As I was for the other games in the post-season, I began Game 5 on the field for batting practice. My routine has been to take a few player shots there, where I have then best access to the players, then I retire to the media room in the basement of CBP. There I process the shots, edit the shots, and post the shots. Since it was the last game, I decided to put that processing off a little bit. I headed to the 3rd deck and met some of my friends that had standing room only seats. There I watched the game as the fan I have not been able to be the rest of the post season! I cheered, I got into it with Yankees fans, I enjoyed an adult beverage, and I even bought a stadium hot dog! It was so awesome to experience that with my friends. It was the most fun I had at a Series game since 1980. Me and my entourage! HA!
Soon after it was back to work in the basement, editing and uploading the stuff from earlier in the day, then watching the game on a TV. The media room was packed. As the Phillies entered the top of the 9th inning, I packed my stuff to head back to the field for post game. Being a “cagey veteran” of several post season games now, I knew an out of the way TV closer to the field I could watch the last three outs. Just like the other games, when I got to the TV no one was there. So, I watched quietly rooting the Phillies home. I was all alone.
Until Jay-Z and HIS ENTOURAGE showed up out of nowhere ! He and his over-the-top Yankee posse took over my private TV experience in a flash. To his credit, Jay-Z was quiet, respectful and smelled awesome! His hangers-on? Not so much. They were all trailed by two MLB Security Guards to protect him and his friends from the crowd, or possibly vice versa. His posse screamed and yelled so much in pro-Yankee fashion that OTHER Yankee fans that were in earshot headed towards that TV and it became Yankee corner. One Yankee-Come-Lately faneven asked me to take a picture of him and Jay-Z with his cell phone. Only a Yankee fan would ask a guy with thousands of dollars of camera gear strapped to his back to take a photo with a cell phone! I told him he’d have to clear it with Jay-Z, who happily obliged. So, I took the picture with the guys cell phone. “By mistake” (translation — on purpose) I took the photo upside down and handed it back to him. The Phils retired the side, the entourage cursed, the security people cringed and we all exited in different directions. As I walked away, I turned to the one Phillies employee that saw the whole thing and whispered,
“I have been a Phillies die-hard since I was 5, I can’t believe I just watched the last three outs of a World Series game in Philly with Jay-Z!?!?”
Speaking of entourages, if the Phillies and Pedro can somehow win game 6 in New York, an “Entourage of Pitchers” is what we will need to win game 7. All pitching hands on deck to get us that final game. But, one game at a time…
