The Other New Stadium

Posted: August 5th, 2009 | Filed under: The Bronx

We were lucky enough to get to see the Yankees play the Mariners at New Yankee Stadium just before July 4th weekend. It’s quite a place:

Everything about it is better than the Old Yankee Stadium, which (if you think about it) was kind of a dump. One big noticeable improvement is that the open concourses allow you to stay connected to the action on the field:

The huge HD jumbotron is another very cool part of the new stadium. It’s really, really big, and really, really clear — so much the better to ogle Jorge Posada’s beautiful mug:

And — astonishingly — the Yankees have generously allowed all ticket holders to go down to the field level where you can watch the game from the concourse. Whereas in the old version of the stadium you were isolated from the lower levels, in the new version you can get this close:

Like I said, pretty generous.

And you can compost in the new stadium!

The only thing missing is any explanation of what to compost or how to compost, but whatever.

Hey, the Frieze!

For the most part the sightlines and views are good, as you would expect from a stadium that is very similar to its former version, but there are some lame spots, including the notorious Sections 201 and 239, parts of which have one of the more obstructed views in baseball. You can tell how the fans avoid those blind spots:

The biggest downside is obviously the cost. The thing was $1.3 billion or whatever, which is what it is — stuff costs a lot in New York, blah blah — and although the cheapest tickets at New Yankee Stadium are still less than the cheapest tickets at Citi Field — $14 versus $19 (though the Mets do have “value” dates that are as low as $11) — everything in New Yankee Stadium is a lot more expensive. There’s no need rehashing the absurdity of the “Legends” section seats, since that’s not a reality for most people, but suffice it to say, this beer in a souvenir cup was $10:

And these “retro beers” — Schlitz and PBR in tall boy cans — were $9, if memory serves:

If you get food, expect to pay close to $10 per item for the good stuff, though hot dogs could be had for $5.50:

The closed captioning, which we had read about, was fun, too. This is between-inning George Thorogood music:

When are they going to finally bring down Old Yankee Stadium? It’s still there:

And as for poor old Cotton-Eye Joey, he seems to have been retired. Whatever happened to tradition?