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Yankee Stadium
The House that Jeter Built. Or was it A-Rod? No, let's go with Jeter.
Use the image navigation bar below to start touring Yankee Stadium. ------>Bleacher Creatures Feature<------
The first Yankee Stadium was opened on April 18, 1923 with a capacity of 56,866. It was drastically renovated over the 1974 and 1975 seasons, during which time the Yankees shared Shea Stadium with the New York Mets. A new Yankee Stadium opened for exhibition games on April 3, 2009 and the first regular season game was played on April 16, 2009 with a seating capacity of 52,325, and this page offers a glimpse at the new Yankee Stadium.
Yankees looking clean in Councilman Seabrook case
[Feb 2010 by Jamie] - Councilman Seabrook, who is in a lot of trouble as he faces down 13 indictments, apparently stuck his fingers in the new Yankee Stadium and he got dirty. As per the NYTimes.com, observe:
The Yankees, through a spokeswoman, said that the team cooperated fully with the investigation and that the prosecutors had told the ball club that there �is no allegation of wrongdoing on the part of anyone within the Yankees� organization.� The spokeswoman, Alice McGillion, said that no one within the Yankees organization had any knowledge of wrongdoing.
Four of the 13 counts in the indictment are based on what prosecutors allege was Mr. Seabrook�s successful lobbying effort to help his close associate win the nearly $300,000 subcontract to install two boilers at the new Yankee Stadium and his direct solicitation of $50,000 in payments from the man.
The contract was part of a community benefits agreement under which the Yankees agreed to award 25 percent of the construction contracts to qualified Bronx-based businesses, at least half of which would also be qualified minority, women-owned companies.
It looks like the Yankees are going to be able to side step this nonsense and cruise right along. Hopefully, Seabrook wasn't involved in the manufacture or installation of the boilers!
Yankee Stadium Demolition
[Feb 2010 by Jamie] - The demolition on the second Yankees Stadium is still underway. Zell's Pinstripe Blog laid out some photos from WCBS. You can see one of those 3rd base side parking lots has been turned into a soccer field in the first photo. While it is sad to see the old place come down, the new stadium felt like home immediately to me and the 27th World Series Championship certainly helps!
Yankee Stadium Area Businesses Not Happy
Check out the NY Times article, In the Shadow of Yankee Stadium, an Off Year by PATRICK McGEEHAN.
�Many people who thought that their business would be greatly increased have not experienced that,� said Ram�n J. Jimenez, a lawyer and community advocate in the South Bronx. �I think a lot of people are disappointed.�What we find puzzling is that they thought they were going to make more money. Here are eight reasons why we think they are making less money:
Will Lawson, who sells caps, T-shirts and other Yankees gear outside the stadium, is one of them. Mr. Lawson said his sales dropped by about half this year. He blamed the police for herding the crowds directly in and out of the stadium, and he accused the team�s owners of being greedy.
�I think what they�re trying to do is force everybody else out,� Mr. Lawson said. �It�s dismal, very dismal.�
He said the Yankees had stepped up vending operations outside the stadium, creating more competition for independent merchants like him. Although the team charges more for the same items, Mr. Lawson said, it manages to keep fans from venturing across the street for bargains.
As an example, he pointed to an official Yankees cap with the World Series logo stitched on it that he said sold for $50 at the stadium. Mr. Alawy and other merchants were asking $45 for the same cap, and some said they would accept as little as $40.
�That�s what puzzles me,� Mr. Lawson said. �People go over there anyway.�
The city�s Economic Development Corporation estimated that each home playoff game produced $15.5 million in economic activity, including $6.7 million in spending on hotel rooms and taxi rides and in restaurants, bars and stores.So that 8 games * $6.7 mil is $53.6 on "hotel rooms and taxi rides and in restaurants, bars and stores" - that sounds like a nice piece of the pizza pie for NYC.
Over the course of an hour on Monday, just 13 shoppers wandered into Pin Stripe Collectibles and Mr. Alawy made only four sales, for a total of $107. A man bought a $10 bracelet for one daughter and a $12 stuffed Dalmatian in a Yankees shirt for the other. A young woman paid $36 for two tank tops. A young man quickly chose a cap and, after doing a double take on hearing the price, handed over two $20 bills and dashed out.
AccuWeather.com says Yankees Stadium RF wall design to blame for homers
AccuWeather.com posted a report that says the right field wall in the new Yankee Stadium is to blame for the increase in home runs and not wind from the stadium's old design. They say that the right field wall is lower and a bit shorter in spots. It's shorter in spots due to the manually operated scoreboard that is new to the right field wall - in the previous design, the wall curved gently from the right field corner towards center field, but the manually operated scoreboard requires a straight wall, which makes the distance to the wall a bit shorter. The wall is lower than the old stadium, shrinking from 10 feet high to 8 feet high. Raising the wall's height by 2 feet sounds pretty difficult, unless they eliminate a row of seats, which seems unlikely. In any case, the report says 20 home runs hit in the new stadium would not have left the old stadium. Through the first 25 games at the old stadium in 2008, 52 home runs were hit against 105 home runs hit in 2009 in the first 25 games. That leaves us with 32 extra home runs to account for. For one thing, the Yankees have added Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher, both big power guys as opposed to Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi, who both have power in their own right, but probably don't measure up against Swisher and Teixeira. Also, Robinson Cano had a sub par 2008 and Melky Cabrera's 2008 was so bad that he was demoted to AAA; this year, Cano looks to have returned to form and Cabrera is playing all star caliber ball - and all of Cabrera's home runs this year have been hit at home. Is pitching a little thinner this year? Could be. Earlier in the year, we heard a report (don't recall the source) that home runs all over baseball were traveling an average of 8 feet farther than last year.... if the issue effects all teams at all parks, could it be an issue with the balls? A warmer April? We remember April 08 being pretty could and miserable as opposed to 09, which was seemed much warmer than the year before. The Yankees also had Wang and other AAA losers get shelled in April along with relatively slow starts by Sabathia and especially Burnett, who seems to give up a lot of home runs. We don't know how to account for as many home runs as 32, but maybe some of these factors could be contributors...
Home Runs at the new Yankee Stadium
As the 2009 season roles on, people are talking about the amount of home runs being hit at the new Yankee Stadium, particularly the ones being hit toward right field. Some believe that this is due to a possible design flaw or lack of testing for wind conditions - perhaps the new stadium's design, which has much more open access from the concession areas to the seats as opposed to the old Yankee Stadium's tunnel architecture. Again, as most home runs have been hit to right field, we think its extremely unlikely that a wind current is influencing the path of the ball. After all, Yankee Stadium, from its first version, which opened in 1923, to the redesign (1974-75) to the new design, right field has always been extremely short compared to the average right field length because, as we all know, Babe Ruth was a power hitting left hander who could pull the ball, hence the moniker, "The House that Ruth Built." These friendly confines even yield home runs to right handers like Derek Jeter, who hits the occasional home run the other to, you guessed it, right field. Also, they did do testing and computer modeling during the design and construction phase of the stadium, so it seems unlikely that all of those people made a $1.5 billion dollar error. If you want to find the source of the home runs, look no further than the Yankees bullpen. A lot of the home runs in question were given up by Yankees relievers who have pitched poorly so far this year. Watch replays of home runs in Yankee Stadium, and you'll see the problem right away - the ball is about belt high, over the plate - FYI, major league hitters can handle this pitch very well, despite speed and movement. By years end, you'll see that the home run rate for the new Yankee Stadium is similar to that of the old stadium. However, the AP has reported that in the early goings, home runs are traveling an average of 8 feet farther than last year in all baseball parks. What could that mean? Was it a windy April in 09? Was humidity (or lack of) a factor? Is the pitching thinner this year? Or is it the balls themselves? No one really knows, but unless the Yankees turn into the Pittsburgh Pirates, the HR rate will settle down to normal.
Yankee Stadium Exterior
The exterior of the new Yankee Stadium favors the original 1923 design rather than the 1974-75 renovation style. Read more...
Yankee Stadium Interior
The interior of the new Yankee Stadium takes stadiums to a new level; you've never been a sports arena like this. Read more...
Yankee Stadium Field
The field at the new Yankee Stadium has the same fair dimensions as the previous incarnation of Yankee Stadium, but the foul dimensions are different. Read more...
Yankee Stadium 1976-2008
Although the Yankee Stadium that opened in 2009 is referred to as the New Yankee Stadium, the Yankee Stadium that was open from 1923 to 1973 was a very different building. Read more...