It's the Most Wonderful Day of the Year...well, Except for the Weather

There is nothing, and I mean nothing, in American sports as wonderful as Opening Day!

Of course, given the rain and snow today that is more or less soaking the entire country, you'd never know it. Already two games have been postponed (CHW/KC and BOS/TB) and I'd be a little shocked if they played ball in Saint Louis.

This begs the simple question: Why do so many Opening Day games take place in cold weather cities, where there are no domed or retractable roofs?

It hasn't been until recently that Opening Day started this early in April (in non-WBC years it's April 1 or earlier), but the fact is, early April weather is a gamble in a lot of places, not least of which is New York.

In the American League, Tampa, Toronto, Minnesota (this year only), Seattle, Oakland, Los Angeles and Texas all either play in warm or warm(er) weather or with domed/retractable roofs. That's seven teams in a fourteen-team league--exactly half. That would make it entirely possible to hold Opening Day games and opening series all in warm weather or indoor locations, where weather would likely not be a factor. It's true, Minnesota's moving into a new, outdoor and roofless (in Minnesota, huh?) park next year, which would mean one AL series would have to take place in questionable weather, but even then, a city like Baltimore is far less of a gamble than, say, Kansas City.

In the National League, Milwaukee, Houston, Atlanta, San Francisco, San Diego, Arizona and Los Angeles all are warm weather or have retractable roofs--I've left Florida off the list because of the propensity to rain. Seven teams in a sixteen team league is a little less than half, but if two non-roofed teams play each other in the first series (perhaps in Washington or Florida), then that's only one game that needs to risk bad weather.

Baseball is an unusual sport in that it is so dependent on weather--games are called due to rain or snow--and that's never stopped a season before. Still, there's a difference between suggesting all of April being played in warm weather and just the opening series.

Yes, there's still significant weather risk throughout much of the rest of April, but Opening Day is something that exists on a higher plateau than just any other regular season game--doesn't it deserve to be protected in that every game has a reasonable shot at being played?

Just some food for thought.

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I had wanted to liveblog the game today, but I may not be able to catch the first three or four innings, so that probably won't go along very well. Wednesday won't work, either (first night of Passover), but maybe Thursday will be kind...

Some Fan Tricks, Tips and Hints for the 2009 Season

With the new baseball season upon us, there will be not just new faces on the team, but new fans as well. Here are a few tips that will hopefully make the Stadium experience that much more pleasant for you and the fans around you:

• Take public transportation. I don't care if you can afford your own chaffeur; unless you have a pass to the players' lot, the mess of stadium parking is just not worth it. Besides, public transport is that much cheaper, even with the Doomsday Budget of Doom. The other thing about public transportation: other fans going to the game will usually be on the same subway or train; if you don't know what to do, look for the people in Yankee shirts and follow the herd. Even if you get lost, you will not be lost on your own.

• Seats in the center of a row are better than aisle seats--less people will be trying to climb over you to get to the aisle. It's one of those really obvious things, but it still bears repeating.
  

• Decide how much money you think you're going to spend, and bring double. It's not just that you never really know what unexpected thing you're going to want to buy, but it's always good to have extra cash on you. On Friday, many stalls were cash-only, and you never know when the credit card machine is going to crash.

• Leave the Gucci at home. You're going to a baseball game, not a board meeting or charity gala. Unless you're sitting in an executive suite and have many people to impress, a t-shirt and shorts or jeans is perfectly acceptable attire.

• While getting to the game early enough to catch BP is a great thing to do, don't shy away from visiting Stan's before a game, either (as long as you're over 21, that is). A major league game is about much more than just what happens on the field--it's the entire experience.

• For the love of all things holy, don't let the camera catch you reading a book at a game. The program or the media guide, sure. Even Baseball Prospectus or Baseball America is okay; they're at least relevant. Would you bring a book to a play or musical? To the opera or ballet? No? Then why bring one to a baseball game? Baseball players may not understand a libretto from a pas de deux, but they're still being paid to entertain you.

Derek Jeter was right last year when he said that it's the fans that help make the Yankees who they are and Yankee Stadium what it is/was. If you keep that in the back of your mind, it's a bone chilling, but true, notion.

New Yankee Stadium Inspires, Looks to the Future and Remembers the Past

So, how was your cool, damp Friday night?

Good?

Mine was better.



After six stifling hours of class, subsisting on cheap sushi and stuff you get out of the vending machine, my friend Brent and I headed to the New Yankee Stadium to catch the exhibition Cubs-Yankees game.

Okay, I lied. We headed to the new Stadium, but not so much to watch the game as we did to see the Stadium, which would explain why we were in our seats through innings 2-4, and then did not return to them for the rest of the game.

What was on the field to a back seat (once, and only once) to the building in which it was situated.

Brent and I arrived at the Stadium around 7.30, as my last class did not let out until 10-to-seven (I purchased the tickets conveniently forgetting the scheduling mishap, knowing only that I would not be able to attend Saturday's game).

The new Stadium, even from the outside, looked amazing in the dying evening light:



The ticket scanners are automated, which is kind of futuristic, but I think it's still a little, well, kinky



Upon entering the Stadium, the first thing that strikes you is the Great Hall, which at once pays homage to the past with banners honoring past Yankee greats and invites the future with a giant indoor LCD screen. However big you think that screen is on TV or in pictures, it's bigger.

After standing in awe and various incantations of OHMIG-DHOLYSHIT, Brent and I made our way to our Grandstand seats.






We went up, and then up again, and up some more, and still we were not as high as we needed to go: when we finally ended up in section 434, row 10, we were higher than both the flag pole and the foul pole, and the rumor that the upper deck is recessed is very, very true. While there was no problem seeing any of the players, the players themselves were so small that one had to remember there was a game going on at all. Still, you really can see EVERYTHING, even the screens by the obstructed view seats, so complaining would seem inappropriate.



However, there was so much else to see, that this minor detail is really, well, a minor detail. We sat and watched the game for a couple innings. Some people hit, Matsui hit a home run, and that screen in center field will eat your children alive.






The field itself, however, is very reminiscent of the old Stadium. Since the dimensions are the same, all you have to do is forget everything that surrounds the field, and you may very well find yourself whisked back to 1923 or 1977, your choice.



After the fourth inning, Brent and I decided to scope out the culinary options. Most of the really attractive food options are on the lower level, and, compared to the old stadium, at least, there really are options!



We had an adventure getting downstairs--we tried first to take the elevator, but after a ten minute wait decided to follow some other people down the stairs. However, it seems we took the wrong stairwell, as we ended up not on the main concourse as we'd hoped, but instead inside the press gate (marble floors? Guys in suits staring at you like you've just gone to meet the Queen in your pajamas? Yeah. Press gate). The concierge there was nice enough to point us in the right direction--first day at a new place, you are bound to get lost--but I wouldn't count on the same politeness in the middle of July, when fans have had the chance to 'break in' the new building.




One caveat, however: the food options are all still Stadium food: lots of fried, greasy, midnight snack, ramen noodle types...which is fine, unless you are me and suffer from a very sensitive stomach. The options now are better than they were, in that I can eat salmon roll and some of the candy options, but then again, if I really cared about my food options that much, I wouldn't go to the games.

I also, on the advice of a friend, checked out the bathrooms: there really are twice as many women's rooms as men's rooms, and the one room I entered had something like 20 stalls. The stalls are Spartan in appearance, but it doesn't look like us she-fans will have to deal with long waits.



After working our way across the lower level, incuding stops in the team store (I bought a t-shirt that may or may not actually fit, a shot glass and a program; I'll buy the media guide when I return on the 18th) and going past the entrance to the sports bar by the bleachers, Brent and I worked our way up the ramp and to the Yankee Museum which is, believe it or not, a museum.




It's a very *small* museum, perhaps the size of the dorm room where I am spending the evening, and the main exhibit is a collection of baseballs ostensibly signed by as many players and important personnel as possible--there are balls ranging from Babe to Brett (Gardner) to Carl Pavano to Yogi Berra to Mariano Rivera to pick your era, pick your player. There's no real sense of organization to the baseballs, they aren't by number, alphabetical, by position or chronological; a computer at the exhibit entrance lets you choose the player you wish to see and tells you where to find his baseball, or you can do as Brent and I did and just look and see who you find.

Wil Nieves even has a baseball, and his name is spelled Will Nieves...Brent has a picture but it's too late for me to go searching through his files.





By the time we left the museum, it was the middle of the eigth inning, and since I wanted to get this post up before having to call it in for the night, we said good bye, albeit temporarily to the new Stadium.



Still, no place is perfect, especially on night one, and it would do to point out some of the flaws-mostly minor, though one major.

The major flaw/annoyance/what have you, that I found is that there seemed to be an ever-present reminder as to whether you were seated in the lower bowl, the loge-ish level, the terrace or the upper deck--in the baseball stadium world, as close to pure class distinctions as you will find.

The staff seems to be incredibly strict about letting people into a seating area--which means that even if you spot empty seats even just a section lower than the one your ticket is for, you will have a hard time gaining entry. I understand the need for security, but does New York really need any more reminders of the difference between those that can afford to park their cars in midtown and those for whom attending a game in a halfway-decent seat is a major expense?

The other thing--the bleacher seats next to the bar really are obstructed in the periphery--if you're seated there, you'll have no problem seeing in front of you or towards one side, but the other side will be blocked. It seems odd that a $1 billion park would not have this fault corrected, but we must remember that Yankee Stadium, in any form, is built by men and not, in fact, by the baseball g-ds.

Over all, the conclusion I drew was this:

The new Stadium is not the same as the old Stadium. If you can get past that, if you can observe the new Stadium for itself and only itself, you will be impressed--it is the most up-to-date ballpark/arena in New York City, and while the Prudential Center is a marvel, the new Yankee Stadium is a baseball palace--but if you look at it in comparison to the old Stadium, there probably will be some disappointment.

The thing to remember, however, is that the old Stadium itself was not all that spectacular--it was everything that occured on the field that made it what it was. The new Stadium may or may not create similar memories (hopefully it will), but unlike the old Stadium, it, itself, is an attraction.

So, should you go to the new Stadium? Yes. And make sure you don't go just once--go twice.

Go the first time so you can marvel at the Stadium in all its granduer and spend the entire game just wandering around, seeing what's there and what's hidden away, and go a second time (with better seats) so you can see and enjoy the baseball game.

The new Stadium is everything you'd expect from something Yankees--behemoth, grand, classic and just a little bit flawed.

And since we must always end with the Sandman:



Up next:

Things I'm Looking for in the New Stadium

Tonight I will be making my way to the new Yankee Stadium, weather permitting, of course.

While I'll the beginning ceremonies, I should still get there with plenty of time to go exploring. Here are the things I will be looking at/for:

1) That screen in the outfield. I heard that it's pretty darn big. I want to see just how big.

2) The food options in the lower and upper concourses. As someone with a digestive condition, I can't eat most stadium or arena food, so usually I survive on a pack of Swedish fish or a lollipop or two from home. However, the new Stadium is supposed to be full of all sorts of food options so, hopefully, there will be something there I can ingest!

3) The bathrooms. Women's restrooms are supposed to be at a 2:1 ratio to those of men; I want to see what the bathrooms are like. I'm not expecting anything spectacular, of course, a stadium bathroom is a stadium bathroom, but even something moderately clean will meet with my not-so-strict approval.

4) The other attractions on the concourse. What is there to do during a rain delay? How easy is it to navigate the concourse?

5) The seats in the upper deck (ie, the seats I have). How far recessed are they? I actually never sat any higher than loge level in the old Stadium, but I expect that the upper deck and I will become fast friends at the new Stadium. So, are my tickets really worth the $40 I paid for each?


I will take as many pictures as I can and I'll try to post them tonight, but I'm staying with a friend tonight and may not get a chance to post them until tomorrow evening.

Here's hoping the rain holds off.

For Love Of The Game

With baseball season just days away, many of us are excited about the possibility of seeing the new Yankee Stadium and perhaps even Citifield.

Sometimes, though, it can feel daunting, as though the game itself takes a back seat to the team and to the notion that you are watching titans and not humans.

So what's one to do to get close to the game? To remember why it is we're attracted to the game in the first place?

Here are some things to do throughout the course of the season:

Take in a minor league game. Not just an AAA game, where you probably already know the names of all the prospects, but AA and A games as well, with players not out of their teenage years, getting their first taste of professional ball. Many minor league teams have their bullpens just beside the first or third base line--if you go on a cold or damp night, when no one else is around, walk down to those seats next to the bullpen and watch the relievers warm up. Also--it's a great place to get a foul ball.

Go to a college game in your area. Sure, aluminum is a bit different than wood and it's a little harder to find information on the players, but you never know--you may very well be seeing the next Derek Jeter or Joba Chamberlain...

Find some friends and find someone's park or backyard, use some old tennis balls and play a sandlot game of baseball. You don't have to play only nine innings; play until the sun goes down or there's a thunderstorm warning. Just make sure to wear a helmet if your pitcher actually, you know, pitches.

Take a glove and a ball and go to the park with a friend, brother, sister, parent, cousin, child... and just play catch. There is nothing more basic than having a catch. Turn it into a game with your own rules or just toss lazy fly balls. Doesn't really matter. The beauty of baseball is that as long as you have a ball, you can play catch.

The one thing it's so easy to forget over the course of the season is that nothing is bigger than the game. Nothing.

No player, no team, no stadium is bigger than the game.

The funny thing is, though, the game is at its biggest when its at its smallest. The game is the best, the most pure, when there are no bright lights or giant LCD monitors or $500 lower level tickets.

In the end, baseball's a game. That's what's at the heart of it, that's why we watch it, why we're fans.

So while you're busy marveling at the new Stadium, make sure you don't forget what this is all about in the first place.

It's Time to Start the Season...

It's time.

The sun isn't setting before seven, the temperature has reached a bare-able, if not comfortable, mid-fifties and the neighborhood is teeming with life.

I am listless and wistful.

I want (regular season) baseball, and I want it now.

There is only so long that I can watch spring training games in sunny Florida and Arizona, in ballparks about the same size as AAA facilities, before I find myself doing silly things, like checking the standings of the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues.

There are only five days to go, so of course these next five days will feel longer than the rest of winter combined. It's like the 24 hours before your 21st birthday--the longest 24 hours of your life.

There is so much to look forward to this season for Yankee fans--new ballpark, new rotation, new feel to the team--one can be forgiven for his or her impatience.

The start of baseball season is so much more than just the start of a sports season--it's the start of warmer weather, brighter days, the hope that this year really could be the year (unless you live in Pittsburgh). It's the start of everything new and, hopefully, good.

We've waited long enough already.

Bob Sheppard to Retire...maybe

According to this report, legendary Yankees PA announcer is set to retire.

Sheppard, who refuses to comment on his age, is believed to be 98 years old and missed all of last season and was already set to miss the Cubs exhibition games this year.

In some ways, it's almost fitting. Sheppard was as much a part of the old Yankee Stadium as Monument Park or the short porch in right. There aren't many people around now who can remember Joe DiMaggio playing ball; Sheppard announced him coming to bat.

He will sorely be missed by Yankees fans everywhere.

[EDIT]: The Yankees and Sheppard have efuted the report, though it does seem that a return is still unlikely