yankee stadium – Page 11 – The Mets Police

May 24, 2009

Save Yankee Stadium Gate 2

This is tremendously important. Those of you east of the Hudson probably don’t check out nj.com.

Yankee Stadium is about to become a ghost under the current plan, but before it does, several concerned fans are fighting to preserve something.

They want to save Gate 2, the most complete piece of the pre-renovated stadium that still exists, and turn it into an entrance to the parks and ballfields that will soon occupy the land.

…

“We need to keep it from getting torn down,” Costello said, and nobody can be sure how much time they have before that happens, or who exactly in the city is willing to help them.

They have reached out to Frank McCue, the stadia project manager for the city’s Parks and Recreation department, with their proposal. McCue did not return a phone call seeking comment this week, but his office issued a statement that said the current design for Heritage Field did not include Gate 2 but would incorporate “existing elements into the park design to commemorate the old Yankee Stadium.”

“The plan includes orienting the southern ballfield in the same alignment as the old Yankee Stadium ballfield, creating a tree-lined walking trail that outlines the perimeter of the old Yankee Stadium, and incorporating historical plaques and markers,” the statement reads.

In other words, another ballpark will be torn to the ground, another stinkin’ plaque will be put in its place.

Read the entire piece here. It’s very interesting and a great idea. It would be a shame to knock down every last inch of the old place.

Maybe if the blogs make a lot of noise we can help.

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@metspolice

May 23, 2009

Some New York Yankees Policing (Batting Practice)

Ah, finally someone in the mainstream media has figured out that the modified batting procedure was a headfake…

A salute to Jim Baumbach in Newsday.

The Yankees believe they made a concession, heeding to fans’ complaints by allowing them to watch batting practice from a closer spot. But all those fans really get is to stand in the rightfield corner. If this is what the Yankees consider throwing the fans a bone, then perhaps they’re more out of touch than we thought.

It’s easy to think that the problem the Yankees must rectify here is restoring their connection with their real fans. But that’s going under the assumption that the Yankees believe their real fans are the millions of people out there working blue collar jobs and hoping to spend a few nights at the park this summer.

When, in reality, the message we’ve been sent this year is that they believe their real fans are the richie riches who — ultimately — have decided not to show up.

And now the Yankees don’t seem to know what to do.

Only 7 home runs last night at the Stadium. (I love how Steve Somers calls it “The Place Across The street.”)

What a lemon. Read the full column here.

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@metspolice

May 23, 2009

Hartford Courant Ranks New York Mets Citi Field Over New Yankee Stadium

William Weir of the Hartford Courant went to both new stadiums, and wrote about his journey.

Some interesting notes:

Getting tickets: Scoring tickets for the Mets (a Monday night game against the Atlanta Braves) was relatively easy. I went through the Mets website (newyork.mets.mlb.com) and purchased them online. The tickets were $15 each, but the total cost was $47.50, including service fees and delivery (even though they were e-mailed).

(Amen on that, and we’ll have a lot to say about that on Wednesday (saving it for after the holiday).

I feel bad that they encountered the Bag Nazi’s at Yankee Stadium. I’m surprised they don’t make us take off our shoes to get into the Stadium. It’s New York City, people have bags.

Getting in: Both stadiums are a quick walk from their respective subway stops. The Mets require a quick bag check and a frisking (a security wand for female attendees).

But Yankee security wouldn’t let us in with backpacks (the same ones we took to the Mets’ CitiField). We spoke to the head of security and then the press people. Still no go. They gave us clear plastic bags to carry our stuff and said we could store the backpacks at a bowling alley across the street for $5 “at your own risk.” But the game was about to start, and “at your own risk” didn’t sound promising. We put everything in the plastic bags and ditched the backpacks. Considering that you could bring in just about any other kind of bag, the ban seems a little arbitrary. The tickets, we later saw, do say “no backpacks” in fine print. But still.

It’s a long piece, well done…and the verdict is Citi is better which is no surprise. Even Yankee fans admit that.

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May 22, 2009

Gammons: New Yankee Stadium "A Joke"

Wow, I heard this this morning and just wrote something about it for tomorrow – but I see the Post is making a big deal out of it so I’m jumping on-board…

According to Peter Gammons of ESPN, that’s because the new Yankee Stadium “has become one of the biggest jokes in baseball.”

“Buster Olney has been pointing out that they’re going to pass last year’s home run total in the old [Yankee] Stadium by about July 15,” Gammons said. “I’m tired of people saying it’s too early, we don’t have enough games.

“We have enough games. We know that this was not a very well-planned ballpark. Any player that’s played there will tell you that it’s become one of the biggest jokes in baseball.”

Should be fun watching the Yankees and Phils go at it. Good games this weekend.

Dang…now I wish I had written this earlier. Oh well….the Post has more.

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@metspolice

May 20, 2009

Obstructed Views Yankee Stadium Grandstand 421

The view from Grandstand 421 in the Bronx. Row 1. You shouldn’t have to lean forward to see.

Didn’t anybody bother to check these things while spending $1.5 billion.