Okay, so I have some catching up to do. I went to four games in May, and have yet to write about a single one of them. That’s not like me. I never go to a game without writing about the one before. I need to focus. Where are my priorities? Oh right, this doesn’t pay the bills. In fact, this doesn’t pay ANYTHING. Oh well, such is life. Anywhoo, in early May, A-Train scored a couple of tickets to the Red Sox debut in the NEW Yankee Stadium. I hadn’t been to the ballpark yet and he asked me to be his backup in case it rained and his wife decided not to go. I already knew a bunch of people going to the game. When he left the office at 5 o’clock, I hadn’t gotten the nod, so I assumed I was out. Seven minutes later he called and said, “Wanna go?” Clearly, I was in for this one.
We were running a little late due to some extenuating circumstances, so by the time we got to the parking lot, it was game time. Luckily for us, it was still raining and the tarp was on the field. The FIRST thing I noticed as we were about to pull into the parking deck, was that the sign said, “Prepaid Parking.” Well we didn’t have prepaid parking, so we politely asked where to park, and they directed us to the Prepaid lot saying, “It’s not going to fill up, so it doesn’t matter if you have prepaid or not.” What a concept? Adjusting to the circumstances and allowing people to use up prepaid or VIP spots that aren’t being used. We had to pay, obviously, but still. Are you paying attention Meadowlands? I’m looking RIGHT in your direction on this one. No, of course you’re not paying attention, you’re still trying to figure out how to sell all those unsold seat licenses. Aren’t you? And yet, I digress…
Since no baseball was going to be played any time soon, we met up with some friends at Stan’s and had about 3 or 4 rounds. While at Stan’s I got this text from my brother Frank: “How’s this for a headline? ‘JOBA’S MOM JAILED, SUSPECTED OF SELLING METH’ Just saw it in NYPost.com. HA!” I think we know where this night was headed. We then saw a hoard of fans walking away from the stadium. Did that mean the game was postponed or were they just giving up? Regardless, we moved our little party over to the bowling alley for a couple games and a few more beers, before all of a sudden, at 9:10, we found out that Phil Hughes was scheduled to throw his first pitch at 9:22. So we hustled to the ballpark after finishing up our bowling game and here are some observations…
1) The big screen at Gate 6 is nasty. I mean uber-nasty. A-Train wants that in his house.
2) This place really is like a futuristic Yankee Stadium. If that’s what they were going for, they achieved their goal.
3) Looking out from our seats in left field, it certainly looks bigger than the old one.
4) Wow, what a fantastic job on the brisket sandwich. Okay concessions, you’re off to a good start.
5) Okay, seriously, the screen in centerfield is ridiculous. I do not believe it was manufactured on this planet. I need that on the side of my house.
6) The prices aren’t really that bad. $7.50-8 beers, comparable to Citi.
7) I do like their out of town scoreboard that shows basically all the details of the situation including runners on base, batter and pitcher. Oh, by the way, Mets won. (PUT IT IN THE BOOKS!)
8) There’s a dude wearing a green Phillies hat in front of us. FML. (Actually, FHL for wearing a green Phillies hat.)
9) There was a group of what I would assume was Japanese fans sitting behind us. You wouldn’t have known it though because they were speaking with a Spanish accent. I’m not even joking about this. I heard one say, "Let's Go Jankees!" I'm not kidding. They were pretty annoying, but the one thing I remember was a guy saying to them, “When Matsui gets up, you gotta stand up.” They got all excited. Matsui wasn’t in the lineup. DOH!!
10) So Yankee Stadium is now using a PA announcer that doesn’t even try to be like Bob Sheppard. It’s just not the same without him or his impersonator. Welcome to the NEW Yankee Stadium.
11) Time to take a walk around.
12) The place really is nice. It’s very modern, but it has a cool feel to it.
13) The garlic fries….to die for. Absolutely amazing.
14) A lot of people don’t like the integration of the bleachers and the stadium. In the old stadium, if you sat in the bleachers, you had no access to the stadium. This is not the case in the new ballpark. I kinda like that, especially in the situation when a bunch of people go to the game together, and some have ticket in the bleachers and some don’t. You still have the opportunity to meet up, which was the case with us. What I DON’T like about the bleacher set up is the box seats in front. THAT’s a bad idea.
15) In the sixth inning, A-Train and I completed our trip around the stadium and ended up standing behind the section on the field level behind the Red Sox dugout. We stood there for the rest of the time we were there and the only concern security had was that we didn’t try to sit in the section. There’s a positive and a negative here. In the old days, this just wasn’t allowed. First off, we were technically on the concourse, so we weren’t blocking any view from anyone’s seat. This was a cool thing that they didn’t bother us. The negative is that it was getting late in the game. It was after 11 at night. The weather was crappy. Hundreds to thousands of seats were unoccupied. Let the people sit there. Whether they were paid for or not, that certainly is not going to change now. Any unclaimed seats should be fair game. Especially in a ballpark that is so damn expensive to buy tickets in to begin with. Wake up Yankee Stadium. Wake up.
16) In a memorable moment for me,
17) Later, Jeter was called out on strikes and quietly questioned the umpire’s decision. Girardi came out to defend his player and was immediately tossed, as I received this text, “Did anyone ever tell you you look like a penis with a hat on…” Well played.
18) It was that kind of night for the Yankees. They brought nothing to the Red Sox.
19) We left at midnight, which was the top of the 8th inning.
20) As we drove through the
21) One final
And now it’s time for the moment I know a
Stadium Grounds: 50
For a brand new ballpark, it BETTER have a good rating here.
Parking: 10
I hate parking decks and $19 to park just sucks. However, they stay in the positive simply for their handling of the situation in that they opened up the Prepaid Lot when it was determined it wouldn’t be filled. Pay attention Meadowlands!
Seat Value: -50
There is no way around this. I’m sorry, not a single seat in that joint is worth the price. Except maybe the bleachers.
Interior Design: 40
I LOVE the façade back on top of the stadium. The big screen in centerfield is such a treat on the eyes. They did a good job here.
Tribute to Jackie: 35
I didn’t get to see
Sightlines: 20
They get positive points for the open concourse. I really wrestled with this number though. The stupid big black bar in centerfield cuts off half of the field to fans sitting directly on either side. Regardless of the big screen TV’s on the sides of the bar, that was bad job. You can see the game really from anywhere though.
Concessions: 25
Garlic fries were amazing. Brisket sandwich was well done. I have to test out more things next time, but they definitely had a great selection. The pool of popcorn looked cool. The only thing keeping this number from being higher is the prices. Speaking of which….
Prices: -10
This does not include ticket prices. That’s under Seat Value. Beer isn’t too bad. I mean prices suck across the board in baseball around here, so I guess I’ll just say comparable. Some of the sandwiches are outrageous and outrageously priced.
Scoreboards: 50
Just look at it. I couldn’t stop. Between the big and the out of town scoreboard I couldn’t get enough.
Weather: 20
It was a crappy night, but it’s
Staff: 30
There really wasn’t anything memorable or forgettable. The staff was nice and helpful, nothing out of the ordinary in either direction.
National Anthem/God Bless
We missed it, but you can never go wrong with this in the
Promotions: 35
Yankee Stadium always has good promotions.
Crowd Support: 25
It was a tough night. Weather was bad. The Sox were putting the hurting on the Yankees, and the stupid Matsui fans behind us were annoying. But I know the Yankee Stadium crowd, they’re usually behind their team pretty well, so they get a pass here.
Crowd Personality: 10
It’s Yankee fans, come on. Lots of swearing and abuse of Red Sox fans, who did deserve it though. I didn’t see any fights, so that’s what keeps it in the positive, however, I’m SURE there were some. Plus there are still SO MANY not real Yankee fans/tourists/closet Yankee fans/Derek Jeter Yankee fans that are just lost when it comes to baseball.
Speaker System: 25
No complaints here
Stadium DJ: 25
Ditto, but they HAVE to get rid of YMCA.
Crowd entertainment: 20
Like I said, YMCA has to go. Other than that, they did a good job. The train race, Yankees trivia, the message board, all good things to keep the crowd into it.
Location: -35
Well there’s just no way around this, it’s the
Transportation: -5
The trains, which I never take, keep this from being an even worse score. Traffic is ATROCIOUS around the stadium.
Total Score: 370
Not bad at all. They more than tripled the score of the old stadium. It really is a beautiful ballpark. I’d say the only categories really keeping it from sniffing
