OT: Steiner Sports (Yankees) Article in NY Times

[HalChaseCollector]

Great read!

[Gary Dunaier]

I haven't been to the present home of the Yankees (a fake phony fraud counterfeit artificial stadium without a soul that was built on parkland stolen from the neighborhood, and run by an organization that needlessly turns a simple request into a free speech issue ["Ticket holders acknowledge and agree that the Yankees' ban on foul/abusive language and obscene/indecent clothing does not violate their right to free speech"]) in a couple of years.

But in 2009 - and I have no reason not to presume it's still there today - there was a sign at the entrance to the Steiner Team Store asking people not to take pictures inside.


(Photo taken October 19, 2009. © Gary Dunaier. Link to upload on Flickr.com: here.)

What have they got to hide?

[David Atkatz]

Originally Posted by Gary Dunaier

I haven't been to the present home of the Yankees (a fake phony fraud counterfeit artificial stadium without a soul that was built on parkland stolen from the neighborhood, and run by an organization that needlessly turns a simple request into a free speech issue ["Ticket holders acknowledge and agree that the Yankees' ban on foul/abusive language and obscene/indecent clothing does not violate their right to free speech"]) in a couple of years.

+1 F#*k 'em.

[Fuddjcal]

Originally Posted by David Atkatz

+1 F#*k 'em.

This is so funny, I feel the same way about "my" Dodgers. Have not been able to see them on TV all year. F@$* Them! No Vin Scully, F$%# Them.

Other than practically having to be "dragged" to Kershaw's No No, I haven't been back since. I spent all of $10.00 there. While I pay for parking where ever I go, I REFUSE to pay the parking at Dodger Stadium due to Frank McCourt still owning part of the lot. F$%^ HIM.

I am to the point where I cancelled my Baseball package this year and have not watched a game in 2 months. I think I'm cured.
Thanks Dodgers, and thanks Baseball...it was a good run, F&%$ YOU!

[ooo-ribay]

Originally Posted by Fuddjcal

This is so funny, I feel the same way about "my" Dodgers. Have not been able to see them on TV all year. F@$* Them! No Vin Scully, F$%# Them.

Other than practically having to be "dragged" to Kershaw's No No, I haven't been back since. I spent all of $10.00 there. While I pay for parking where ever I go, I REFUSE to pay the parking at Dodger Stadium due to Frank McCourt still owning part of the lot. F$%^ HIM.

I am to the point where I cancelled my Baseball package this year and have not watched a game in 2 months. I think I'm cured.
Thanks Dodgers, and thanks Baseball...it was a good run, F&%$ YOU!

Leave the Dark Side and come to the Giants. You'll be glad you did.

[GKreindler]

I'm probably speaking out of turn here, and after all, I'm only 34, so take this with a grain of salt, but there was certainly some kind of aural magic to the renovated Yankee Stadium that the new one lacks.

I never went to the old ballpark (though I would probably kill someone to have been there), but the place in the '80s and '90s was my home. And there was something about how the enclosed structure held in the sound and vibrations of the crowd...I've just never felt anything like it before.

I've only been to one playoff game in my life, Game 1 of the 2002 ALDS. The electricity, the volume, and the thunder that came from that crowd. God. And I've been to plenty of games in the new place, and it's never sounded even remotely the same. Might it have something to do with the fans? Perhaps. After all, I haven't been to any postseason games in the new place, so there's bound to be a different level of intensity there. But, I still think the new stadium just doesn't carry the sound in the same way the old one did. When the Yankees were behind and attempting a comeback, the crowd would get into it, and you could literally feel the place rumble. I wonder if that was the 'cauldron of sound' that Babe Ruth referred to? Lord knows it wasn't hip-hop music.

Maybe I just really miss Bob Sheppard. And Eddie Layton. ESPECIALLY Eddie Layton.

Speaking of whom, any of you fellas who went to that ballpark in the 1980s and long for those great summer days will appreciate this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7W5N9TySsQ

I'm done chasing kids off my lawn.

Graig

[RichardSimon]

There are a few sadly negative remarks on this thread about the current state of baseball.
And yes I agree with some of the negative statements about the game.
But,,,,
My feeling is that baseball is still the best sport in the world and it is played by the best players in the world.
I still can enjoy watching a terrific pitcher throwing a gem. I still can enjoy watching the best defensive center-fielder in the game making a spectacular catch.
If you cannot enjoy baseball for the beauty that it is then that is just sorta sad.

[yanks12025]

Originally Posted by Gary Dunaier

I haven't been to the present home of the Yankees (a fake phony fraud counterfeit artificial stadium without a soul that was built on parkland stolen from the neighborhood, and run by an organization that needlessly turns a simple request into a free speech issue ["Ticket holders acknowledge and agree that the Yankees' ban on foul/abusive language and obscene/indecent clothing does not violate their right to free speech"]) in a couple of years.

But in 2009 - and I have no reason not to presume it's still there today - there was a sign at the entrance to the Steiner Team Store asking people not to take pictures inside.


(Photo taken October 19, 2009. © Gary Dunaier. Link to upload on Flickr.com: here.)

What have they got to hide?

You do realize they built a park/field where the old stadium was?

[David Atkatz]

Originally Posted by yanks12025

You do realize they built a park/field where the old stadium was?

You do realize the new stadium is nothing but a money-making machine with (and only incidentally) a ball field attached. It has no history, and, in large part due to the nature of contemporary baseball (free agency, absurd salaries, steroids, playoffs, two wild cards, players being completely segregated from fans...) never will.

[Klrdds]

This may digress off the original post's topic line but I am totally in agreement with David's post.
Aren't all the stadiums now just cold monolithic structures designed to get our money, keep us away from the players with little or no interaction with them before and after games , and in some ways keep all but the most attentive fans from watching the game with their "family friendly" atmosphere involving all you can eat seats, exotic food menus, family attractions such as water slides , petting tanks, game alleys/arcades; concourses where you can't see the game while in line for food, and a constant barrage of between inning entertainment.
I think all stadiums in some ways are now amusement arenas and not ballparks, however beautiful they may be..and now days the stadiums are beautiful!!!
I think Yankee Stadium is symptomatic of the issue since they are a high profile team.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by Klrdds

This may digress off the original post's topic line but I am totally in agreement with David's post.
Aren't all the stadiums now just cold monolithic structures designed to get our money,......

Everything about the four major pro sports is designed to make as much money as possible. Read the Steiner article recently posted.

But no - they are not all just cold monolithic structures. I haven't been to that many of the 'new' stadiums, but I have been to plenty of stadiums that no longer exist, plus Wrigley, Fenway and a few of the new ones. Nothing modern can compare to the experience of Wrigley, Fenway or the old Comiskey;however, even with all the sideshow attractions you mention, many of the new stadiums still blow away the crappy experience of stadiums like Riverfront or Veterans Stadium. The exception is the new Comiskey, which I thought was very poorly done. Safeco Field is a fantastic experience, as is Atlanta and Arlington.

Sit in the bleachers and have a hotdog and the swill beer. You can still have fun. If the prices bother you, bring your glove to batting practice and catch a couple of balls to sell on ebay.

[David Atkatz]

Originally Posted by Runscott

Sit in the bleachers and have a hotdog and the swill beer. You can still have fun.

If you're in the new Yankee Stadium bleachers you can only see half the field--seems they put a fancy restaurant in the way. But, hey, I suppose you can still have fun watching the TVs on the concrete wall that blocks your view of the live game.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by Klrdds

cold monolithic structures designed to get our money, keep us away from the players with little or no interaction with them before and after games , and in some ways keep all but the most attentive fans from watching the game

aka marriage.

[ooo-ribay]

I'll continue to hunt for my memorabilia. there's something pretty soulless about just opening your wallet for mass marketed "collectibles."

[Gary Dunaier]

Originally Posted by yanks12025

You do realize they built a park/field where the old stadium was?

They could have demolished the entire original Yankee Stadium, played at Shea Stadium (and even Citi Field), and built a modern structure on the same site as the original. Even though the building would not be the same, they would still be playing on the same site as the Yankee greats of the past.

[packs]

New Yankee Stadium really is soulless. When you walk in you don't even feel like you're in a baseball stadium. It more closely resembles a mall or the airport.

Citi Field on the other hand is a great place and I really enjoyed the game I saw there. Some guy outside the stadium gave me and my friend free tickets and the security is so lax you can walk around the whole game and take it in in different areas where they even set up tables for you to hang out at.

[Gary Dunaier]

Originally Posted by packs

Citi Field on the other hand is a great place and I really enjoyed the game I saw there. Some guy outside the stadium gave me and my friend free tickets and the security is so lax you can walk around the whole game and take it in in different areas where they even set up tables for you to hang out at.

Even though I'm a Mets fan and a season ticket holder I have to comment on what you said about security being so lax that you can watch the game from different locations other than your ticketed seat. You can watch the game from different angles, but they have ushers at each and every aisle on the Field Level to check tickets, so you can't go into the seating area and watch the game from an unoccupied seat. And you can't even enter the Excelsior level at all unless you have a ticket for a seat in that level, or you have a ticket that allows you access to the Caesars Club. There's more I can say, but I'll leave it at that.

Which is not to glorify the fake phony fraud Yankee Stadium at all. The last time I was there, I wanted to get a photo from the top of an aisle. I asked the usher, politely, to move a little bit so he wouldn't be in my picture. He responded by yelling "You can't go down there!" even though I never asked, nor attempted, to go down into the seating area.