(new) Yankee Stadium

I attended two games during the inaugural season for this new park. It is the most expensive park built to date. As you approach from the outside, the imposing limestone and granite façade has a post-world war II/Berlin wall feel to it. As we passed the turnstiles we entered a cavernous atrium which included a JumboTron. This very clearly was a ballpark that cost a lot of money and wanted you to know that. For my first game there, we had upper deck seats behind the plate for the ‘bargain’ price of $85 per ticket. Once you left the atrium, the park was mediocre at best. The seats were basic and cramped. The food was bland. There was nothing to say “Yankees” in the seating area. Disappointed is not a strong enough word. This park is designed for people to be in luxury suites. I think the only reason they included regular seating was so the people in the ‘less desirable’ suites had people to look down on. The Yankees were certainly not going for a fan friendly approach with those ticket prices. I attended a second game the following day in the front row of the loge section past first base. [Only $140/ticket!] Same problem as the upper deck. No charm.

One of the unique features of the park is the massive hi-def JumboTron. Big, but not so big as to dwarf the other newer stadiums. If someone didn’t mention it was the biggest, you probably wouldn’t have noticed. We were misinformed before the game that the new statue garden in center would be open for viewing during play. Not true. However, they do have a free Yankee museum on the second level by first base. It’s a single large room, but they have a ton of autographed baseballs on display along with some older uniforms. It’s not a nice as some other stadium museums, but it’s free and on really hot days, it’s air conditioned. The ushers and vendors were generally very friendly – except for customer service. [The baby stroller incident.] The ‘old’ Yankee stadium is next door to the new one. Many fans were complaining that the old stadium was a better venue and the upper level seats still gave the impression you were right over the field. You definitely don’t get that sense in this park.

As was typical for the Yankees, they had a ton of talent and would win the World Series this year. They had Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon, Mark Texiera, Alex Rodriguez, and Hideki Matsui. Their starting rotation included CC Sabathia, Andy Pettite, AJ Burnett, and Joba Chamberlain. [Joba was a starter at the insistence of ownership over the managers. He would finish the season with 9 wins – one less that middle reliever Alfredo Aceves.] The Yankee closer was Mariano Rivera. The two games I saw were against the Phillies who were the reigning world champs and would go on to play the Yankees in the series this year. The Phils had Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Jason Werth. Their rotation included Cole Hamels, Jamie Moyer, JA Happ, and Joe Blanton with a struggling Brad Lidge as the closer. In the first game we saw JA Happ against Andy Pettite. Happ had the better outing but neither starter got a decision as Lidge blew the save and gave up the win. Jeter and A-Rod had home runs. The second game was Hamels vs. Sabathia. CC had a good outing in a no decision. Lidge blew another save in the 9^th [ironically both blown saves were facing Melky Cabrera.] This blown save didn’t cost the Phillies the game and they rallied for the win in the 11^th inning. All things being equal, these were two great games to attend this season.

One thing I’d like to mention about the first game. The Yulia Curse. This is the second game I attended with Yulia, who is married to BoCJ and is a wonderful and pleasant person. Our first game was in Baltimore after the BRBL Philadelphia draft. Easily one of the coldest games I have ever attended. But that was opening day and this was Memorial Day. It’s been hot every day for the past two weeks. We were sweating walking into the park! But the Yulia Curse kicked in and we froze our asses off. At the end of May! The next day was hot – especially in the sun. The seats a few rows behind us were shaded. I predicted we’d be in the shade by the third inning. I might as well have predicted the iPhone would never be successful. We didn’t get shade until the end of the game. But I did take some time to visit the museum.