New Yankee Stadium
First Game in New Yankee Stadium, April 3rd 2009
Its an exciting day as the New Yankee Stadium opens tonight for the first Yankee game in our new home. The Cubs are in town for two exhibition games to open the new stadium before the season starts.
I am a bit surprised that MLB didn't give the Yankees and Mets a home series to open the season. While the exhibition games to open the new stadiums is a little less exciting and dramatic for the fans, its probably a good operational decision so they can make sure all of the kinks are worked out before the season starts.
I didn't have a ticket for the first game and just for kicks I logged on to ticketmaster. I wasn't completely surprised to see the icon for available tickets next to tonight's game because I assumed there were seats available in the ridiculously overpriced Legends section, which is the first 15 or so rows around the field from 1st base to 3rd base.
I ran a quick search for a ticket in the grandstands, because I don't have $500-$900 for a Legends section ticket (and I wouldn't pay anyone that much for a baseball ticket even if I had money to burn). I didn't get too excited as I ran the search because I was waiting for the inevitable "No tickets available at that price level, please search again and select Best Available."
Ticketmaster's search function is extremely iritating. You have to search level by level or you can pick Best Available to find the $900 tickets that are the last to be sold and the best seats. They need a selection for Worst Available or Cheapest Available that searches all sections for the least expensive ticket. But we're stuck with what Ticketmaster gives us, so I have to search one level at a time.
Everything was standard procedure until my Grandstand search came back with a ticket available. Now I WAS surprised. Even though its an exhibition, its still the first Yankee game at the new Yankee Stadium. I became shocked when I saw the price of the ticket- and for once, I wasn't shocked about how high the ticket price was. The Grandstand ticket that came back in the search was priced at $1.10 + a $3.00 service charge. I figured someone at Ticketmaster put the decimal in the wrong place or something, but I clicked through to buy the ticket as fast as I could and I got it. So I hadn't planned to go the game at all and ended up getting a ticket on the day of for $4.35 with all service fees and taxes... Amazing.
Yankee Stadium is just up the street about 80 blocks and I think this contributes to my underestimating how early I should leave for the game almost every time I go. It was a 7:05 start and I headed to get the 4 train at 6:15. The 4/5/6 uptown before Yankees games is always extremely crowded and it runs very slow. If you're looking for the quintessential NYC subway experience, just head uptown on the east side before a Yankees game. Even if you aren't going anywhere near the Bronx, that subway ride will be a zoo.
I got to the stadium around 6:40 and asked where the new Will Call window was. I was directed toward the end of 161st Street near the Deegan and found a line stretching a good way down 161st St. No one was happy about this since the line was long enough and moving slow enough, that we were certainly going to miss the opening pitch- which turned out to be the case. Still, I didn't get too worked up since there was nothing we could do about it and it was exciting just standing in front of the new stadium.
I got into the stadium some time in the 2nd inning and entered the new Great Hall. The Great Hall is a unique and majestic space. I didn't spend too much time walking around since I was late getting into the stadium, but it was definitely a cool entrance.
Everything in the stadium was beautiful, as you'd expect. From the halls to the concessions, to the bathrooms, everything was big and shiny. It was almost comical to remember walking around the dank narrow hallways of the old Yankee Stadium and yet part of you couldn't help to miss that. My perception of the new stadium was a cross between the Pepsi Center and Coors Field (but this association is obviously due to having spent a lot of years in Denver and going to a lot of Rockies and Nuggets games).
As I sat in my seat, it was strange how much it looked and felt like the old stadium. 50K+ Yankee fans, blue seats, same field dimensions, Bronx tenements behind the outfield and the 4 train zipping by behind the scoreboard. I will say that the scoreboard was nothing like the old stadium nor anything else I've ever seen. It was ridiculously huge (apparently 59 ft x 101 ft) and the image seemed just as good as the HD channels on my Sony LCD at home. One thing I really respect about the Yankees decision to build a new stadium was the respect they paid to the history of the team, illustrated by bringing back some original design points. The facade wrapping around the top of the Grandstands just like the original Yankee Stadium when it opened in 1923 is very cool.
Its hard to know if its just because of the weather and wind this weekend or if its because of the change in the way the stadium faces, but there is a strong wind that carries out in the new stadium and it makes the right center field gap seem like the size of Texas. Speaking of Texas, Mark Texiera looks like he is dialed in and ready to have a huge year.
Before I left the game, I walked over to the end of the top concourse left field and took in a bit of the game there. I struck up a conversation with a nice guy working security for the section. He was retired after driving a city bus for 25 years and we chatted about the team, the stadium, and the game. Our chat was interrupted by another fan who decided he wanted to inject himself in our conversation and complain incessantly about the price of sodas and beer (which are ridiculous but I can't believe anyone is surprised about this anymore).
The game was wrapping up and I headed back to the 4 train to head home. It was really a great experience and it was made even better because it was unexpected (not to mention the $4.35 ticket!) Hopefully the first of a lot of great games and memories at the new House.
May 3, 2009
Even though I knew there was no way the Yankees would play today due to the consistent rain, they had not delayed or called the 1:05 game as of 12:35 so I went up to the stadium to stand in the concourse with all the other fools. It was a bit irritating that they hadn't called the game because it was not only raining pretty strong, the forecast called for rain all afternoon.
As I stood in the concourse and listed to a Springsteen/Sinatra mix they had jamming on the sound system, it became pretty obvious why the Yankees were in no hurry to call the game. There were probably 10-15K people standing in the concourses or hanging out in the grandstands with nothing to do. So what did everyone do? ... they bought beers and hot dogs and just hung out together. The big screen in the stadium made the alleged alternative motives even more blatant as they showed images of vendors serving up hot sandwiches and played an interview with the head chef of the NYY Steakhouse restaurant in the stadium. With that incredible big screen, they could have put on a classic Yankee game or at least showed highlights- but nope, when the screen didn't say Rain Delay, it featured all of the great food you can buy at the stadium.
As a side note, I found a great page on MLB.com that isn't easy to located that shows the attendance figures for all MLB teams by year since 2001. There are a lot of things going on that have changed the attendance figures for all teams from 2008 to 2009, like the state of the economy. However, The New York teams have both opened new stadiums and increased ticket prices and the impact of those price increases is pretty clear as well. The Yankees ticket prices for their Legends seating is preposterous and they just look silly with all of those empty seats on television. Of note, As of May 3rd, the Yankees have fallen to second place in average home attendance- the first time they have not ranked #1 since 2002.
May 15, 2009
Tonight is the kind of night that through repetition will confirm the new Yankee Stadium as a magical place, just like the original. With the Twins in town an the Yankees playing catch up throughout the evening, we headed to the bottom of the ninth inning down 4-2. After picking up a triple, Gardner scored a run on Texiera's single to make it 4-3. Alex Rodriguez worked a walk to move Texiera to second base and the Twins chose to walk Cano to load the bases and face Melky Cabrera. On the first pitch, Melky swatted a fly ball to left center that seemed to hang in the air forever before finally landing just between the two Twins outfielders. Walk-off wins are undoubtedly the most exciting thing in baseball and it was a great night to be a Yankee!
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