Derek Jeter: 2,722.

This is the year that I finally let go of the New York Yankees. When they abandoned the real Yankee Stadium to move into the $1.5 billion fake one, killing acres of Bronx parkland along with their irreplaceable shrine, I opted out.

If ballplayers can become free agents, so can fans.

I've lived in L.A. for the better part of 22 years, and now I bleed Dodger blue.

(Alright, it's still just droplets, but you know what I mean...)

Still, there will always be a little Yankee in me, and I will always root for Derek Jeter.

Tonight in that faux Yankee Stadium, Jeter produced its first historic moment, breaking the team record for hits set by Lou Gehrig--the Iron Horse--when he singled to right in the third inning off Chris Tillman of the Baltimore Orioles.

Jeter did it 24 years to the day after Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb's record for most career hits. Rose played until he was 45, and finished with 4,256 hits. Jeter is 35, and has more hits than Rose did at the same age.

So here's to Derek Jeter, or as George Steinbrenner said today in a statement, "For those who say today's game can't produce legendary players, I have two words: Derek Jeter."

Read the New York Times account here.

Sell Outs.

From the AP, via ESPN:

Two grand? Fuhgetaboutit.

If you want to buy a front-row seat at the new Yankee Stadium for an individual game, the list price of a ticket is $2,625.

Individual game sales for the first season of the $1.5 billion ballpark start Tuesday, and the Legends Seats that ring the infield start at $525 a game, according to the team's Web site. Those seats cost $500-$2,500 as part of full season tickets, and they include food and soft drinks.

Other field level seats cost $95, $150, $275, $300, $350 and $375. Then comes the Delta Sky360 Suite, where tickets are $375-$800, and main level tickets, which are priced at $60, $80, $95 and $150.

On the top deck, seats in the Jim Beam Suite go for $130-$150. Terrace seats are $50, $75 and $85, and grandstand tickets cost $23 and $30. Full view bleachers are $14.

Meanwhile, the top ticket at Dodger Stadium is $500.00. Baseline seats range from $65.00 to $285.00. The Left Field Pavilion seats--where I was sitting in 1988 when Kirk Gibson hit that classic World Series home run off the A's Dennis Eckersley--are $11.00, and Top Deck seats are $9.00.

A 25-ounce Guinness and various games on several TVs in the sunshine at Naja's is $7.00 plus tip, but they don't sell peanuts or Cracker Jack.