Watchdog

It took 55 minutes, press gate to press gate to get from Yankee Stadium to Citi Field. Not bad, considering the trains were not running with rush-hour frequency.

I heard some fans grumbling about the Yankees' unfortunate policy of not allowing non-premium seatholders to venture to the front row during batting practice to seek autographs. Alas, from what I have gleaned, no change in that policy is being considered at this time.

Even at 9:15 or so, as the concession stands at Citi were beginning to shut down, the line still was too long for me at the Shake Shack.

Watched part of the ninth inning of the Mets game in the media lounge with the lovely and talented Kai Hernandez (Cornell '86), who was waiting for her husband to get done with his work shift as an SNY analyst.

Kat O'Brien was in the Yankees clubhouse saying good-byes to players and media types. Here is her final blog post as our beat writer. Boland was there getting acclimated before officially taking over next week. I tried to be positive and supportive and not dwell on the fact his life as he knew it is over.

Did I ever mention that I walked to Game 7 of the 1986 World Series from my apartment in Kew Gardens? I did. But that's another story.

Bernie Williams was in the clubhouse before the game. Don't know why. I heard over the weekend about YES' Paul O'Neill getting shooed away from the indoor batting cage and his wife getting shooed away from the players wives' lounge, and I saw that Bob R. wrote about that in the Tuesday Daily News. Let's put it this way: The Yankees know those things should not have happened. But as with the no re-entry near-riot after Monday night's rain delay, part of the problem here is that the stadium still is new and has a huge game-day work force of mostly young, mostly low-paid, mostly well-meaning people, and presumably as time goes by everyone will be more likely to get on the same page.

Had mahi-mahi with brown rice in Yankees press lounge - a long way from the hot dogs and pretzels I used to get in the old press box. So, like fans at the two new stadiums, journalists are eating better than they used to. To clear up one misconception about press box food: Mostly the stereotype of sportswriters lining up at a trough of free food has passed into history. The Mets and Yankees have been charging for years - not that there's anything wrong with that. The Rangers and Knicks charge, with the money going to the Garden of Dreams Foundation. The Jets and Giants don't charge - so far.

The vast areas of empty seats at Yankee Stadium are indeed bizarre, and they do contribute to a subdued mood. Citi Field has its share of empty premium seats, too, but it was much more energetic when I got there. In fairness, I arrived in the seventh just as the home team was going ahead against the World Champs. The many fans taking advantage of standing room areas - especially that bridge thingee in centerfield - added to what had to be a claustrophobic feel for the Phils.

It is indisputable that the leftfield wall is but a rumor for the fans sitting in the upper deck in fair territory at Citi. But I still think it's a pretty good seat and one worth sitting in - as long as fans are fully informed about the limitations of certain views from certain seats before they buy their tickets.

Spent a half hour in the Phillies' locker room after the game waiting for that dude who threw the ball away and gave the Mets their only run. But he never showed up. Chan Ho Park speaks English quite well, by the way. Ryan Howard seemed annoyed by the loss - and by the error that caused it.

Since I visited Citi Field for the St. John's game in March, sanity prevailed and the price of an O'Doul's was dropped from the $8.50 charged for other beers to $5.50. Still, they will have to pay me $5.50 to drink a non-alcoholic beer at a baseball game. I checked recently for the first time in 20 years, and they still taste awful.

I'm not sure whether I became the first journalist to do the new Yankee Stadium/Citi Field double, but many pulled that stunt in the old buildings. Baumbach even jogged from one to the other last year. But at about 10:40 p.m., as the Yankees game was resuming after a rain delay, Bondy of the Daily News suggested in the Citi press box that I truly make history by taking the train BACK to the Bronx to catch the end of the game I started the night with. I didn't try, and wouldn't have made it anyway. Twenty years ago, I would have tried it. Sigh.