The Tale Of Yankees Socks, Mustard Girl & Chippendale Dancers

Today, for no reason at all, as far as I know, I found myself thinking back to “Sock Day” at Yankee Stadium in 1987. If memory serves correct, it was on August 1, 1987.

That morning, my buddy and I decided to see the Yankees play. So, we drove to the Staten Island Ferry, parked the car, and took the boat over to lower Manhattan. Once there, we jumped on the #4 train at Bowling Green and went up to the Stadium. We got seats in the upper upper-deck…way up there…between home plate and first base. It was “Sock Day” and the Yankees gave out the cheapest tube socks ever created with an interlocking “NY” on them. They were terrible – just 100% junk.

Anyway, the Yankees got pounded that day. It was a bummer. Yet, we didn’t want the day to end there.

My friend knew of a party that night down in Belmar (New Jersey) and we figured we could crash our way into it. His sister and some of her friends were down the Shore already and were going to the party. So, we took the train from the Bronx back to downtown Manhattan, jumped on the boat again, got back to the car in Staten Island, stopped at McD’s for some grub, and then hit home for a pit stop. From there the plan was to quickly shower and change, meet up, and then drive the 45 miles down to the Jersey Shore.

When we got down to Belmar it was now around 9:30 pm and we found his sister. But, there was a glitch. Seems she and her girlfriends decided to party a little before the party and they had an issue. As I remember the story, one of the girls told the other girls, during their party priming, that she was allergic to mustard. But, the others thought she was full of it. And, as a test, they gave her something to eat that had mustard in it – without telling her. And, after she ate it, and was told that it had mustard in it, she flipped out. The whole thing became a major production, and, as a result, people weren’t speaking to each other, etc., and the plans to hit the party were scrapped.

Now, my friend and I had no “in” to the party. But, we still didn’t want the day to end there. At this point, we decided to head over to a dance club that we used to frequent on Staten Island called “The Wave” (because it was on “Wave Street”). So…we drove the 45 miles back to Staten Island…and got to the bar.

By the time we arrived it was now past 11 pm. We entered the club and I was just about to pay the cover charge when I noticed that there were Chippendale dancers performing on stage inside. Right away, I drew back my money and I said to my friend “No way. There’s no way I’m going to pay to go inside and watch that stuff. Hell, I won’t do it for free.” To which he answered “No. Trust me. This is good. I’ve been here before when this is going on…it’s OK. They’re just about ready to finish. And, it’s great. Once they’re done all the girls are in a crazy mood and it’s much easier to meet them.”

Hearing this, and, still not wanting the day to end, I consented. And, my friend was right. We ended up hanging out with some fun girls until closing time when the house lights came on at 4 am.

All told it was quite a day – from end to end, about 18 hours going from Staten Island, to the Bronx, back to Staten Island, to Belmar, and back to Staten Island. And, for the record, the day lasted a lot longer than those cheap Yankees socks – which we ended up tossing before we left the Stadium that day…

Oh to be 24-years old, in the summer time, and not wanting for the day to end…

Lastly, hey, dig the Yankees starting line-up that day:

                         
1.  Roberto Kelly                CF
2.  Henry Cotto                  LF
3.  Don Mattingly                1B
4.  Dave Winfield                RF
5.  Gary Ward                    DH
6.  Juan Bonilla                 2B
7.  Mike Pagliarulo              3B
8.  Rick Cerone                   C
9.  Bob Meacham                  SS
SP. Dennis Rasmussen              P

And, Brad Arnsberg, Pat Clements, Charlie Hudson and Tim Stoddard pitched for New York that day too. Good times!