We Survived Mariano Rivera Bobblehead Night: A True Story

My mother is a huge Yankee fan (for example, she claims she is partially responsible for getting Andy Pettitte to come out of retirement... but that is another story), so last night my parents went to Yankee Stadium to get Mariano Rivera bobbleheads.

The following is a real-life account of what happened:

We are going to get t-shirts that say "We survived Mariano Rivera Bobblehead Night"

G__ and I each invested 4 hours of our lives in acquiring our Mariano Rivera Bobbleheads. It was nearly life-threatening at times. :) G__ got there early, and though he was on a civilized line, there was a crush to the gates when they were opened 45 MINUTES LATE, because the Yankees were trying to figure out how to break it to the crowd that the BOBBLEHEADS HAD NOT ARRIVED! I staked that out early and sat on a bench away from the fray. I was resigned not to get a bobblehead (or should I say a voucher, at that point. The truck that was bringing the bobble heads to the Stadium broke down in New Jersey). While I sat and talked to a lady who came from MINNESOTA and had rented a week in a house in the BRONX IN WALKING DISTANCE TO THE STADIUM, in order to get a bobble head, I realized that there was a "will call" line and right next to it a line to get right into the stadium, without the crush, so I ambled in there and got my voucher.

Later, during the game (which was horrible in many ways), the bobbleheads arrived and they announced that they could be picked up in ONE SPOT in the stadium, until one half hour after the game. Everyone went some time between the 4th and 6th innings and it resulted in a line that snaked thru the bowels of the stadium, through the basement, up the ramps to the top deck, back down and out the Gate 2 where the vouchers could be redeemed. People were selling their places on line, their vouchers and likewise, offering to buy vouchers. I wanted the crowd to start chanting "Mariano" from the depths of the stadium, so it would reverberate out on the field, but I could not get the crowd to go along with me. They were so defeated. People are such lambs. There were Yankee intern-type people in suits assigned to patrol the line, but they were powerless to help. It was obvious to anyone on line, that they should have had several different locations to pick up the bobbleheads and maybe one of them should have been outside...maybe the merchandise was too precious to allow out on the Bronx streets.

And finally, despite the fact that the head DOES NOT BOBBLE, someone has already posted it on ebay for $250.

And now, the moment we've all been waiting for...

September 24, 2013 Mariano Rivera bobblehead