June 4- Yankee Stadium

So I managed to get a hold of tickets for the Yankee game to celebrate part one of the week of doom with Jay. As promised, I'd like to go through my thoughts on the new stadium, as my last trip yielded only a mild response. Here we go:

Advantages of the new "Yankee Stadium" (and yes, I am blatantly putting it in quotation marks, as this new whatever-it-is certainly hasn't won me over):

1) Space- If there's one thing the new stadium has going for it, it's the sheer size of the building. The open entrance, Babe Ruth Plaza, and wider aisles among the concessions really make you feel like you're not being ushered through, quite frankly, an older stadium. It's a modern 'luxury' to not be scrunched up with nearly 50,000 of your closest friends.

2) Seats- Marginally more comfortable in the nosebleeds, where commoners like myself sit. We DID manage to catch batting practice on the lower level and those padded seats seem like they would be merciful on my dumper for a three hour game.

3) Bigger jumbotron- Even this has a catch: right field seats can't enjoy the big screen. Luckily I was in left today, so I caught all the action. It's clearer and crisper, another sign that there was way too much money spent on a ballpark.

4) Food- Wider variety. I will get to the downside of this shortly (there is one), but I will say the number of concessions is enough to cut down the length of lines

5) Customer Service Representatives- They're ALL OVER the lower level as you first enter the stadium. This is something that I've come to consider comforting in a transition year where there's a lot to take in and no sense of familiarity with the new digs.

6) Looser rules concerning pre-game boundaries: This really shouldn't count, as the first time I went, ushers were VERY rude and VERY matter-of-fact about where I could and could not go based on where my seats were. Anyway, I'm glad that the Yankees brass decided to let their ego go a bit and let us peasants check out the field level during BP and warm-ups. That said, it should be noted that as soon as we sat down while the Yankees left the field and the Rangers came up for their own batting practice, we were told to leave, as we did not have the tickets for the seats we were sitting in. It's as though we can stand in rich man's land, but damned if we get comfortable.

Disadvantages of the new "Yankee Stadium" (and yes, I am aware that some might say that my disadvantages are their own advantages. If that's the case, I suggest you write about it yourself)

1) Ticket pricing- This goes without saying, though I WILL share an anecdote that hopefully shines a proper light on the absurdity of what it costs to see the New York Yankees perform....
So when I went to the Cubs game in Chicago, a couple of the guys I was with were complaining about how expensive prime seating was at Wrigley Field, so I asked what sort of price they'd put on a seat right behind home plate. Their response was $180 for behind the aisle, $320 for RIGHT behind the plate. While I understand that this is not a cheap price for the right to sit through a ballgame, consider that the seats RIGHT behind home at "Yankee Stadium" are about $2500 a pop...or, roughly 8 TIMES as expensive as Wrigley...meaning, if you were baller enough to get yourseslf and SEVEN of your closest friends the BEST seats in the house at Wrigley field, it would be the same amount for you to play with yourself while features on the YES network...and while I can't verify it, tha Yankees probably forbid blue jeans, minorities, and souls coming anywhere close to the field.

2) Concessions- Too much. I understand that it's a big thing nowadays to appeal to the average Joe (or Chadwick or Spencer or Biff or (insert WASPy name here)) and his family, it's a lot of excess. Ballgames mean hot dogs, popcorn, Cracker Jack, beer, and MAYBE ice cream. I don't need to see a fucking sushi bar, a noodle bar, a deli (Boar's Head or not), a cheesesteak station....and an occasional, tucked-away-from-the-food-court(and yes, it's called the Food Court) vendor selling "Classic" ballpark food. ALSO...."Yankee Stadium" is the last place that has dropped the whole "let's not call them French fries out of spite for the French for not supporting us in a war that, in hindsight, maybe we shouldn't have gotten ourselves involved in (which goes against my desire to be political in this particular post)" thing. Instead of French Fries or Just FRIES...."Yankee Stadium" sells "American Fries", which, strangely enough, taste VERY much like their French archenemies...

3) Restricted view seating- You've GOT to be fucking kidding me. It's 2009. The mere concept that there are seats that will not enable you- the person who paid way too much to catch a ballgame live- to see the entire field is embarrassing. No it's not made better by having flat-screen TVs... I just find it unacceptable that the Yankees feel that THIS is okay, but fans wanting to get close to their heroes and idols and overpaid athletes is unacceptable from their perspective. Embarrassing. Truly a joke. And for what? A fucking sports lounge? AND it's one that you can't just waltz into...it's an additional fare! Bullshit. Shame on you!

4) YMCA- This should have died with the old stadium.

5) Additional "entertainment"- this includes, but is not limited to, the Mohegan Sun Lounge, the Hard Rock Cafe, and the Club seating on the left field terrace. What the fuck? Did you come here to watch a game or fucking socialize and MAYBE react to us peasants clamoring for a ball hit by that fellow in a white pinstriped suit carrying a club? Ugh. This is why I loved Fenway and Wrigley. You go there and you watch baseball. That's it. You could literally spend an entire game at the new "Yankee Stadium" ("TNYS" henceforth) and not watch a single pitch of baseball...and the only way to see whether you can do that or not? By paying hundreds of dollars just for the right to walk in.

6) Open view of the stadium all the way around- Listen, if you're going to INSIST on being able to see EVERY pitch of a game, then what's the problem with getting there early enough to get any food/drink you may need and hitting the bathroom before the first pitch? Really, I don't like this. I really don't. I'll concede that I miss probably 10 pitches per game because of the line at the men's room or at the concession stand. Other than that, I watch the game. Part of what bothers me about this is that in Yankee Stadium (may she rest in peace), you walked through tunnels and it may have stunk a bit or been a bit stuffy, but THEN you got to walk towards the aisles and seats and TADAAAAAAAAA the most beautiful ballpark in America awaited your ascent/descent to your seats. In other words, you had to EARN the right to look at the beautiful grass glinting in the Sun or looking surreally green in the bright lights of a night game. Now, you can see it anywhere, and while that may be a result of our instant-gratification society, then I'll be the first to say that I'm not thrilled. At least Fenway teased a bit before getting a good look at the field. TNYS whored the opportunity to look at the field out whenever you wanted to...

7) Structure of the ballpark- If you are going to make the dimensions exactly the same, why the fuck do you need a new ballpark in the first place? Really? This doesn't make me feel better about the whole situation. ALSO, the open-air-edness means that the sound of the fans has somewhere to go, whereas in Yankee Stadium, all the raucous cheering and booing went DOWN onto the players. This new configuration takes away perhaps the most substantial home-field advantage in the game. Very disappointing.

8) Seats- There are less of them, and yet the average price of tickets is up 73%? What. The. Fuck? I don't need to sound like Jimmy/Johnny/Paulie/Vito/Tommy/Billy/Sal/Danny from the Bronx/Bayonne/Jersey City/Brooklyn/Manhasset/Oyster Bay/Chappaqua....BUT...that's fucking ridiculous. I cannot stress enough how happy I am that the Yankees fell on their faces with the ticketing issue at TNYS. Really, I am glad. While I love the Yankees, I love baseball more, and them failing to fill out their new "stadium" was not something I will feel bad about. Hopefully this series of fuck-ups leads to some learning.

Anyway, I enjoyed the game (Yankees are 2-0 in games attended by me this year, and Melky Cabrera has stepped up immensely in both games), and will be back...just not anywhere near the field.