Tuesday night
with Mitch
Yankee Stadium
A beautiful Tuesday night in May seemed like as good a time as any to visit the evil that is the home of the Yankees. The last game I went to at the old Yankee Stadium was awful. I was hoping for better on this evening but wasn't terribly optimistic considering the matchup was CC Sabathia vs. Brad Bergeson.
The view from the subway platform. The old stadium (oh I meant to say THE old STADIUM) is on the left, the new one is on the right.
As Mitch pointed out, it was strange to make a right out of the subway rather than a left. Inside this building lurks evil.
Go O's!
Unlike the Mets new ballpark, there are actually plenty of reminders of who actually plays in this park. I mean, it goes without saying - the Yankees love talking about how great their history is and I guess I can't blame them.
Way too many interlocking NY's.
Definitely not something you would have seen at the old ballpark.
I arrived early so I could walk around the ballpark. It really does look like the old place - but better. It has taken the best aspects of the original, the renovated version (that was a piece of utter crap) and then modernized it all. I like the place a lot despite what my heart tells me.
I love that they don't cover up the NY during batting practice. What a bunch of wankers.
Although I'm not sure I like the staircases.
I'm surprised management even felt the need to put up protective screens during batting practice considering they won't let anyone sit anywhere near the field during BP unless they have $1,000 for tickets and those folks sure as hell aren't coming early for batting practice.
Even in the outfield, fans are not allowed to sit in the seats during BP.
The usher tells fans to go away.
I talked to another usher who told me to write management because that is the only way they might change some of their policies. Eh, whatever. I'll let someone else fight that fight. I don't plan on going to the stadium much.
Even with 1.5 billion dollars spent, there are still hallways that look almost as dank as the old place. Give it a couple years.
The view from the staircase.
This is a decent enough picture but I wanted to get closer to the edge. The usher told me that I wasn't even allowed to stand past the rail for 5 seconds to take a picture. This was 30 minutes before game time. Ah Yankee Stadium. It was also nice to know that they still won't let you bring in bags to the game because if they did, the terrorists will have won.
The empty space where I was not allowed to go.
I lifted the camera to get a better shot.
I went up the last row to see what the view was like. It was a hell of a lot closer to the field than my terrible seats at Shiti Field. I'd love to sit in these seats for a game.
I'm not sure what Orioles pitcher this is - it might have been Bergeson. But he is not really holding a ball. Plus, there's no catcher there anyway. Still, he went through the motions and threw a few "pitches." This reminded me of the fun times in Long Beach.
1.5 billion dollars can buy a lot of fancy elevators.
I can't believe they put Paul O'Neill in this series of photos. His clean shaven face completely ruins the series of 'staches. Poor planning.
One of the few parks that actually remained after the Yankees tore up the old ones to build their new park. The last I heard, they still have not even begun to plan on how they are going to rebuild the parks like they had promised they would. NY Yankees = all class. 26 world championships and evictor of recreational activities for city kids.
The old Yankee Stadium
Finally, it was time to meet up with Mitch and enjoy some Orioles baseball.
The game was surprisingly close until the 7th. New York held a 2-1 lead on the strength of Alex Rodriguez's 2 run home run. Since coming off the DL 11 days earlier, Rodriguez had 7 hits - 5 homers and 2 singles. This was the 4th straight game he homered. After the game, he said, "I love this place. There are so many things here you can use to your advantage." Hmmm ... are they giving out doses of boli?
The scoreboard is crystal clear. The out of town scoreboard is a step up from the old Yankee Stadium but neither of the new ballparks are as good as Shea on this front.
I think the new park even outdoes Citi Field in the amount of televisions everywhere.
We almost got on the scoreboard! We almost got on the scoreboard! These people did.
In the 7th, the Yankees scored 7 runs and blew it open. Derek Jeter hit a bases loaded double and Mark Teixeira hit his fourth home run in 4 games and the route was on. Mitch and I watched the Birds go down quickly in the 8th before heading back to Brooklyn.
I love the infielders body language after Teixeria's home run made it 9-1.
Hard Rock Cafe is so 1991, isn't it. TV screens everywhere!
A few thoughts:
1. Thank you to Charlie (SHR's brother) for hooking me up with tickets.
2. I like that the team simply tried to rebuilt the old stadium. I much rather would prefer something like this than the generic Mets ballpark. The original plan for the Mets ballpark back in the late 90's was to remake Ebbets Field but with a retractable dome. The dome would have been unnecessary but an Ebbets Field replica would have been preferable to what was built.
3. I normally don't like parks that make me feel enclosed, parks where I can't see out. But I don't mind it at Yankee Stadium and I'm not sure why. Mitch and I came up with the idea that perhaps the place is so evil that I don't want the evil to spread out of the park. Since it is so enclosed, it feels like the evil is contained and that I can leave and escape it if I need to. The place is so evil that I want it to feel different than real life - it's own unique hell.
4. Not that I could see this detail from our seats but I love that the Orioles road jerseys now actually say Baltimore on them instead of just Orioles. I also love the new Maryland flag patch that they wear on their jerseys. I don't care if SHR dislikes the Maryland flag, I'm a big fan.
5. We talked a lot about Mitch's upcoming popping the question to Suzy. She said yes. Congratutions Mitchell!
6. Once again, I now have been to all 30 of the current ballparks in major league baseball. Nice job Listmaker!
Orioles: 16-23
Yankees: 22-17
Posted: 6-29
6 comments:
My thoughts:
1. It looks like the Department of Defense from the outside. Or maybe some of the Church of Scientology buildings in East Hollywood.
2. Better check those apples for razor blades.
3. That concourse looks amazing.
4. Citifield is a massive shitbox in comparison. Then again it cost half as much.
5. What does SHR have against Lord Baltimore?
6. One thing the Mets did right was tear down the old ballpark completely during the offseason. I am happy that fans going to The New Yankees Ballpark will have to watch the Old(ish) Yankee Stadium decay and be disected right in front of them all season long.
dn
Great account of your visit to the ballpark. I lucked out with tickets ($167 each just behind the Legends seats? Whoever stuck these things up on StubHub did me a huge favor), and it was a beautiful day. I didn't know about the backpack policy. I had never tried to bring one to a game, and since I had taken Metro North, I was kind of f*cked. But, I played the "I'm from out of town and a complete rube" card, and a gate manager took pity on me, stuck a yellow tag on my backback, and waved me through the gate.
The Yankees ended up blowing the game, but at least I got to see Will Ferrell at the game. For whatever that's worth.
Too bad you saw Will Ferrell, but at least the Yankees ended up blowing the game.
I think they still have that racket going where you can check your backpack at the bowling alley. I wonder how much the club gets from every checked bag....
dn
DN, I'll first address #5. I find the contrast of the crests incredibly jarring. I don't mind Lord Baltimore's colors too much, but that yellow and black is barf. It makes me think of bad 80s clothing. Like SKIDZ.
And I couldn't agree with you more on #1. The facade is overly stoic. It looks like a government building, which I guess is probably intentional. But I think your other comparison is spot on. It would make so much sense if Scientology and the Yankees were linked.
YL--I think it's the just the faux magesterial authority that made me think of the comparison. The New Yankees Ballpark and the Church of Scientology have something else in common--they're both full of rich myopic dimwits who can't hand over the bags of cash quickly enough.
dn
i'll give you will ferrell and raise you john travolta and robin williams.
http://baseballdiaries.blogspot.com/2007/07/pirates-8-mets-4.html
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