was cool to see a bunch of millionaires and future millionaires acting like big kids. I know the adversity faced by professional athletes is nothing compared to what the average American deals with trying to fill the gas tank and put food on the table and still save up a few bucks a week for their 401k plan or a handful of scratchy lotto tickets. But it was clear these guys were letting off a little steam after feeling the weight of expectations on their shoulders for the past six months. After all, these are the New York Freaking Yankees – their fans take this all for granted, and the pressure is on the players to deliver.
The real heroes of the night were whoever cleaned the clubhouse, because when I popped back in there this afternoon, it smelled of carpet shampoo and nothing else. Truly a triumph of the human spirit to get that place back in shape in roughly 12 hours. Nicely done, Target Field cleanup crew.
