Yesterday was a perfect New York Saturday. The sun was shining, the temperature was just right – and the Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles by a score of 8-5.

I know…because I was there.

Friday night, I received a call from my friend Pierre who told me that Joe DeVito, a friend and former colleague of mine, wanted to invite me to the Yankee game. I, of course, accepted – and had one of the greatest baseball afternoons I have ever had.

The day started by having an 11:30am “lunch” at Joe’s favorite $2 hot dog stand across the street from the stadium – because the exact same hot dogs were $4 outside the stadium – and $8 inside. So after we each ate two “dirty water dogs” accompanied by a cold soda to wash them down, we headed into the stadium and sat in Section 18, Box 72, Row E – which was only five rows off of the third baseline. Before the game, we watched the Orioles practice and even saw Sammy Sosa sign a few autographs for some lucky kids. Then, Pierre, Joe, his friend Ronnie, myself and the other 50,271 in attendance all stood for our National Anthem – and it was time to play ball.

It’s no secret that I am a die-hard Yankees fan and love to go to as many games as possible – but I have to say that this game was the best one I have ever gone to. From the first pitch, I was already having a good time. The game was very intense early on, with Baltimore scoring one run in the second inning – and four more in the fourth. Despite the fact that the Yanks scored three consecutive runs in the 3rd, 4th and 5th innings – it looked, for a while – that the Orioles were going to take this one home…

…but in true Yankee fashion – they came back with a vengeance.

In the seventh inning, which seemed to take an eternity to reach, the Yankees rallied – in true Douglas Farnum fashion – with five runs scored thanks to a three run homer by Ruben Sierra and an RBI by Hideki Matsui, which cemented the Yankees victory – and made myself and 50,274 fans leave singing Frank Sinatra’s rendition of New York New York – the tradition at the end of every victorious Yankee game.

Of all the memorable moments of yesterday’s game, my favorite was when I got into a friendly shouting match with a Baltimore fan after the Yankees tied the game in the 7th inning. As we stood up in each other’s faces exchanging team statistics, rank outs and insults – the crowd behind me began to chant, “Let’s Go Wein! Let’s Go Wein!” in support of my debate with this fan from the “other side.” Normally, people ridicule me because I have my own last name on the back of my Yankees jersey – even though I put it there long before Alex Rodriguez took the number. But yesterday – my last name on my jersey caused dozens of fans to cheer my name – and egg me on – which is something I will always appreciate – and never forget.

After the game and the awesome victory by the Bronx Bombers, we went to a diner, had a quick meal – and headed home to both recover and remember yesterday’s exciting activities. Personally, I am ready to return to Yankee Stadium tomorrow, but no matter how long it is until I do – it will seem like an eternity.

Bravo Yanks. See you in October.