First Visit to Yankee Stadium

On July 5th, 2008 my father and I traveled to New York City to see the New York Yankees play the Boston Redsox. (Thanks again to my father for his generosity.) This is the last season the Yankees will play in the historic park. They move into a brand new (billion dollar!) stadium next season. The new stadium is currently being built right across the street from the old one and from what we could see from the outside, it appears to be a very impressive structure.


This visit to Yankee stadium was my first and it certainly was a memorable one. The atmosphere was festive and electric. It seemed every seat was occupied by a die hard fan (as one might expect, a good number of Red Sox fans made the trip). You could feel the excitement even before entering the historic confines. Once inside, my mind immediately flashed to the books, movies, and old T.V. footage that I have seen and read depicting the historic ball park and chills went up and down my spine as I thought of Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Whitey Ford, Lou Gehrig, etc.... (Side note: Lou Gehrig gave his "luckiest man in the world" speach on July 4th, 1939.) It is truly a shame that Major League Baseball will no longer be played in this legendary location. That said, it is clear that Yankee Stadium is past it's prime. Like other ball parks built during baseball ball's golden days, it's walkways are cramped. There is a damp and dingy smell throughout the stadium due to poor circulation. The walls are dull and gray. The seats are crowded and leg room is non-existent. (The one exception was the row where we were seated. It is the last row of the lower level on the third base side and the seats are actually folding chairs placed behind a low railing elevated four to five feet above the next row of seats.) So while it is certainly sad to see the Yankees leave this monument to America's pastime, it is clear that it will benefit the fans and the Yankees bottom line (think luxury boxes!) to upgrade the ball park. I hope to one day to take my son (if I am fortunate enough to have one) to the New Yankee stadium and tell him about the day my father took me to the house that Ruth built.