Reds Get Rare Extended Stay In New York

The Cincinnati Reds will have a rare road trip in which they stay in one city, one hotel for five days an play two different teams.

The Reds open a two-game series against the New York Mets on Wednesday.  They stay put and travel to New Yankee Stadium to play the New York Yankees in the Bronx.

When the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers were both playing baseball in New York City, the Giants at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan and the Dodgers at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, the Reds would have a trip like that.  The Giants have since moved to San Francisco and the Dodgers to Los Angeles.  The Mets became the National League entry in 1962.  Interleague play started in 1998.  The Reds have never had an extended stay in any city until now.

Not only are the Mets and Yankess both playing winning baseball, the city itself presents problems off the field for visitors.

"I've never done anything like this," said Dusty Baker, who has been in the major leagues for 45 years and counting.  "First it's hard to sleep.  Doors slam at all hours of the day in the hotel.  People come in at all hours four or five in the morning.  You hear horns, cabs and sirens all day and night."

The Reds stay in Manhattan near Grand Central Station while in the city.  The Mets play in the burrough of Queens the Yankees to the north in the Bronx.  There are 10 million people crammed into the city.  Manhattan is 13 miles long North to South and at its widest point it is just three miles east to west.  The outer burroughs, Queens, the Bronx (the only burrough on the mainland), Brooklyn and Staten Island are a bit larger.

"Second, when you leave you count your money and think someone broke into your room and stole some because you end up light," Baker said.  "Seriously, you're on the 17th floor and you're checking the windows because you think you have a couple hundred more dollars than you have."

Things are unbelievably expensive in New York.

"A drink at the bar costs you $20.  The first time I was there, I got a cheesburger and fries through room service and it was $28.  I ate it slow and tried to enjoy every bite."