Last week I had one of my Yankee friends come to CitiField with me and he provided a review of the stadium from a Yankee fans point of view.  Well, yesterday I had the opportunity to go to Yankee Stadium with some friends who were all fans of the team.  I now give you my review of the new Yankee Stadium.

First let me start out by saying that I have been very harsh on CitiField, pointing out some of the obstructions and even writing a petition.  After my afternoon at NYS I must be honest and say the Mets have the superior ballpark and I am even more in love with CitiField and the Mets now.  There is not even a contest, with all of the issues at CitiField aside, the Mets have given their fans one of the best stadiums in baseball, and I am more proud now to be a fan of the Mets.  I can not even put it into words.....well done Mets!

Ok, let's move on from that love fest......I had been to the old Yankee Stadium a total of 4 times in my life, the last being the Home Run Derby last year.  I had always been a fan of the history of the old stadium and I appreciated what the stadium meant to baseball.  It wasn't just holly ground for Yankee fans but it was also for baseball fans.  When I got off the subway and had a view of the old stadium I felt a bit sad to see this once great cathedral standing there empty and falling apart.  Mets fans were lucky, they did not have to go to a brand spanking new stadium and be reminded of the past with the old Shea still standing there.  Yankee fans need to see the dismantling of their once larger than life stadium, brick by brick and beam by beam.  It was a bit sad to see the old stadium standing there empty and dying.


Walking past the old stadium to NYS I was first taken by how big it feels.  I am amazed that they fit this into a city block and think they did a fantastic job, its curb appeal is amazing and it gave off a sense of power and monumentality.  We met our friends over by the Hard Rock and made our way over to Gate 6.  Both NYS and Citi have these rediculous self scanning barcodes which takes people way too long.  I get it, but it doesn't exactly help with the long lines. 



I have heard people say that they felt NYS was like a shopping mall, well, I felt that was a bit harsh, it was actually more like an airport terminal.  This was not only felt by me, but also by the Yankee fans I was with.  As you walk up the flight of stairs at the opposite end of the HD screen, there is a bar on your left.  Apparently it is the only bar (aside from the legend seats) that serves hard alcohol.  To get to this bar you have to wind through a cooridor that can only be explained as "prison like".  How people find this winding cooridor is beyond me, I only did because my friend had been there before.  Maybe if you ask the people holding signs saying "ask me, I'm here to help", which I thought was a fantastic idea, Citi should have this as well.

Our seats were in section 231, we made our way up to our level and walked behind home plate and got the "airport terminal" feeling again.  You could hardly tell you were at a ball game, there were only empty tables/chairs, no TV's and no sound, nothing.  It was a very strange area of the stadium, if there was a speed walkway like those found in airport terminals I would have thought it was JFK airport.  As you wind around you are then presented with the open view to the field.  The concessions are possitioned in the middle of the walkways significantly cutting down the open feeling.  The lines bleed into the walkway and as they grew it becomes a bit difficult to walk through.  I am not sure why at this level they were not designed at the back of the walkway. 

Once at the seats you have this impressive feeling of the stadium all around you.  We had awesome sightlines to the game and I felt that you have this comfortable feeling with the fans and stadium falling all around you.  They have done a great job making the stadium big and comforting and intimidating all at the same time.  The centerfield HD screen is massive and amazing.  The Yankee roll call by the bleacher section is one of the coolest things in baseball, I am kinda jealous that the Mets do not have some sort of tradition like this. 


We spend a few innings in our seats watching a fantastic pitching duel.  Mid way through we got up to walk around to CF to check out the concessions and grab some food.  Walking around and back was easy enough, until you actually try to get into the CF section where the walkway narrows to fit one person as you try to sneak past a line for concessions.  I think the CF section was one of the most dissappointing sections, and maybe it is because Citi is so well designed.  As a fan it is almost impossible to watch the game and eat from out there.  Not only do you have retarded obstructions from the CF restaurant where you lose the the entire LF or RF, but the space is so small that it makes it difficult to buy food, eat and drink and enjoy the game.  There was again the same concrete closed off feeling and it wasn't fun being out there trying to watch the game.  Also, what is the deal with not being able to get tops for your Pepsi or other drink?  I bought a milk shake and asked for a top, the lady looked at me like I had four heads saying, "we don't have tops for drinks".  But hey, they will give you your screw top for your beer, unlike at Citi.  

As we made our way back to our seats I was again not very impressed with the concessions offered and the concrete, maybe as a Mets fan I am now spoiled by the superior food options.  Also walking back, we made our way down to field level and it was quite bizzare to see 3/4 of the legend seats empty.  I mean, unreal!  If I was a Yankee fan I would be frustrated not only by the exclusivity that is constant in this stadium, but also with the fact that these high priced seats were never intended for Yankee fans, but for the corporate world.  I know Citi has similar issues, but NYS seemed to have a completely different corporate vibe.  For example, please tell me what a Peter Max gallery with $60,000 pieces of art is doing at a ballpark.  I asked the lady if they had sold anything, her response "we seem to do well when the weather is poor or the game is in the later innings".  I guess after you spend $1250 on tickets you might want to get absolutely robbed on a Peter Max print for $4000. 

On field level I love the old black and white photographs above the concession stands.  The Yankees have a great history and the ballpark definitely brings that back to the fans.  I especially liked the old black and white at one of the exits of Lou Gerhig giving his speach, gave me the chills.  Another touch I absolutely love are the old school manual scoreboard in the LF and RF walls. 

At the end of the day, the Yankees had another walk-off win over the Twins, but I went home even more excited about my New York Mets.  We have a team that is performing very well now, and we have a beautiful stadium in CitiField to watch them.