New Yankee Stadium

Corrie and I had tickets to the April 20th game against the A's, and it got rained-out. We were to be sitting in Section 420 on the holy day, 420, so we thought it was some kind of omen. But then the rains came, and we're rescheduled for July 23rd, so what kind of omen was that?

Corrie's cousin Josh called the other day and offered up a ticket to join him at Wednesday's game against the Texas Rangers. It was raining, but it let up in time for the game to get started close to on-time.

I'd heard plenty of things about the New Yankee Stadium, and if you're a player, it must be like you hit the lottery. As a fan? I don't think it's sacrilegious as a Yankee fan to take issue with the new park.

I don't hate the new stadium. I was, though, somewhat disappointed. Probably because my expectations were too high. The rotunda, on the inside, is more spacious than the Old Stadium, but the essence of the design is the same: exit walls on one side, shops on the other. here's a picture...the lighting changes as the HD band changes.

Now this is probably what Yankee Stadium is supposed to look like, with the tall whitish window lines reminiscent of the old bunting. There are plenty of restaurants, and I mean that as in us-common-folk-are-underdressed-to-eat-there kind of way, as well as the many food vendors doused along the walk ways. Josh and I had "Carolina Pulled Pork" sandwiches (he's from North Carolina (originally Austin)) for $10 each. Not bad tasting, and less agita than I get from the franks.

Our seats were pretty close, closer than I've sat at a regular season game ever. I liked them, but not enough to fork over $175 face-value or them.

But I did appreciate the padding. The seats were very comfortable.

Really, I shouldn't bitch about the prices, because for one, you're going to a major league baseball game, which is never an activity you do to save money; and for two, you're going to a Yankees game in the Bronx. It's like a wedding...oh you want photographs and hair and makeup...oh it's for a wedding...that'll be twice as much.

The Yankees roster in 1996, when they won their first World Series in 18 years and began the now defunct dynasty, was the most expensive in baseball, but not by an astronomical amount. The consistent winning over the next six years made playoff baseball in the Bronx a hot ticket, and one way to guarantee you could get a playoff ticket was to purchase season tickets. That fueled fan investment into the team, and the once bombastic George Steinbrenner to mandate "win for the fans." If Steinbrenner was still actively in charge I doubt many of Lonn Trost's price gouging innovations would have been as sharp. 

The new park is nice, but if you take away the history, the murals and paintings and banners testifying the past glories from across the street, the stadium is duller than the D-back's Chase Field in Phoenix, a team that's been around since 1998.