OK, I think some of you may come to the conclusion by the end of this post that I really did not give the new Yankee Stadium a “fair shake” due to the circumstances of my trip; however, I assure you that is NOT the case. But if anyone out there reading, especially you Yankees-Front-Office types, wants to pony up the cash to bring me back to review the stadium again, I’d welcome another trip to NYC! In the meantime, here’s a little background to provide color for my Yankee Stadium trip, 2010 style.
To get over to Edinburgh for school this year I was required to get a UK student visa. I thought this would be fairly straightforward but it turned out to be a lot more complicated than I thought. I won’t bore you with all the gruesome details but after a couple of rejected applications, I ended up having to take one of my whirlwind “leave-at-4AM-get-home-after-midnight” trips (*patent pending*) to NYC on Wednesday September 8th when I was scheduled to depart for Edinburgh on Friday September 10th! Yikes!
Well, if you’ve read the other posts, you know by now that it all worked out and I’m over ‘cross the pond safe and sound but August was an extremely stressful month. Anyway, I had to go to New York to have an in-person interview with a member of the UK consulate in order to get my visa. But, that also meant I could scoot over to Yankee Stadium for some day baseball and my last stadium review. I had my interview in the morning and then headed over for a 1PM game against the Orioles. I only got to stay for about 7 innings because I had to return to the consulate to pick up my visa at 4pm but that hardly made a difference in my opinion of the stadium which, by the way, was quite low.
Trust me, this shot says a lot more than just “Yankee Stadium.” It actually says:
“Hi, Matt, welcome to the new Yankee Stadium! From the outside, our new behemoth of a ballpark looks really regal and impressive, much like Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, but it is actually the epitome of a character-less, sterile, unfriendly environment to watch a baseball game, epitomizing the stereotype of corporate greed that helped bring down the economy of a once-great nation.”
Yeah, that’s what it says. OK, maybe that’s a little over the top, but it’s at least along those lines. Like I said, the outside of the stadium and even when I first walked in looked “typically impressive.” Like, what is “supposed” to be impressive. Except, it just wasn’t.
This concourse was really big and that’s always nice, it was just…maybe too big? It certainly didn’t feel like I was at a baseball game; more like a Las Vegas convention. And, unfortunately, that feeling of being underwhelmed by over-abundance was a theme that pervaded my entire day at the ballpark. I commented on this back in the San Diego post about being so impressed by everything and taking tons of notes, contrasted with the Angel’s stadium where I just didn’t write that much down. Well, at the new Yankee Stadium I just didn’t write that much down.
Game Notes:
Initially on my lap around the park, I was nodding with approval at the open concourses the Yankees had incorporated into their new park. Obviously they took care of the MASSIVE congestion problem from the old stadium, right? Not so fast…
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What the heck?! This is in a major area of the ballpark (under the bleachers in the outfield) and the space couldn’t have been more than 8-10 feet wide for tons of people to squeeze through. What’s that all about? Not a good start, Yankees, not a good start.
Next thing I found was pretty cool though. Granted, if you wanted a sandwich with this meat it cost literally $15.00, which I passed on, but taking a picture was free and pretty neat.
Nothing like a butcher shop at the old ballpark, huh? Speaking of food, the variety was there, much like the Mets, but the options didn’t really feel unique. Maybe they were and I was just having a bad day but I’m willing to wager dollars to donuts that it had more to do with the Yankees lack of variety and not me. Check out these options though:
It’s good that they give you the calorie information I suppose, but the vast majority of the food places just seemed like standard ballpark fare, unless Joe the Plumber wants to pay a week’s salary to get some of the fancier options. Personally, I went with the foot-long dog and a beer and called it a day.
Look at the standing room number though. I can’t say for certain as of this writing, but I think the Yankees sell tickets for standing room counters. Wow. Standing room should be just that – room to stand at different areas around the park to move around and get a different flavor. Now we’re going to limit that to one’s little area of a half-counter? I don’t like it. Also, no cup holders like the Mets had!
One more note about the food I have to mention was the terrible condiment selection. I took a picture but I won’t bore you with it. In an interesting twist, the Yankees offer Frank’s Red Hot Sauce with their catchy slogan – “I put that sh*t on everything” – but other than that it’s just standard ketchup and mustard (but again, points for spicy). That’s it. I was upset with the Twins but I’m REALLY miffed at the Yankees, especially after seeing what the Mets did. It’s not like these other stadiums are keeping secrets from people. For the record, having a large condiment selection is a good thing!! Especially when people are paying an arm and a leg to get into your stadium – give back to the people, you know?
Speaking of that though, this is a good time to mention my ticket price. You could argue that I paid $17.95 for my ticket. And, I guess technically I paid $17.95 to walk into Yankee Stadium but it felt like I got a better deal than that. Since I went to a game in the middle of the week, in the middle of the day, in September after the kids have gone back to school, StubHub was practically giving these things away! There were all kinds of deals for “special” areas of the stadium – various suites and such. Looking back I probably should have checked this out for the Mets game too. Oh well. Anyway, I ended up paying $4.00 for my ticket in the upper deck, right behind the plate – my favorite place to watch a game. However, the person selling them only sold them in pairs so that kicked it up to $8. Then with fees and charges and whatnot I paid $17.95 for two tickets and didn’t use one of them. I guess I could have tried to scalp the other one but I think people are really suspicious of print-at-home tickets – especially right outside the ballpark. But overall, not bad.
Meanwhile, while Matt was going off on various tangents, the Yankees decided to close off the lower bowl of the stadium to those unworthy peons who only pay money just like everyone else to get into the stadium. What? Yeah, the lower bowl is only open for 40 minutes from when gates open. So, unfortunately, I didn’t know this before the game and I wasn’t allowed into the bourgeois area of the park to bring you some of my patented batting practice shots.
I did, however, get to take a trip up to the furthest parts of the ballpark. And let me tell you, they are FAR away. This happened at the original, or should I say “last version” of Yankee Stadium and they didn’t fix it.
Not as bad as St. Louis but the players still looked like ants down there. Wait a second! Maybe the other side of the outfield would be better?
Nah. Course not.
Other than that, nothing really stood out about my lap around the park. I mean, the entire thing ballpark is really just sterile concrete and honestly, felt pretty “worn out” despite the fact that it hadn’t been open for 2 years by the time I saw it. So I settled in, somewhere above home plate to enjoy the game.
High Points:
-One of the few parks in the country to have Bank of America ATMs. Though credit for that high point probably should go to BoA rather than the Yankees who, in reality, likely just accepted the highest bidding bank.
-I’d say the thing the Yankees did best was to absolutely nail the scoreboard set up, much like Minnesota. There was a TON of information at my fingertips, they didn’t repeat information like the Mets did on their new boards and the scoreboards could be seen from virtually the entire park! Have a look…
-The ironic introduction music struck me and, I’m guessing, very few other patrons at the park that day. For some reason, the Yankees played the theme music for the Empire and/or Darth Vadar and/or whatever the bad guys in star wars were called during the Orioles’ introductions. Then, during the Yankees’ own introductions they played the Resistance or the Rebel Alliance music! Of course this is ironic to a Red Sox fan because Larry Lucchino famously (locally at least) referred to the Yankees as the “Evil Empire” back in 2002. Ha!
-Having a cooler with “Retro Beers” was pretty sweet – even if they were something like $9 a pop. For those keeping score at home this thing included: PBR, Ballantine XXX, Schafer, and Schlitz.
On a related note: Stella Artois and other premium beers could be had for a relatively low price of 24oz for $11.00.
-The Yankees had a nice, understated tribute to the Boss out in center field. Regardless of any controversies through the years, that man was good for the game of baseball.
-Hmm, I don’t know what other high points there were about the day…maybe the fact that I got my visa?! Haha, the Yankees didn’t help with that one though…
-Oooh, here, this! I got a small bottle of hand sanitizer courtesy of New York Presbyterian Hospital
Yeah, so there’s that…um, let’s move on to the low points.
Low Points:
-I think a note I made right in the middle of my page sums up my day pretty nicely. It says, and I quote:
“What am I supposed to write about?”
That should never happen at a baseball game. At least not for someone like me, who is reviewing the stadium and it’s my very first trip to a place which has just opened to much fanfare and is the home of the most iconic team in Major League Baseball.
-I even wrote down the dimensions of the ballpark which I hadn’t done since some of my first stadium reviews. There just wasn’t that much going on! Of course, those dimensions came into play, especially last year when home runs seemed to be flying out of right field in record numbers. FYI, left to right it’s 318, 399, 408, 385, 314.
-The Yankees decided to bring a whole new level of “lame” to the game when, instead of the gawdawful “kiss cam” they decided to take it a step further and make a “smile cam.” Good grief.
-Again with the computer generated races – this time it was three different New York City trains racing back into town. I think they had this at the old stadium too though. Speaking of which, it’s gone now but I honestly liked that one better than this new monstrosity.
-I couldn’t get into Monument Park again. Also, in the next picture take a look at the bullpens. I mean, no frills is fine but some teams actually made awesome bullpens (see: Detroit Tigers). If you’re building a brand new stadium I think things like that should be thought about.
-I again disliked the pre-recorded national anthem. Why not sing it live?
-Still confused by the cheers that go on in the right field bleachers when the game starts. Who starts it, how do the people know what to say, etc?
-I have complained about this at virtually every Orioles game I’ve been to around the country but one stupid O’s fan managed to do the “O!” thing during the anthem again.
-The “Farmer’s Market” in New York had more options than the little cart in the heartland (Minneapolis) but it all looked old and paled in comparison to the Mets offering.
-Not really a low point but the Yankees obviously have a lot of retired numbers. Well, Mariano Rivera is number 42 and will certainly be in the baseball Hall of Fame as well as have his number retired by the Yankees. What happens then? I ask because number 42 is already retired by baseball in honor of Jackie Robinson. Does JR’s just stay a lighter shade of blue? Tough situation there!
So I guess that’s it. So long, Yankee Stadium, try to do better next time around, k??
Oh, PS, did I mention what a long day it was??
Overall Grade: B-
Game Stats:
Teams: Yankees vs. Orioles
Final Score: 3-2 Yankees
Extra Innings: 0
WP: Joba Chamberlain
LP: Koji Uehara
Time: 2:44
Announced Attendance: 44,163 (84.5% full)
Ticket Price: $17.95 (though arguably $4 I guess?)
Parking Price: N/A
Trip Stats:
Home team record: 24-9
Best Anthem: Tropicana Field
Miles Driven: 10,702
Speeding Tickets: ZERO!
States Visited: 27
Countries Visited: 2
Districts of Columbia Visited: 1
Beds slept in: 35
Highest Gas PPG: $4.19 [$4.81 if you count Canada]
Next Stop: I dunno...some team has to build a new stadium!!
Favorite Park: Petco Park (Padres)
Stadium Grades:
Marlins: D
Rays: B
Braves: B-
Rockies: B+
Mariners: B
Giants: A-
Athletics: C
Angels: B-
Dodgers: B+
Padres: A
Diamondbacks: B
Rangers: B-
Astros: B-
Blue Jays: C
Tigers: A-
Indians: B-
Reds: B+
Cardinals: B
Royals: B
Twins (2008): B-
Brewers: A-
White Sox: B
Cubs: B+
Pirates: C+
Orioles: B
Phillies: A-
Nationals: B
Mets: C+
Yankees: B
Red Sox: A-
Twins (2010): B+
Mets (2010): A-
Yankees (2010): B-
