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="Benjamin Grimm":3p94uoqk]I'm really surprised that the Steinbrenners signed off on that big "Home of the Chicago White Sox" sign in their new ballpark.
Strange.[/quote:3p94uoqk]
Then again, I probably wouldn't admit to being a Yankee, either.
"The Cell" isn't a horrible place to see a game as long as you are in the lower bowl. The upper reaches, however, are dreadfull. There are three levels of skyboxes to push you up, up, up and the angle of the seats are so steep you don't want to lean foreward in the seats.
That does look like a pretty bland ballpark. Maybe we can lend them The Apple to spruce it up a little.
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metirish
Oct 22 2008 08:44 AM
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Of course I am biased but I pass that structure every now and then and it's a horrible concrete mess.
sorry but I can't resist the Hank picture.
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Benjamin Grimm
Oct 22 2008 08:47 AM
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The new Comiskey Park had the misfortune of being built a year or two before Camden Yards sparked the reimagination of baseball stadiums.
It appears serviceable, much like Nationals Park. (I haven't been to either, but hope to get to DC next seasons.)
I don't know that you really need bells or whistles. I think the most important of the new innovations is the wide pedestrian walkways that offer a view of the field. That, along with the stands being aligned with the foul lines, is the significant thing that Citi Field will have over Shea Stadium.
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themetfairy
Oct 22 2008 08:55 AM
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I've enjoyed Cellular Field the two times I've been there (1991 and this past August). It's a nice park with good sightlines.
Nationals Park is very pretty - you'll like it when you get there.
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soupcan
Oct 22 2008 08:57 AM
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I've only been to two of the 'new' parks (Camden & PETCO), and I agree with Grimm that the best thing about them are the wide pedestrian walkways.
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HahnSolo
Oct 22 2008 09:48 AM
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I read something last week that the Wilpons were interested in bringing an expansion MLS team to NY, and building a soccer only facility next to Citi Field. They ended up not filing the paperwork in time, but apparently still have interest in considering this in the future.
Question 1: doesn't New York already have an MLS team that no one pays any attention to?
and question 2: why would they build another stadium right there (presumably where Shea is now) to muck up parking some more?
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metirish
Oct 22 2008 09:56 AM
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Yeah there is a team called NY Red Bull that are opening a new stadium in Harrison NJ.
I have always thought a team in that area of Queens would have been better .
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HahnSolo
Oct 22 2008 10:14 AM
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You know soccer better than I: does the NY metro area really need two MLS teams?
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G-Fafif
Oct 22 2008 10:15 AM
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| ="metirish"]Of course I am biased but I pass that structure every now and then and it's a horrible concrete mess.
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That description could apply to Hank Steinbrenner as well.
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metirish
Oct 22 2008 10:30 AM
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="HahnSolo":165tempm]You know soccer better than I: does the NY metro area really need two MLS teams?[/quote:165tempm]
Absolutely it does not , I thought from day one the area team could have done better in Queens but getting a stadium built there was going to be hard.As it is the area in Jersey where they are going is a hotbed for soccer so it should do better there than at Giants stadium.
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Fman99
Oct 22 2008 10:34 AM
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="metirish":nlz3jefm]="HahnSolo":nlz3jefm]You know soccer better than I: does the NY metro area really need two MLS teams?[/quote:nlz3jefm]
Absolutely it does not , I thought from day one the area team could have done better in Queens but getting a stadium built there was going to be hard.As it is the area in Jersey where they are going is a hotbed for soccer so it should do better there than at Giants stadium.[/quote:nlz3jefm]
I would dispute anything on this continent north of the Rio Grande being a "hotbed for soccer."
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Centerfield
Oct 22 2008 10:49 AM
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The interior of that stadium looks very nice. The outside, with the gold lettering, and attempt to re-create the original stadium, not so much.
I really liked the look of MFY Stadium II. And I know that they wanted luxury boxes, and shops and stuff, but really saw no need to replace it.
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Willets Point
Oct 22 2008 12:01 PM
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Sad that they've lost the distinctive toilet-bowl-lid shape.
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seawolf17
Oct 22 2008 12:04 PM
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="Willets Point":3eidc3vj]Sad that they've lost the distinctive toilet-bowl-lid shape.[/quote:3eidc3vj]
Thankfully, it'll still have that distinctive toilet-bowl smell.
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soupcan
Oct 22 2008 12:04 PM
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Meanwhile in East Rutherford, it appears that they are building an exact replica...
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seawolf17
Oct 22 2008 12:07 PM
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It has to be harder to make a football stadium distinctive, I'd think. You kinda have to have seats all the way around, and the field shape is what it is -- there's no margin for creativity.
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Benjamin Grimm
Oct 22 2008 12:16 PM
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When is the new football place scheduled to open? (Somebody wrote to the Daily News a while back and suggested that they sell the naming rights to JetBlue. An excellent idea!)
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soupcan
Oct 22 2008 12:24 PM
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This company would fit pretty good too!
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Farmer Ted
Oct 22 2008 02:48 PM
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They've done some nice updates to Cellular. Like I said previously, the Teds enjoyed the atmosphere there as much if not more than Wrigley (except when I'm hanging with my CPF peeps). From those views, it does look like a Cellular replica. HOK prolly recycling old models.
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soupcan
Oct 30 2008 06:56 PM
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Benjamin Grimm
Oct 30 2008 06:58 PM
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Is the new one the one on the right?
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soupcan
Oct 30 2008 08:19 PM
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Yup.
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metsguyinmichigan
Oct 30 2008 08:28 PM
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| ="soupcan"] |
What a hideously ugly piece of shit. And the new one sucks, too.
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Willets Point
Oct 30 2008 08:31 PM
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="metsguyinmichigan":hwujrb5p]What a hideously ugly piece of shit. And the new one sucks, too.[/quote:hwujrb5p]
I love you, man!
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G-Fafif
Oct 30 2008 08:39 PM
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Best MFY blog out there is Bronx Banter, run by a very good guy and writer, Alex Belth, author of a biography of Curt Flood (and my fellow New York Baseball Giants fetishist). He's solicited MFY fans and writers and anyone with a vague connection to offer their MFYS (I or II) memories. It appears he ran out of logical candidates because he asked me for one, which ran today [url=http://www.bronxbanterblog.com/2008/10/30/lasting-yankee-stadium-memory-49/:kljubj7x]here[/url:kljubj7x]. The plethora of comments to date would indicate I have my work cut out for me with this particular demographic.
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John Cougar Lunchbucket
Oct 30 2008 09:04 PM
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Terrific as always. I have enjoyed that series... tho I'm kind of disappointed that blog moved to sny. I'd begun to enjoy it as part of the "baseball toaster" lineup but I'm pretty sure I won't make the trip to sny just to read it.
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Frayed Knot
Oct 30 2008 09:09 PM
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| ]Is the new stadium on the right or on the left? |
Yes
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Valadius
Oct 30 2008 09:11 PM
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Here's what that piece of shit reminds me of:
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Edgy DC
Oct 30 2008 09:25 PM
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Not in any way distinct from every other stadium, of course.
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soupcan
Nov 06 2008 07:27 AM
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Benjamin Grimm
Nov 06 2008 07:29 AM
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When are the ghosts gonna move in?
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Farmer Ted
Nov 06 2008 12:38 PM
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Taxpayers paid an extra $500 million more than Citi for that?
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Willets Point
Nov 06 2008 01:11 PM
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I kind of like it.
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themetfairy
Nov 06 2008 01:55 PM
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It's kind of nondescript.
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Benjamin Grimm
Nov 06 2008 01:58 PM
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It is, isn't it?
They need to get the aura installed and they have to paint the mystique.
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dgwphotography
Nov 06 2008 02:02 PM
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| ="Willets Point"]I kind of like it. |
Me too. I do like the fact that they put the facade around the top of the stadium like the old Stadium.
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Frayed Knot
Nov 06 2008 02:21 PM
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It's not bad - interior is better than the exterior IMO which is basically what I thought of the old one.
It's just that it's not anything new or different as compared to the old joint and, as mentioned, what exactly about it costs double (or more) what every other stadium seems to cost?
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Edgy DC
Nov 06 2008 02:42 PM
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Hookers and blow.
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Benjamin Grimm
Nov 06 2008 02:43 PM
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Have they started taking down the old stadium yet?
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Frayed Knot
Nov 06 2008 02:51 PM
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They're not even planning on wrecking it for a while and I think it'll still be up as the season starts next year (hey, it's only parkland they're taking up).
As it is they've got some carry-the-dirt to the new joint ceremony planned in the near future.
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SteveJRogers
Nov 06 2008 05:58 PM
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It also is a worst case scenario stadium in case neither NYS or Citi Field are ready in time.
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seawolf17
Nov 06 2008 06:03 PM
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="SteveJRogers":1k32hx17]It also is a worst case scenario stadium in case neither NYS or Citi Field are ready in time.[/quote:1k32hx17]
Really? I didn't know that, but I guess you have to have a backup plan.
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soupcan
Nov 06 2008 08:26 PM
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="SteveJRogers":2kxjm4mu]It also is a worst case scenario stadium in case neither NYS or Citi Field are ready in time.[/quote:2kxjm4mu]
I'm giving you a big 'T' (as in 'tall tale') on that one.
Where did you hear that?
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SteveJRogers
Nov 06 2008 09:02 PM
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From the Mets themselves, on the Citi Field side anyway, this was announced during the final weekend at Shea. Since Shea is in the process of becoming a parking lot, they are going to need a place if something unforeseen happens.
OYS isn't going down because there is still battles over what is to become of that site.
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metsguyinmichigan
Nov 06 2008 09:44 PM
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| ="soupcan"] |
Goodness, it looks like a tawdry carnival that sets up in a mall parking lot for a weekend leaves two days later leaving a trail of cigarette butts, chewed corn dog sticks and stains in the parking lots where the carnies emptied their sewage tanks.
Yuck. Is there any room for scores on that scoreboard -- err, ad-board, as it should be renamed.
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soupcan
Nov 07 2008 07:09 AM
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="SteveJRogers":30sm5t04]From the Mets themselves, on the Citi Field side anyway, this was announced during the final weekend at Shea. Since Shea is in the process of becoming a parking lot, they are going to need a place if something unforeseen happens.
OYS isn't going down because there is still battles over what is to become of that site.[/quote:30sm5t04]
I'm sorry Steve but I still don't believe that. You are telling us that it was announced during the final weekend at Shea that if 'something unforseen' happens to CitiField to make it unsuitable to play in, that the Mets would use Yankee Stadium...?
Come on. There's no way anybody said that. Anybody connected to the Mets in any official capacity anyway.
Old Yankee Stadium isn't not going down because they are arguing over the site either. It isn't going down because its not becoming a parking lot so there's no advantage to the Yankees or the City in terms of revenue to expediate the process. And in the meantime the Yankees are still squeezing pennies out of it by continuing to give (and charge for) guided tours.
It'll come down when they get around to it. The community around the stadium that stands to benefit from the parkland it will become has no juice to force anybody to do anything any time soon.
That's why its not being demolished just yet.
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Benjamin Grimm
Nov 07 2008 07:14 AM
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Yeah, there's no need to keep YS2 around. Even if one of the two stadiums had an unexpected delay, the other new stadium would remain an option. The Yankees could play at Citi or the Mets could play at YS3.
And believe me, they'll get it done. Even if some of the restaurants aren't completed, or if there are fewer working restrooms than they wanted, or anything like that, they'll open anyway.
As long as there are seats and electricity and fire alarms and whatever else is needed for an occupancy permit, the ballparks will open. And those are the things they'll make sure they have done in time.
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metirish
Nov 07 2008 07:42 AM
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I don't know if the Mets are involved in such Shenanigans but Juan Gonzalez at the Daily News has been on top of this story for a long while.
| ]
Yankees took $11 million in improper rent deductions
Thursday, November 6th 2008, 9:39 PM
The Yankees improperly deducted more than $11million from their annual rent bill for Yankee Stadium over a four-year period, city Controller William Thompson has found.
Thompson, who will make a formal announcement about the Yankee bill today, said the team has agreed to pay it all back - with interest.
The richest franchise in baseball overstated expenses by more than $24 million from 2003 to 2006, which allowed it to underpay its rent bill on the city-owned stadium, Thompson's year-long audit found.
The team also wrongly deducted from that rent nearly $10 million in planning costs for the new Yankee Stadium, the audit says.
Ever since 2001, the city has let the team deduct up to $5 million a year from its annual rent to pay for planning costs for the new stadium, which is scheduled to open in April.
Thompson said team executives took more than $9 million in planning cost deductions in 2006, even though they had already claimed those same deductions in previous years.
They also deducted nearly $1 million from rent in 2005 for new stadium planning costs that Thompson found "inappropriate."
Those costs included:
# $50,000 the team paid Bronx lawyer Stanley Schlein, who then used much of that money to make contributions to an unidentified political action committee.
Because Schlein spearheaded the pressure on City Council to approve the new stadium, the Yankees appear to have used city money to finance their lobbying.
"The Yankees accept this finding," team spokesman Howard Rubenstein said yesterday. "They will be paying it in full."
The team "has always cooperated with the controller" and has "no problems with the audit," Rubenstein said.
Last May, as Thompson's people were in the middle of the audit, the Yankees agreed to pay back $9 million to the city in an installment plan. They paid the first $5 million in May, while an additional $4 million, plus interest, is due March 10.
Then the auditors discovered an additional $2.3 million in rent underpayments connected to the team's revenue-sharing arrangement with Major League Baseball.
Under that arrangement, the Yankees pay tens of millions of dollars each year to the "have-not" teams in baseball. The stadium lease allows the team to deduct most of those revenue-sharing payments from gross revenues. Annual rent is calculated based on that adjusted gross revenue.
The audit found the Yankees inflated their revenue-sharing expenses by more than $24 million, improperly reducing the amount they owed to the city in rent.
Every year, the controller's office catches the Yankees inflating these revenue-sharing expenses, and every year team officials agree not to do it again, a source in the controller's office told me.
After they were caught this time, team executives sent a $2.3 million refund to the city a few weeks ago.
You'd think the Yankees, who never tire of asking for more government subsidies, would have learned by now to keep honest books.
You'd think they would stop nickel-and-diming our city.
"Thanks to Controller Thompson, the taxpayers finally got some justice from the Yankees," said Bettina Damiani, executive director of Good Jobs New York, a longtime opponent of the new stadium deal.
"It's disappointing that the city has to work so hard to make them pay their fair share." |
[url=http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/bronx/2008/11/06/2008-11-06_yankees_took_11_million_in_improper_rent.html]Yankee Capers[/url]
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Benjamin Grimm
Nov 07 2008 07:44 AM
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The entire Yankees front office, and all of the players, should go to jail.
And their fans too!
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G-Fafif
Nov 07 2008 07:45 AM
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Push comes to shove, I know of a couple of minor league ballparks in city limits that would do in a crunch. The A's played six games in Las Vegas in 1996 when the Your Name Here Coliseum's renovations weren't quite complete. The Rays have rented out the Braves' Disney facility to gin up interest in Central Florida a couple of times.
I'd rather the Mets play nine innings of asses-up handball against a wall at the Polo Grounds Houses than call MFYS II or III home even for a day.
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Benjamin Grimm
Nov 07 2008 07:46 AM
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There's also Keyspan. Less capacity, of course, but wouldn't Fred love to play a major league game in Brooklyn?
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metirish
Nov 07 2008 07:52 AM
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="Benjamin Grimm":1qas3pub]There's also Keyspan. Less capacity, of course, but wouldn't Fred love to play a major league game in Brooklyn?[/quote:1qas3pub]
That's what they should do I think, there would be huge publicity for it , Fred would bring back all the living Dodgers from the Brooklyn days. I t would be wonderful.
They would roll back the prices on tickets and concessions.....oh wait, no they wouldn't.
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Frayed Knot
Nov 07 2008 08:34 AM
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Seems to me that I've heard 'Yanx skimping on their rent' stories crop up every couple of
years for about 1/4 century now and nothing ever comes of any of them.
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HahnSolo
Nov 07 2008 09:02 AM
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="metirish":2floxw4q]="Benjamin Grimm":2floxw4q]There's also Keyspan. Less capacity, of course, but wouldn't Fred love to play a major league game in Brooklyn?[/quote:2floxw4q]
That's what they should do I think, there would be huge publicity for it , Fred would bring back all the living Dodgers from the Brooklyn days. I t would be wonderful.
They would roll back the prices on tickets and concessions.....oh wait, no they wouldn't.[/quote:2floxw4q]
I must have missed something here. Is there a Citi delay that I don't know about?
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metirish
Nov 07 2008 09:03 AM
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Not that I know of either but Steveo planted a scenario where MFYII is still standing in case Citi or MFYIII are not finished in time.
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G-Fafif
Nov 07 2008 09:13 AM
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To be fair to Steve, I spoke with somebody with some MFY ties last week and asked about MFYS II's deconstruction and he said it would hang around a little while in case there was a problem with MFYS III. I didn't pursue beyond that. But I hadn't heard anything from a Mets perspective that MFYS III was any kind of a fallback position.
I'd rather the Mets welcome the Padres on April 13 to play stoopball on 108th St. than play a home game at either MFYS.
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Benjamin Grimm
Nov 07 2008 09:21 AM
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Or they could play a wacky game at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands. How short would the home run distance be in the left and right field corners?
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OlerudOwned
Nov 07 2008 02:56 PM
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Give or take.
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G-Fafif
Nov 07 2008 03:45 PM
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What's that John Madden (or is John Madden describing Bill Parcells?) says about getting your guys and their guys and playing in the parking lot? They're gonna have the bases marked anyway. What's a lack of grass among friends?
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soupcan
Dec 17 2008 07:25 AM
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[url=http://www.baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?t=51384&page=450]Baseball-Fever.com[/url]
It looks huge.
Remember when the Yankees and the City promised they'd put in new parkland to replace the park that the new stadium displaced?
Well check out all those green spaces! They're everywhere!
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HahnSolo
Dec 17 2008 08:06 AM
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I too wonder why they haven't even begun to dismantle the old stadium yet. From the second photo it appears that they are losing a bit of the "crowd right on top of the field" advantage they had before. Those second and third decks are way removed from the field.
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John Cougar Lunchbucket
Dec 17 2008 08:13 AM
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I think the era of those guys having the supposed better ballpark is about to come to an end.
Us = Danny Meyer
Them = Hard Rock Cafe
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metirish
Dec 17 2008 08:14 AM
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The seats are a darker shade of blue , wow.
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Gwreck
Dec 17 2008 09:16 AM
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="HahnSolo":eyhnn3x9]I too wonder why they haven't even begun to dismantle the old stadium yet.[/quote:eyhnn3x9]
I'd heard that they're waiting as it's the "backup plan" in the event something went wrong with construction at Citi Field or the new house of evil.
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Frayed Knot
Dec 17 2008 09:23 AM
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="HahnSolo":1ohewife]I too wonder why they haven't even begun to dismantle the old stadium yet.[/quote:1ohewife]
They haven't finished milking it yet.
Last I heard it's likely to remain standing throughout next season.
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metirish
Dec 17 2008 09:24 AM
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They just had the last official tour recently.
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Valadius
Dec 17 2008 09:50 AM
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Again, the new MFYS looks like the Sarlacc pit monster.
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Farmer Ted
Dec 17 2008 12:23 PM
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Where's George gonna get his calzones now?
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soupcan
Feb 13 2009 12:36 PM
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Yankee Summer Home...
<embed src="http://www.theonion.com/content/themes/common/assets/videoplayer/flvplayer.swf" allowScriptAccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" flashvars="file=http://www.theonion.com/content/xml/87264/video&debugging=true&autostart=false&image=http://www.theonion.com/content/files/images/VACATION_STADIUM_article.jpg &bufferlength=3&embedded=true&title=Yankees%20Building%20New%20Vacation%20Stadium%20In%20The%20Hamptons" height="355" width="400"></embed><br><a href="http://www.theonion.com/content/node/87264?utm_source=embedded_video">Yankees Building New Vacation Stadium In The Hamptons</a>
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TheOldMole
Feb 14 2009 12:37 PM
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That is great.
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metirish
Feb 14 2009 08:02 PM
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Can't stop laughing.....
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metsguyinmichigan
Mar 25 2009 07:54 AM
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Could that place be any more tacky?
Typical Yankees. Everything in your face.
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soupcan
Mar 25 2009 08:35 AM
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="metsguyinmichigan":3f8733ov]Could that place be any more tacky?
Typical Yankees. Everything in your face.[/quote:3f8733ov]
Now, now...
It's a nice-looking place. A bit more grandiose than our little ballpark but still very nice.
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John Cougar Lunchbucket
Mar 25 2009 08:46 AM
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I'm trying not to be biased but I would suspect when all is said and done that MFYs will realize a ton of cash for this whole new stadium thing but will have sacrificed an advantage over the competition that they will never get back.
Yes, they surrendered much in the 1970s too but they could at least pretend the bones were authentic. But from now on, there's no pretending there's any real history in their building -- which was an enormous tenet of the Yankee Brand (TM) message -- and also, no assurances they'll have even the best park in their city which is a claim they could have made forever and might now might never be able say again.
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metsguyinmichigan
Mar 25 2009 09:28 AM
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I bet they don't even have a Wiffle Ball field!
Plus, at Citi I can get a new (at least to me) muffler or tire rims across the street while watching the game.
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SteveJRogers
Mar 25 2009 09:50 AM
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="metirish"]A view of the great hall in the new Yankee Stadium.
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I think I'll take this Great Hall
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Benjamin Grimm
Mar 25 2009 09:54 AM
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Or this one:
<img src="http://www.destination360.com/asia/china/images/s/china-great-wall-of-china.jpg" height="332" width="415">
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Edgy DC
Mar 25 2009 09:56 AM
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Which brings to mind the Yankees original domed design.
<img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_wjenxy3ISxg/R7DFL7NZwWI/AAAAAAAAADc/fJOn9NjXlno/S220/Legion%2Bof%2BDoom.jpg">
They even had a cap redesign to go with it.
<img src="http://secretsocietynyc.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/legionofdoom-fitted-baseball-cap_newera_59fifty_3.jpg">
If I joined the Legion of Doom, I'd always end up sitting between the mantis and the gorilla at the board meetings.
<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/85/Legion_of_Doom.jpg/300px-Legion_of_Doom.jpg">
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metsguyinmichigan
Mar 25 2009 10:51 AM
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Sweet SuperFriends references.
And, not the hijack the thread, but what the hell was the deal with the Wonder Twins?
I get Wendy and Marvin and WonderDog. The were to provide comic relief.
But the whole, "Wonder Twins powers activate! Shape of a tree! Form of a Pinto with a leaky gas tank!" stuff, I never got into that.
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Edgy DC
Mar 25 2009 11:04 AM
Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Apr 02 2009 09:22 AM
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Well, I don't think there was anything to get. She could become any animal, and he could become any form of water.
Placing teen characters into adult adventures has always been important, allowing the junior viewer an oppotunity to project themselves into the story.
But, the strangely parentless (and deluded) Wendy, Marvin, and Wonderdog served that purpose, yet they got fired for teens with real superpowers. I honestly think that the Superfriends producers had data showing that their target audience were big Donnie and Marie fans. Zan and Jana seem highly modeled on them, in look and personality.
Here's my issue. In the secondary stories, they worked in peripheral heroes --- some already established in the DC universe, some not --- to get some needed diversity into the Justice League. But (1) why couldn't they work them into the major storylines? and (2) why did they have to underscore their ethnicity so damn much? Couldn't they have a guy who shoots streams of acid who just happens to be Thai, without calling him Bangkok BadAss or some shit?
I always wanted to hear an exchange like:
"Black Vulcan, do you copy?"
"Yes, White Batman, I hear you."
Oh and um, Yankees. Boo.
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LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr
Mar 25 2009 11:07 AM
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="metsguyinmichigan":3mhc4q58]I bet they don't even have a Wiffle Ball field!
Plus, at Citi I can get a new (at least to me) muffler or tire rims across the street while watching the game.[/quote:3mhc4q58]
Or, you know, you can buy your old ones back.
(Never have I rooted for "eminent domain" to prevail... before last year. The one advantage the MFYs do have over us-- and the New Yorker article pointed this out sharply-- is location... if nothing else, they're where a ballpark should be, smack in the middle of a city.)
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Benjamin Grimm
Apr 02 2009 05:55 AM
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Get a load of the view from these seats in the new Yankee Stadium:
<img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/03/31/sports/01seats_600.JPG" width="600" height="346">
The seats, according to the New York Times, only cost five bucks, but geez, you're unable to see about a third of the field.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/01/sport ... f=baseball
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metirish
Apr 02 2009 07:01 AM
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I'm not an architect , hell I'm not even a doctor but I don't know why these new stadiums have any such seating like above.
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Edgy DC
Apr 02 2009 07:20 AM
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Quirky has a price.
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G-Fafif
Apr 02 2009 09:14 AM
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="Benjamin Grimm":1rdpk7hv]<img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/03/31/sports/01seats_600.JPG" width="600" height="346">[/quote:1rdpk7hv]
The less one has to see of the MFYs, the better.
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Benjamin Grimm
Apr 02 2009 09:19 AM
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I guess some Yankee fans may prefer those seats because they won't be able to see Alex Rodriguez when he's playing third base.
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metsguyinmichigan
Apr 02 2009 09:26 AM
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Yup. It's a "True Yankee Filter." You pay more for that.
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seawolf17
Apr 02 2009 12:08 PM
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="metirish":uoy3pvzx]I'm not an architect , hell I'm not even a doctor but I don't know why these new stadiums have any such seating like above.[/quote:uoy3pvzx]
I have to say I agree. They made a big fucking deal about having less seats, and angling them toward home plate, and so on... and you have this obstructed-view bullshit? Eff that.
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metirish
Apr 02 2009 08:08 PM
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Wankers - $41.40 to $72.97 - suckers
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Rockin' Doc
Apr 02 2009 08:08 PM
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Damon should stick to doing Gieco commercials.
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seawolf17
Apr 02 2009 08:48 PM
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="Rockin' Doc":lhs13t5x]Damon should stick to doing Gieco commercials.[/quote:lhs13t5x]
Seriously. That pissed me off.
"I mean, really, fuck the little guy. I make $13 million a year, guaranteed. So I don't care if they can't afford tickets; I wipe my ass with $1,000 bills."
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Rockin' Doc
Apr 03 2009 04:52 AM
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A 76.3% increase in the cost of the average ticket for a seat at Yankee Stadium is once again, proof positive that it sucks to be a Yankees fan.
Johnny Damon, it seems safe to conclude, is not exactly a thinking man. His comments are insensitive and out of touch with the day to day struggles of the common working man or woman.
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Benjamin Grimm
Apr 03 2009 05:51 AM
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="Johnny Damon":1g3apd5t]"It's tough. New York can withstand it," he said. "Coming to this plush building, I think it's definitely something that people want to see. I mean, those are great seats. It's going to be tough for a family to afford but, you know, but we'll let the people upstairs worry about that."[/quote:1g3apd5t]
Clearly, the people upstairs don't give a damn either.
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Nymr83
Apr 03 2009 06:18 AM
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In the post this morning Sherman says bad things about the New Yankee stadium while Kevin Kernan has some faint praise for Citi Field (though more dumping on Shea)
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soupcan
Apr 03 2009 07:00 AM
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[url=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/03/arts/design/03stadia.html?_r=1&hp]Times has its architectural reviews of both stadia today...[/url]
]
April 3, 2009
Architecture Review
Two New Baseball Palaces, One Stoic, One Scrappy
By NICOLAI OUROUSSOFF
American stadium design has been stuck in a nostalgic funk, with sports franchises recycling the same old images year after year.
Still, if you have to go with a retro look, New York City could have done worse than the new Yankee Stadium and Citi Field. Both were designed by Populous (formerly known as HOK Sport Venue Event) and are major upgrades over the stadiums they replaced, which had been looking more and more dilapidated over the years. Both should be fine places to spend a few hours watching a game.
What’s more, each stadium subtly reflects the character of the franchises that built them. Yankee Stadium is the kind of stoic, self-conscious monument to history that befits the most successful franchise in American sports. The new home of the Mets, meanwhile, is scrappier and more lighthearted. It plays with history fast and loose, as if it were just another form of entertainment.
Yankee management started talking about replacing the old stadium more than a decade ago, and this seemed to be the tougher challenge: the stadium sparkled with the memories of 26 World Series championships. Architecturally, however, the stadium was charmless. Renovation in the 1970s may have made it more comfortable (fans loathed the painful wooden seats of the original version), but it also destroyed many architectural features. The original copper frieze that lined the stadium’s upper deck was ripped out. (A partial concrete replica was added later.) The monuments that had once stood in the deepest recesses of center field were moved to an insipid space behind the left-center field fence and named Monument Park. The little personality the stadium had came from its site: a tight urban lot framed by elevated subway tracks on one side and a city park on the other.
The new stadium, which stands across the street from the old one, spruces up that image while reviving some of the lost history.
The towering arched windows that dominated the original exterior, an echo of the Roman Colosseum, have been recast in a mix of limestone, granite and cast stone, and they are as imposing as ever. A small urban plaza, raised just above the level of the sidewalk, faces the bars and souvenir shops along River Avenue and the entry to the elevated train, strengthening the structure’s relationship to its urban setting.
The city has also promised to build a park and several ball fields just to the south of the stadium in an effort to put a more community-friendly face on the project. A broad pedestrian walkway will eventually link the stadium to the fields and a Metro-North station farther to the south.
The biggest improvements, however, are the interiors, which have been organized with an eye to the fans. The concourses are broad open spaces, with concession stands set along the perimeter so that they don’t obstruct views down to the field. More seats are concentrated below the mezzanine level, closer to the action. Even the luxury suites, which suddenly look like a holdover from the era of corporate excess, are discreetly set back so that they don’t detract from the shared intimacy of watching the game.
There’s history here, too, or at least a facsimile of it. The Yankees have brought back the old manually operated scoreboards in left and right field, a feature that was last used in the 1960s. A replica of the old frieze sits along the top of the upper deck.
Best of all, the slot that separated the scoreboard from the right-field stands in the old stadium has been recreated, so you can still catch glimpses of the subway rumbling by — a reminder that the stadium has been carved out of the heart of a living, thriving city.
All in all, the new Yankee Stadium may be an austere, even intimidating place, but there’s nothing tacky about it. It’s straightforward, paint-by-numbers architecture.
Getting to Citi Field is a more drawn-out aesthetic experience. Descending from the elevated 7 train in Queens, you have to cross a wide landscaped plaza before arriving at the main entry gate. A sea of parking stretches out in both directions. A pile of rubble (once the old Shea Stadium) currently lies just beyond the parking to the left.
The building fits comfortably in this setting. Yankee Stadium’s facade is dominated by vertical lines, which emphasize its monumentality. Citi Field’s facade, which is loosely modeled on Ebbets Field, the former home of the Brooklyn Dodgers, is more low-key. Its brick cladding gives it a warmth that Yankee Stadium doesn’t have. A pre-cast concrete band cuts across the arched exterior, breaking down the structure’s scale and emphasizing its horizontality.
History also feels less heavy here. Like the Yankees, the Mets built broad concourses that open up to the field so that you feel close to the game even while you’re standing in line for a beer. But the design is far more eclectic. A porch that cantilevers out over right field is modeled on the old Tiger Stadium. Big steel trusses conjure the structure that supports the nearby elevated train. A soot-colored pedestrian bridge that spans the bullpen behind center field is a miniature version of the Hell Gate Bridge. Even the color of the seats — dark green — was copied from somewhere else: the Polo Grounds, where the New York Giants baseball team played and the Mets played their first two seasons.
The casual mood is reinforced by a number of spaces that have little to do with watching a baseball game: an auditorium, a Wiffle ball field — even an event room for weddings or parties.
What saves the design from becoming completely hokey, however, is its openness to the real world outside. Most of Queens, from the faded remnants of the 1964 World’s Fair to the Whitestone Expressway and the muddy waters of Flushing Bay, is visible from the main concourse level. Farther up, you can see the Manhattan skyline several miles away. The visitors’ bullpen has a view of dilapidated garages and auto body shops across 126th Street to the northeast. The reality of this working-class landscape tempers the artificiality of the interior.
Even so, most serious architects today strive to create buildings that reflect the values of their own era, not a nostalgic vision of the past, no matter how open they may be toward their surroundings. And in that regard both stadiums will be a disappointment to students of architecture. For us, the buildings are just another reminder of the enormous gap that remains between high design and popular taste. |
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dinosaur jesus
Apr 03 2009 07:12 AM
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| ]Even so, most serious architects today strive to create buildings that reflect the values of their own era, not a nostalgic vision of the past, no matter how open they may be toward their surroundings. |
The whole game of baseball is a nostalgic vision of the past. What values of our own era do we really want to bring to it?
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Frayed Knot
Apr 03 2009 07:20 AM
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I like the part where Hankenbrenner (or was it Hal-enbrenner?) says; 'yeah, we overpriced some of the seats and as a result they're not selling as well as we hoped ... but we didn't misread the market!'
Umm, yeah ya did. In fact, that's kind of the definition of misreading the market.
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Benjamin Grimm
Apr 03 2009 07:20 AM
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="dinosaur jesus"]| ]Even so, most serious architects today strive to create buildings that reflect the values of their own era, not a nostalgic vision of the past, no matter how open they may be toward their surroundings. |
The whole game of baseball is a nostalgic vision of the past. What values of our own era do we really want to bring to it? |
I don't know enough about architecture to explain why I agree with that statement, but I do.
I would rather the Mets had built a stadium the reflects early 21st Century architecture, whatever it is. Citi Field looks like a nice place to watch a game, and it's visually appealing, but it also has a Disney feel to it, like you're in "Baseball Land."
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Edgy DC
Apr 03 2009 08:00 AM
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Glass façades and baseball go together like bleach and baby baths.
Even if there's no real threat of the two actually coming together --- and even if the vulnerable element is reinforced against the dangerous element --- it creates an atmophere of anxiety.
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Benjamin Grimm
Apr 03 2009 08:19 AM
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I kinda like the Minnesota park. The Nationals less so, but it's not bad either.
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soupcan
Apr 03 2009 08:19 AM
Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Apr 03 2009 08:21 AM
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="Edgy DC":292rjkrd]Glass façades and baseball go together like bleach and baby baths.
Even if there's no real threat of the two actually coming together --- and even if the vulnerable element is reinforced against the dangerous element --- it creates an atmophere of anxiety.[/quote:292rjkrd]
That's an interesting point, but perhaps the juxtaposition of those types of elements is what appeals to an architect trying to make a statement?
I'm certain Art Van DeLay would find a way to make it work,
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soupcan
Apr 03 2009 08:20 AM
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="Benjamin Grimm":3rv0nqrw]I kinda like the Minnesota park. The Nationals less so, but it's not bad either.[/quote:3rv0nqrw]
Yeah - the Minnesota park has a sort of retro Jetsons feel to it.
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Edgy DC
Apr 03 2009 08:29 AM
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The Nats park has like five different tiers, each one more heavily raked than the one below it. Sometimes the price of everybody being closer to the field horizontally is that you get some crazy options vertically.
I'm sure you'll hear Keith complain this season about the vertigo-inducing situation of their press box. That is, if Mr. Fancy Pants makes a road trip to Washington.
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HahnSolo
Apr 03 2009 01:35 PM
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Hmm. I guess my perception of Nationals Park was different. I took the Metro to the game and walked in through the CF promenade. And we sat field level, so I didn't notice the slopes in the upper reaches. I never saw the glass encasings in the photo above, and liked the interior of the ballpark.
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metirish
Apr 03 2009 06:33 PM
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| ="Nymr83"]In the post this morning Sherman says bad things about the New Yankee stadium while Kevin Kernan has some faint praise for Citi Field (though more dumping on Shea) |
Sherman just about takes a dump on the doorstep of the new MYF stadium
I'm biased of course but I have tuned into YES a few times and if I didn't know better I would think they were playing the the MFYII....
IN TOUGH TIMES, A MONUMENT TO GREED
| ]
IT IS beautiful, of course. But in the way that a woman who went to the world's best plastic surgeon might be beautiful. It is supposed to remind you of the previous incarnation, and ends up feeling artificial and overdone.
The new Yankee Stadium has just about everything you would want in a modern sports facility, except charm and a sense of proportion.
If you can afford the prices, you should have a good time there. The sightlines are wonderful. The large screen in center field is so clear you really do feel as if you could reach out and touch the people on it. The concourses are wide, and the food choices abundant.
Yet the place brought nausea, not nostalgia. It just feels like the wrong time in the history of this country and this city to be opening up the George Mahal. When the project was initiated 2 ½ years ago, the Yankees could not have known what the state of the economy was going to be now.
But this is about more than wrong place, wrong time. The Yankees' sense of entitlement and unrestrained excess is timeless. They will tell you they built this stadium for the everyman, stressing what they consider still affordable pricing and amenities. But this stadium, in actuality, was built for a moneyed class that in many respects does not even exist in this city any longer.
Those $2,625-per-game Legends tickets behind home plate are selling slowly, and that certainly is because there is a whole class of banking/Wall Street/real estate mogul who would have scooped them up but has gone the way of flannel uniforms. But also because those seats not long ago would have screamed status, and now speak only to greed. The working world will not look onto those sitting there with envy. They will wish that those seats came with a dunk tank, not waiter service.
The Yanks also want to make you believe that the history and romance could be easily shipped from the old place to the new one simply by recreating dimensions, reconstructing the facade or replanting Monument Park. However, the new Stadium didn't make me think of the place just across the street. It made me think about Vegas or Disney World, since it made me think of a fake place designed to manipulate my emotions and get into my wallet.
"We don't see it as ostentatious or flashy," Hal Steinbrenner said. "We see it as classy."
For me, class is out. In truth, sadly, the Yanks have conjured up a building that defines them: cold, corporate, over-privileged. At a financially distressed time in which Bud Selig has appealed to teams and players to be more fan friendly than ever, the Yanks have constructed even more of a moat between their players and those paying for all the goodies.
For example, Yankee executives see it as a positive that the players now have underground parking rather than in the old place, where they had to walk 50 feet outdoors from the parking lot to the Stadium. In those 50 feet, fans held back by barricades could scream to their favorite players and -- if one of those players indulged -- get an autograph or two.
Now the interaction between fans and players, and media and players, will be less than ever. I know no one sheds a tear for the media, but I think the new clubhouse, overstocked with off-limits areas and clandestine exits, only leads to a group that will feel less accountability. And an over-privileged nature and lack of accountability have hurt recent editions of the Yankees.
"We are not a regular team," Brian Bruney said. "We are the New York Yankees, and it has to be nicer."
Nice is in the eye of the beholder, and if you work for one of those few places left where the corporate card is still set on unlimited, then the new Yankee Stadium is for you. For many others, this place will have all the charm of Bernie Madoff.
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seawolf17
Apr 03 2009 06:44 PM
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And Brian Bruney, you're an overpaid tub of goo who can't find the strike zone with a guide dog who's lucky the Yankees wouldn't know pitching talent if it punched them in the neck, or you'd find yourself pitching for the Sioux City Sand Gnats. So shut the hell up and join Caveman on the Ass Line.
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Edgy DC
Apr 03 2009 08:16 PM
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Wolfie, save something for the regular season.
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MFS62
Apr 03 2009 08:56 PM
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I just went on mlb.com to check the box scores.
I noticed that the Mets' game tonight was played at "CitiField".
The Yankees' game tonight was played at "New Yankee Stadium".
Is that going to be the official name of that place?
Later
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seawolf17
Apr 03 2009 08:57 PM
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Didn't they call it "New Comiskey" for a while too?
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themetfairy
Apr 03 2009 08:58 PM
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="seawolf17":3ge41hzz]Didn't they call it "New Comiskey" for a while too?[/quote:3ge41hzz]
Yes - that's what it was called when I visited the park in 1991.
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seawolf17
Apr 03 2009 09:08 PM
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| ="Edgy DC"]Wolfie, save something for the regular season. |
I know, but again, this stuff pisses me off. Who the hell is Brian Bruney? Good thing crappy middle relievers don't bat in the American League, or if I'm Lou Piniella tomorrow, I buzz an exhibition fastball right past his manboobs.
You are "a regular team," Bruney. You're one of 30 teams that all need each other, or professional baseball doesn't exist.
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MFS62
Apr 04 2009 06:27 AM
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="seawolf17":11yncmqm]Didn't they call it "New Comiskey" for a while too?[/quote:11yncmqm]
Who is they?
The White Sox?
White Sox fans?
The fans in Chicago?
The papers in Chicago?
But this is the official website of major league baseball itself.
And that's why I asked if anyone knew if this is the official name of that place. Not just what some may call it.
Later
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Frayed Knot
Apr 04 2009 06:44 AM
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No, I don't believe 'New' is part of the official name.
'Fucking Gargantuan Edifice to Conspicuous Consumption' may be, although I'd have to check on that to be sure.
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SteveJRogers
Apr 04 2009 06:45 AM
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="MFS62":2qks5l00]="seawolf17":2qks5l00]Didn't they call it "New Comiskey" for a while too?[/quote:2qks5l00]
Who is they?
The White Sox?
White Sox fans?
The fans in Chicago?
The papers in Chicago?
But this is the official website of major league baseball itself.
And that's why I asked if anyone knew if this is the official name of that place. Not just what some may call it.
Later[/quote:2qks5l00]
Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes.
Reinsdorf didn't sell the naming rights until 2003. So it was Comiskey II from 1991 through 2003.
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G-Fafif
Apr 04 2009 06:55 AM
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I believe that someday Seawolf will punch that arrogant Brian Brueny at New Yankee Stadium on his fat nose.
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metsguyinmichigan
Apr 09 2009 10:01 PM
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I clicked the link and thought, "Damn, the bleeping Yankees really ARE trying to appeal to everyone. Now I know why they have that massive video board in center."
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