New Yankee Stadium Allays my Fears

Watching the New York Yankees get pounded 10-2 by the Cleveland Indians at the New Yankee Stadium was tough to swallow. I was relieved that the Yankees picked up the first strikeout [C.C. Sabathia on Victor Martinez in the 1st inning], first hit [Johnny Damon single in the bottom of the frame], and first home run [Jorge Posada, who deserves it as much as Derek Jeter did], but it was definitely disappointing that Sabathia didn't pick up the win. The bullpen is becoming a concern for the Yankees, but I am not here to talk baseball.

During the YES Network telecast [thank you MLB.TV] I got to see a lot of the different parts of the ballpark for the first time. The biggest concern that I, and probably most Yankees fans, had about the new ballpark is that it would leave behind the sense of history that I became so accustomed to feeling the second I entered the old building. Monument park is still out there. There are 2,000 or so photos from the New York Daily News archives sprayed around the park, representing every era of Yankees greatness. In the bar in center field, giant baseball cards of all the great Yankees adorn the ceiling. Throughout the Great Hall, banners of the same titans rest high on the wall [including one for Paul O'Neill, which is awesome]. Monument Park even looks about the same out there. The famous Yankee Stadium facade now rings the back of the park, like in the pre-renovation days.

And then there are the modern amenities. High-definition big-screen TVs are everywhere. The jumbotron is one of the most impressive and terrifying creations made thus far by man [excluding nuclear weapons]. No one should see Derek Jeter's pores that clearly. But I kid. It is an awesome, impressive stadium, and I no longer feel like my youth was snatched away from me by corporate greed [though it was].

All in all, the place holds onto more than enough of the past to feel like home, and the modern amenities are breathtaking. It is a crown jewel for the organization, and I can't wait to get out there and see it myself [I have tickets for a game in June]. Unfortunately, the place seems to be cursed, because the Yankees have never won a regular season game there [sike, I'm not one of those fans].