Bronx

On the House that Jeter Built

New Yankee Stadium, 2009

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Baltimore Orioles vs. New York Yankees
Yankee Stadium
Major League Baseball, American League East
Bronx NY
1:05 PM


Outside of the Game:
This was just a day trip from home. Travel on the subways is always more of a chore on Sundays, when the trains run at what can only be called a leisurely pace. By leaving a half hour or so early, I managed to get the the stadium to pick up my tickets about fifteen minutes before the gates opened.

After the game, I got to the subway just as a D was coming in. On the ride back to Manhattan, I was only almost killed twice by dance groups performing in the subway car. Threats to my life on the second leg of the trip home on the PATH were minimal, due to the lack of street dancers performing on them.


The Stadium & Fans:

Home plate to center field, New Yankee Stadium

How can you replace a legend? Especially when said legend still lies, veiled like an old Italian lady in mourning, right across the street?

Nonno passed.

To be fair, the new Yankee Stadium is as nice as any new park I've been to, and completely blows Not Shea out of the water. It is what Not Shea should have been, wants to be, but isn't. The history of the franchise infuses the place, but for all the historical references, it is very clearly a modern ballpark.

The main entrance "Grand Hall" puts the Robinson Rotunda at Not Shea to shame. And the park still has the gravitas (and pedestrain ramps) of the old place. The Yankees claim the dimension of the field is the same, but something about it looks a little off, though it seems correct in general dimensions.

The main promenade houses concessions and walkways that give access to the lower deck seating and the specialty restaurants in center field and by first base. Also in center field is the bunker entrance to the new Monument Park (and even though I got there right when the gates opened, the line was already an hour or so long). The middle deck houses the new Yankee Museum (also over an hour line) and the area in center field has a special section with tables on which to eat concessions. It also gives access to the new bleacher seats on either side of the center field restaurant. Having sat in some of the seats next to the wall, I can safely say you can at best see half the field. The upper decks (or whatever the euphemism is) only goes from left field to right field, holding the seats under the restored bunting around the edge of the roof.

The stadium was all well laid-out, convenient, clean, and personable -- and those are all adjectives that I would never apply to Yankee Stadium. And I think that may be its biggest problem. It is a very well-designed park, with many interesting details, and heavy thought clearly went into its production, but it was those rough edges and supposed "inconveniences" that made the real Yankee Stadium what it was. There is something just missing that you can't quite put your finger on.

From the upper deck

Even though it was the opening weekend of the football season and the Yankee's opponent was the last place team in the division, the stadium was nearly full, and the crowd was in the doors as soon as the gates opened. The crowd was loud and expressive as always, and a handful of Orioles fans scattered throughout the crowd made no impact between one or two continuing their "special" practice of shouting the "O" in the Star Spangled Banner.


At the Game with Oogie:

New scoring

I got a seat in the 200s right behind first base. The view was excellent, and the seats not as claustrophobic as the real Yankee Stadium. A group of the most vapid women in the world were seated right behind me, but it turns out they were sitting there because two groups of people had the same tickets. In a slight smile from the powers that be, they were escorted away when the rightful owners of their seats showed up, and it turned out they had counterfeit tickets.


The Game:

First pitch, Orioles vs. Yankees

The term "brutal beating" gets bandied about so much these days, that it has lost its impact.

While the game ended up a casual slaughter the likes of which you'd expect from someone with "Khan" somewhere in their name, it was a close-fought thing for the first half.

The Yankees jumped out to an early lead, with Jeter scoring in the top of the first, but with the Yankees leaving two in scoring position at the end of the inning. Sabathia got sloppy in the second, giving up two runs and then eventually stopping the bleeding there. The Yankees managed to strand two more on base in the third before the O's jumped ahead with a run in the top of the fourth.

Then the tide turned. The Yankees plated two in the bottom of the fourth to tie it, but A-Rod looked at strike three with the bases loaded to end the inning. He was apparently so upset that he continued arguing about the call in the bottom of next inning, and got tossed, along with Girardi who went as insane as I've ever seen him get. The Yankees scored two in the bottom of the sixth, but again ended the inning with the bases loaded, adding a shadow of missed opportunities to the game.

That shadow was completely dispelled in he bottom of the eigth, where the Yankees got eight runs on eight hits, and blew through three pitchers (including one with the uneviable pitching line of nill innings pitched [no outs recorded], with four earned runs on four hit and a walk.)


The Scorecard:

Orioles vs. Yankees, 09/13/09. Yankees win, 13-3.

The scorecard is only part of the $10(!) program, making it the most expensive scorecard in the majors. The card itself is the same one-pager the Yankees have been using for at least the last several years. The entire page is devoted to the scorecard, Yankees lineups, and the list of AL umpires.

While the scorecard is sufficient for most AL games, its limits are stressed by games with a lot of changes, as was the case today. Also, the ink used in the printing is easily smudged by erasing or sweat.

There were a couple of events of note, including Jeter scoring his 100th run of the season and the aforementioned A-Rod and Girardi ejections. The most interesting scoring note was the two-base sacrifice fly in the third. The Oriole center fielder field out to deep left, and the runner on second advanced on the throw. Yankee's left fielder Johnny Damon forgot how many out there were and airmailed in a throw to the infield that allowed the run to score from second. Oops.

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2009 Stand-Alone Trip