Yankee
Stadium.
Dad
had been there before. In fact, Dad has experienced playoff games
there before. But as we progress along on our ballpark tour...
two things were quite evident to me on the very moment we decided
to try: First, if we were eventually going to complete it, a visit
to the home of the New York Yankees was going to be a requirement.
And second, with construction on its replacement a reality, and
not some far off, decades down the road vision, a visit to Yankee
Stadium needed to be planned now.
That’s
what brought us to the Bronx on a Wednesday afternoon in July
of 2006 to watch the Yankees host the Seattle Mariners.
And
I’ll say it now… I was impressed.
There’s
no ignoring the history. Renovated or not, this is the field were
some of the legends… the names of baseball… played their
home games. Ruth. Mantle. DiMaggio. Jeter. The list goes on for
so long I’ll just wrap it up there. (Gehrig. Berra. I have to
stop.)
Dad
and I arrived early, planning on walking through the gates when
they opened and immediately heading off toward left field and
Monument Park. And fortunately for us, that’s exactly what we
did. If you go to Yankee Stadium, you simply have to see Monument
Park… especially if it is going to be your only visit to the stadium
(or if you have never seen it before). And to do that, you have
to get in line as soon as the gates open. We went directly there
and got in a line that already extended back around the walkway
to another level. (And as we were leaving it the ushers were announcing
that Monument Park was closed to new admissions.)
Dating
back to 1932, the Yankees have honored former players and organizational
greats. Monument Park is the home to these plaques and memorials,
including a special section for retired numbers. Look… I think
the Green Monster is the most unique and important feature involving
the field of play that can be found at any stadium. Without question,
Monument Park is the best segment of a stadium dedicated to preserving
and presenting a team’s history. It may be the best feature at
any park… period. And once I can say that conclusively after visiting
all of the stadiums, I am already certain that this opinion will
not be changed.
We
ate along the concourse. For some unknown reason I decided to
have Chinese food. Dad went with the more traditional hot dog.
Both were ok… nothing better or worse than we have had at other
ballparks.
Our
seats were located a few rows up and behind home plate. With Randy
Johnson taking the mound against Gil Meche… with Ichiro and Jeter
and A-Fraud involved in the play… we simply couldn’t have had
better seats to view the action.
Yankee
Stadium overall is in pretty good shape. I can’t really comment
on the sight lines, since unlike Wrigley and Fenway, this is a
park I have gone to just once, and our seats didn’t involve an
obstructed view. But friends of mine have stated they have been
in other locations, and have never had a problem.
Before
visiting, I always thought the white fencing… you know, that wraps
around the upper outfield and has become an icon on its own… was
kind of silly. In person, it really isn’t. The park definitely
doesn’t appear the same in person as it looks on television. (I
guess the idea right now from drawings I have seen is to incorporate
this look into the light towers of the new stadium.)
The
game itself was for the most part uneventful. It was a satisfying
Seattle win with A-Fraud demonstrating again that he is overrated,
while Jeter and Ichiro demonstrated that all they do is make differences
that count.
As
far as the stadium, location, directions and parking… for the
most part everything was perfect. It may have been our early arrival,
but there was plenty of space available in a parking lot right
next to the stadium. It was actually pretty affordable too. (Was
it $13? I think so. Nothing outrageous.) The highway leads right
into it as well, so getting in and out was quite simple. Hard
to believe... but I could be talked into going again.