Big Apple Baseball
My wife & I took our annual trip to a city with a baseball stadium. And for the 2nd straight year, we went to two stadiums. It was Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium. Leading up to the trip, I was told that Yankee Stadium was the gem of all gems while Shea was the MLB dump.
After watching games at both stadiums, I can say that I was disappointed with one and surprised with the other.
For Yankee Stadium, I thought it was an okay place to watch a game. It was nothing like I hoped it would be really. The field itself was fine, but the seats were uncomfortable. I did not like the policies of the stadium (ex. cannot gain access to any parts of the stadium if you sit in the bleachers, cannot walk around in Monument Park other than pre-game, etc.), and the selection of the food was merely average. Other than the frieze above the scoreboard in the OF nothing really made it look like a nice stadium. Oh yeah, my highlight was having a vendor chew me out for being late so I couldn't get a program.
But I will say getting to Monument Park was the biggest treat in my ballpark quests to this piont. Now I just have to sit in the Wrigley bleachers, touch the Green Monster Wall, and sit out in McCovey Cove. :)
As for Shea, I was very surprised on it. It won't be mistaken for the new ballparks, but the only big problem I saw about it was it was out of date. It is really a cookie-cutter stadium but with 1/4 of the stands missing. The scoreboard might be the best I've seen in person and the seats were very comfortable and even though we sat in the upper level seats, I still felt close to the game. The food was about the same as Yankee Stadium, meaning average, but it held up well. I felt like the things they tried to put in the OF (the Dunkin Donuts coffee cup in LF and the K tracker) were a little excessive, but it wasn't overly horrible. The fans were awesome at the games I went to and the new ballpark next door looks like it will be one of the best in baseball.
After watching games at both stadiums, I can say that I was disappointed with one and surprised with the other.
For Yankee Stadium, I thought it was an okay place to watch a game. It was nothing like I hoped it would be really. The field itself was fine, but the seats were uncomfortable. I did not like the policies of the stadium (ex. cannot gain access to any parts of the stadium if you sit in the bleachers, cannot walk around in Monument Park other than pre-game, etc.), and the selection of the food was merely average. Other than the frieze above the scoreboard in the OF nothing really made it look like a nice stadium. Oh yeah, my highlight was having a vendor chew me out for being late so I couldn't get a program.
But I will say getting to Monument Park was the biggest treat in my ballpark quests to this piont. Now I just have to sit in the Wrigley bleachers, touch the Green Monster Wall, and sit out in McCovey Cove. :)
As for Shea, I was very surprised on it. It won't be mistaken for the new ballparks, but the only big problem I saw about it was it was out of date. It is really a cookie-cutter stadium but with 1/4 of the stands missing. The scoreboard might be the best I've seen in person and the seats were very comfortable and even though we sat in the upper level seats, I still felt close to the game. The food was about the same as Yankee Stadium, meaning average, but it held up well. I felt like the things they tried to put in the OF (the Dunkin Donuts coffee cup in LF and the K tracker) were a little excessive, but it wasn't overly horrible. The fans were awesome at the games I went to and the new ballpark next door looks like it will be one of the best in baseball.
Comment
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Comment by Tim on October 7, 2008 at 2:02pm
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LOL at least the White Sox lost and are out of it. :)
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Comment by Steph (17+5) on October 6, 2008 at 9:40am
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Your regret is noted and appreciated in Minnesota, Tim. ;)
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Kinda regretting cheering for the Yankees in NY......if Minnesota won one of those games, we would see the Twins and not the stinking White Sox in October.
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Comment by cady and joe (6) on October 3, 2008 at 8:43am
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we definitely liked shea better than yankee stadium too. except maybe for that guy two rows in front of us who kept yelling at us every time the mets scored a run. too bad they ended up losing...:)
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I think maybe my pregnant wife hindered it? :)
If you look at Yankee Stadium as a regular ballpark, it's bad. In fact, I only put RFK, Metrodome, and Fulton County Stadium as worse stadiums than Yankee Stadium. But it has great history and you can never take that away from the ballpark.
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Comment by Rob on August 5, 2008 at 12:33pm
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I too just got back from NY and saw two games in Yankee stadium. Along with a stops in Cleveland and D.C. for games. Yankee stadium probably isn't the prettiest or most fan accomodating stadium around, but the tradition and the atmosphere of the place is part of its appeal. To think of all the great moments that occured on that field, all the great players who played within those walls and just think about the millions of average people who parked theirselves in those seats. To me there's something in that that cancels out the soggy hotdogs, flat pop, and angry concession workers.
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Comment by Jack (6) on August 3, 2008 at 11:40am
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Glad you got to make a trip to NY Tim and see the parks before they are no longer. Every baseball fan should get to visit Yankee at least once- it is the Mecca of all baseball stadiums!
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Comment by Christina (8) on July 29, 2008 at 8:29pm
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I do wish that I would have been able to attend at least one game at both.
However, when the new parks open next year, I might be in town to catch at least one game. I think I'll go to the new Mets, just because I don't favor the Yankees. Maybe the Braves will be up there!
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That's funny! I went to see the Yankees and Twins, but being a Tigers fan, I was cheering for the Yankees to win so we can gain ground. I think you are right. The renovation kinda made it feel like a cookie-cutter stadium.
Yeah, the Mets fans were awesome. My best friend also was at the game, but he was a Braves fan and hates the Mets with a passion. They gave him the business big time.
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Tim, I have to agree with you about Yankee Stadium. I was finally able to attend a game there in July of 2007 and, for some reason, I just couldn't tap into the magic of the place. Maybe that's because we were there rooting for the 'other' team (our Twins were playing the Yanks, and we got razzed a bit by the home team fans), or maybe it was because the stadium was so thoroughly generic. It surely seemed to have lost something during the remodeling in the 70s. Yankee Stadium was still a great, historic place, and I'm glad I got a chance to see the park before the team moves across the street to the new venue. I just wish the experience would've been a little more memorable for me.
I was at Shea for the first (and probably last) time earlier this month and, although the stadium was nothing to write home about, we had a blast at the game. Our seats were in the midst of a bunch of season ticket holders and rabid Mets fans. We joined them in rooting for the home team in a winning effort, and it certainly made for a fun time.
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