Date Visited: April 3, 2011
Ease of Getting In/Out: Wasn't so bad. My brother drove. We got there early. It was a bit of a headache getting out after the game and back to LI. My poor brother had to listen to two ladies giving him directions; the one in the GPS box and the one in the back seat (me!). I think you had to be there to appreciate the editorial...
Customer Service: Adequate
Music level: Too loud. I had to yell at my brothers to talk with them during the game. And they played music or 'noise' between every pitch. AND, they played Star Wars type music when announcing the starting line up. Couldn't hear it well.
Notes: There were four things I wanted to see/do visiting the new Yankee Stadium:
Let's see my comments....
Photo courtesy of Billy Minard I hope the Yankees do not destroy that bat. Lots of fond memories there. On this site (beyond the dark fence in this photo), NYC and the Yankees will build an 11-acre Heritage Field. Heritage Field will include three baseball fields, bleachers, track-and-field space and commemorative touches that pay respect to the old ballfield.
It was seven stories high - huge - like much of Yankee Stadium. Lining the walls were banners containing photos of some the greats: Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Whitey Ford, Don Mattingly, Paul O'Neil, Thurman Munson, etc. Twenty banners in all. Hopefully, we'll get to see Bernie Williams up there one day. Photo courtesy of Billy Minard
Monument Park is a museum containing a collection of monuments, plaques, and retired numbers honoring distinguished members of the New York Yankees.
We got into the stadium as soon as the doors opened and after hitting the restrooms, this was the first place we visited. Even so, there was still a line to get in. There is a new plaque honoring George Steinbrenner shown on the wall in this photo. Photo courtesy of Billy Minard
Displays of World Series Championship trophies, official player balls in an arc of the pitching movement between statues of Don Larsen and Yogi Berra (representing the 1956 World Series perfect game), Thurmon Munson's locker, a model of the new Yankee Stadium... The museum had lots of history but did not have a whole lot of character. Photo courtesy of Billy Minard The Yankees played the Detroit Tigers this 3rd game of the 2011 season. The Tigers won this game 10 - 7.
The greatest fans here are to the right of the batter's eye. At the beginning of the game (top of the 1st) they continuously called each Yankees player's name (except the pitcher and catcher - I think?) until that player acknowledged them with a wave or a salute. It was fantastic to see the interaction between those fans and the players.
He interacted well with the fans and played hard (and he threw the ball into the stands that my brother was able to pick up). Take a look at his batting average in the starting line up photo above, then look at this one. Granted, this WAS the third game of the regular season.
I did get to see all I wanted to at the stadium as well as discovering Nick Swisher. As important, I got to spend a great outing with my brothers.
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Here's the outside of the stadium. Very majestic looking.
Here're the remnants of the old Yankee Stadium including 'the bat'.
The Great Hall
Monument Park
And, people movement was pretty bad through here. It was so packed, I didn't get to see all the monuments and retired numbers.
New York Yankee Museum
Things I liked:
Although they played music during the actual announcement of the starting line ups; they did have TV monitors on the concourse with the same information.
Huge video board filled with advertisements.
Things I didn't like:
I absolutely became a big fan of this guy.
Final notes:
Would I do it again? I won't make a special trip but if I'm in the area and can get reasonably priced tickets (and someone else drives), yes, I would.
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