Freaking awesome. That’s the first thing I want to convey to the reader here. The New Yankee Stadium is what every fan dreamed of when the Yankees announced their plans to build a new stadium. Any nay-sayers should be silenced upon walking in to this “New Mecca”. The Yankees take a lot of pride in everything they do as an organization, and following suit with that tradition the Steinbrenner family and New York Yankees have done something incredible. They built the most awesome stadium of all time.
Derek Jeter is at the plate in this shot
The moment I got off the subway I knew I was in the prescence of greatness. As I walked up the steps from the D train (yes, I know far less iconic than taking the elevated 4 train and seeing the stadium from the train windows, but I was coming from Midtown west, so sue me) I could see people standing, and staring, and pointing, and every single person had a smile on their face. I turned around to see the brand new stadium sitting across the street, also across the street from the old stadium which didn’t get more than a polite nod from most fans. Unfortunately I missed the light for the crosswalk, so I was FORCED to wait approximately 3 minutes to cross the street and embrace the awesomness — it really felt like an eternity, but I was that excited.
Inside the Gate 4 entrance.
The Fans were incredible. Everyone seemed to just want to turn to each other and share how happy they were to be there. Not one person didn’t have a shit-eating grin on their face while walking around and taking it all in. Pinching themselves to make sure they weren’t dreaming.
One thing that struck me almost immediately was how similar the field looked like the old one. If I didn’t know better. I would say they took the exact field and airlifted it across the street. The outfield walls are a little different, but the height of the walls, as well as all the dimensions of the field of play are the same. One exception is the fact there is 20 less feet between home plate and the backstop wall. We will see early on in the season with passed balls and wild pitches if this will have any effect on play.
Unlike the old stadium, everything in the new stadium is wide open. All of the vendors and food court areas are exposed to the field, so you never have to miss a minute of the action. Oh, and if you can’t get a view of the field from where you’re standing, there are HD TVs EVERYWHERE.
Open areas allow fans to watch the game at all times
I was able to take a full lap around the stadium while checking out all the different views and vendors. In the old Yankee stadium, the food selection was poor at best. The new stadium still offers the normal hot dogs and pretzels, but now fans can enjoy BBQ and sushi among many other choices. One of the coolest things I found was the the bar/deck area in center field above the batter’s eye. Its a great view of the game that was definitely not offered in the old stadium. This was the biggest difference between the old and the new stadium. You can walk around and watch the game from literally anywhere, and that created a very fun atmosphere.
There were a few differences in the layout that fans will have to get used to. Monument Park is now in dead center field, right below the restaurant that double as the batter’s eye. Each teams bullpen flanks monument park now in left-center and right-center. There have been complaints about the bleacher seats that are next to the restaurant there. From my vantage point it was clear that these seats had obstructed views. You can see the pitcher and batter fine, but you can’t see the outfield opposite to your seat, there is a wall in your way. However, all along this wall are multiple TV screens that show the game action.
View from the Top
The stadium was extremely impressive to say the least. The Yankees store was top notch, and the service of all the vendors was excellent. The Yankees do these things right, and this of course is no exception. I honestly can not wait to go back to enjoy a game against the Red Sox or the Mets to see if the stadium can truly rock like the old one did. Time will certainly tell, but I am confident that the new stadium will be immediately embraced fans and players as “home”.
More pictures below.
Yankee Stadium
Gate 4
Relic from the Old Stadium
Third Base side
The Outfield
Yankee Bullpen
View from Center Field
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Nice huge pics, dude.