This weekend I got a chance to check out the New Yankee Stadium during an exhibition game against the Cubs. Here are a few things I learned:
1. What it’s like when everyone looks like a tourist. In years past you could always tell who was a regular to Yankee Stadium and who was a tourist by the pictures people took. Standing outside the bleacher entrance I would always see people snapping away at the craziest things, ranging from the bleacher entrance sign, which made sense, to photos of popo cars on the street. But on this day, only the second day the Stadium would host a game, everyone was taking pictures of everything. Just wondering outside of the gate 6, I felt like I was walking through countless photos. I mean, someone is going to be going through their photos of the game and have the side of my head in one of them guaranteed. It was actually kind of nice to see such usually jaded New Yorkers acting like kids again. And frankly they deserve it because the municipal bonds had to come from somewhere.
2. The new layout of the bleachers. I tried my best to avoid reading too much about either the New Yankee Stadium or CitiField. I preferred to discover the intricacies by myself. However, I did read a little bit about the Stadium in my guide book, just so I would know which gate to enter, see what food would be in the bleachers, etc... I have to be honest; the diagram in the guide book did not do the bleacher area justice. The concourse was wider and easy to maneuver, the food court area offered two different sides to order from cutting down on the lines, not to mention the various carts that littered the area, and the seats themselves and the spaces between the rows were larger, making me feel far less squished than I had in the past. The video boards were huge and filled with various information, including line-ups, pitch speeds and the out-of-town scoreboard. The two small downgrades would have to be the lack of view of either bullpen while in the bleachers, which used to be the small victory for fans banished in the outfield and the lack of view from section 239 and section 201. But I’ll get into that later.
3. Cubs fans are fanatics even if it is just an exhibition game. Honestly, I have never been to a game where the opposing team has more fans in Yankee Stadium. But if there weren’t more Cubs fans there, it was definitely a toss-up. They cheered loudly when Alfonso Soriano hit a homerun and were very knowledgeable of their team. Too bad, they got completely annihilated, but luckily the game didn’t count.
4. How many calories are in a milkshake. Thanks to a law in New York that makes all “chain” restaurants list their calories on the menu, I found out a vanilla milkshake has 800 calories and a double burger from Johnny Rockets has 1020. Happy eating!
5. Mark Teixeira cannot buy my love with two homeruns on my birthday. Yes, I am still upset Teixeira didn’t re-sign with the Braves before the start of the 2008 season. I get that he is a Scott Boras client, and as such, Boras advises all of his clients to avoid signing deals before exploring free agency. But Teixeira was a perfect weapon for the Braves. He was the right guy to hit after Chipper Jones in the line-up. He is a gold glove defenseman at first base. He went to Georgia Tech and had many friends in the area. He was meant for the Braves and now he’s playing for the Yankees. Yeah, that team that destroyed 1996 for me. Yuck! So I am sorry Mark, you can go onto have a Hall of Fame caliber career, one that involves an error that allows the Braves to win the World Series, one that proves you are not a selfish money grubber and yet I will always be sad that you didn’t choice to stay with the Braves. And no, those two homeruns mean nothing to me, nothing. Not even if you hit them into my seat in section 237 row 12 seat 8 would I have been impressed. I guess you should have saved them for the regular season!
6. A few rays of sun can get a crowd cheering. I don’t know why I think that April 4th will be warm in New York City. I guess I just hold out hope that every year it was be 70 degrees and sunny just for me. But alas, April 4, 2009 was anything but 70 and sunny. Instead it was mostly overcast, windy and somewhere in the 50s. But in those few moments when the sun peaked out of the clouds and warmed the crowd, the fans literally started to cheer. Who knew sunshine was so beloved in the South Bronx?
7. Sun maybe beloved but Sweet Lou is not. When Lou Pinella’s face graced the jumbotron in centerfield, boos echoed throughout. It was probably the most emotion felt during the nine innings of play.
8. The Silent Eyed Joe. I get why it’s called a soft open. Especially with all of the technical difficulties. At some point after the fifth inning the PA system no longer worked. So when the time came for Cotton Eyed Joe, a man in a straw hat dancing came on the screen with the words “Silent Eyed Joe” written beneath him. But that wasn’t the only mechanical glitch. As one point the screen stopped working altogether. Better to have problems during the exhibition games than during the real thing.
9. The frustration that is Kosuke Fukudome. Kosuke was the Cubs big acquisition last year and quickly became a fan favorite. But after watching him play, I can understand why he is building a love/hate relationship. He missed an easily catchable pop in the early innings but then finished off the game with a sliding catch in center. I mean if he can make highlight reel catches, shouldn’t he be able to catch a routine fly ball?
10. Not every seat has a view. So like I was saying in the first item I learned, there are some downsides with the new stadium. And the biggest glaring error would be the two sections that flank the food court/bar area in centerfield. My two friends were lucky enough to be seated in section 329 row 22 seats 1 and 2 and had to move over to the two empty seats next to me in section 327 because they literally could not see the field or the three TVs set up on the side of the food court for those in that section. The Yankees did admit that seats in either section 329 or section 201 would have an obstructed view, but I don’t know if they realized quite how obstructed they were. Too bad, because on all other accounts, the Yankees built a beautiful new Stadium.
2. The new layout of the bleachers. I tried my best to avoid reading too much about either the New Yankee Stadium or CitiField. I preferred to discover the intricacies by myself. However, I did read a little bit about the Stadium in my guide book, just so I would know which gate to enter, see what food would be in the bleachers, etc... I have to be honest; the diagram in the guide book did not do the bleacher area justice. The concourse was wider and easy to maneuver, the food court area offered two different sides to order from cutting down on the lines, not to mention the various carts that littered the area, and the seats themselves and the spaces between the rows were larger, making me feel far less squished than I had in the past. The video boards were huge and filled with various information, including line-ups, pitch speeds and the out-of-town scoreboard. The two small downgrades would have to be the lack of view of either bullpen while in the bleachers, which used to be the small victory for fans banished in the outfield and the lack of view from section 239 and section 201. But I’ll get into that later.
3. Cubs fans are fanatics even if it is just an exhibition game. Honestly, I have never been to a game where the opposing team has more fans in Yankee Stadium. But if there weren’t more Cubs fans there, it was definitely a toss-up. They cheered loudly when Alfonso Soriano hit a homerun and were very knowledgeable of their team. Too bad, they got completely annihilated, but luckily the game didn’t count.
4. How many calories are in a milkshake. Thanks to a law in New York that makes all “chain” restaurants list their calories on the menu, I found out a vanilla milkshake has 800 calories and a double burger from Johnny Rockets has 1020. Happy eating!
5. Mark Teixeira cannot buy my love with two homeruns on my birthday. Yes, I am still upset Teixeira didn’t re-sign with the Braves before the start of the 2008 season. I get that he is a Scott Boras client, and as such, Boras advises all of his clients to avoid signing deals before exploring free agency. But Teixeira was a perfect weapon for the Braves. He was the right guy to hit after Chipper Jones in the line-up. He is a gold glove defenseman at first base. He went to Georgia Tech and had many friends in the area. He was meant for the Braves and now he’s playing for the Yankees. Yeah, that team that destroyed 1996 for me. Yuck! So I am sorry Mark, you can go onto have a Hall of Fame caliber career, one that involves an error that allows the Braves to win the World Series, one that proves you are not a selfish money grubber and yet I will always be sad that you didn’t choice to stay with the Braves. And no, those two homeruns mean nothing to me, nothing. Not even if you hit them into my seat in section 237 row 12 seat 8 would I have been impressed. I guess you should have saved them for the regular season!
6. A few rays of sun can get a crowd cheering. I don’t know why I think that April 4th will be warm in New York City. I guess I just hold out hope that every year it was be 70 degrees and sunny just for me. But alas, April 4, 2009 was anything but 70 and sunny. Instead it was mostly overcast, windy and somewhere in the 50s. But in those few moments when the sun peaked out of the clouds and warmed the crowd, the fans literally started to cheer. Who knew sunshine was so beloved in the South Bronx?
7. Sun maybe beloved but Sweet Lou is not. When Lou Pinella’s face graced the jumbotron in centerfield, boos echoed throughout. It was probably the most emotion felt during the nine innings of play.
8. The Silent Eyed Joe. I get why it’s called a soft open. Especially with all of the technical difficulties. At some point after the fifth inning the PA system no longer worked. So when the time came for Cotton Eyed Joe, a man in a straw hat dancing came on the screen with the words “Silent Eyed Joe” written beneath him. But that wasn’t the only mechanical glitch. As one point the screen stopped working altogether. Better to have problems during the exhibition games than during the real thing.
9. The frustration that is Kosuke Fukudome. Kosuke was the Cubs big acquisition last year and quickly became a fan favorite. But after watching him play, I can understand why he is building a love/hate relationship. He missed an easily catchable pop in the early innings but then finished off the game with a sliding catch in center. I mean if he can make highlight reel catches, shouldn’t he be able to catch a routine fly ball?
10. Not every seat has a view. So like I was saying in the first item I learned, there are some downsides with the new stadium. And the biggest glaring error would be the two sections that flank the food court/bar area in centerfield. My two friends were lucky enough to be seated in section 329 row 22 seats 1 and 2 and had to move over to the two empty seats next to me in section 327 because they literally could not see the field or the three TVs set up on the side of the food court for those in that section. The Yankees did admit that seats in either section 329 or section 201 would have an obstructed view, but I don’t know if they realized quite how obstructed they were. Too bad, because on all other accounts, the Yankees built a beautiful new Stadium.
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