Review: Yankees’ Stadium 2003

It’s that time of year again: Baseball Season is now in full swing and the Yankees had their first Saturday home game this weekend. In a game that is packed full of stats and statistics, what’s the significance of the first Saturday home game? Um, nothing really, but since I have season long Saturday game tickets, it means that I made my first trip through Fairfield and Westchester counties and into The Bronx for a bit of baseball a couple of days ago. The boys won, I fought very little traffic on the way to and from the game, I bought a new hat, and I was able to check out some of the upgrades at The House that George Owns.

First and foremost. If you’re reading this site and you’re going to a game anytime soon, please read one of my former posts about “seat layout” at the stadium! I had forgotten how bad it can be, having people stand up in front of you to argue with other fans that they are in the right seat. Yes, Yankees’ Stadium can be confusing. Yes, there are a lot of stupid people in the world. The two obviously don’t mix, which is why I wrote my “Yankees’ Stadium Seating for Newbies” post in the first place – what I need to do is leave the URL posted next to the box office or something. The worst of the lot was some Mets hat wearing fuckhead that was right in my line of vision of home plate when he got up to argue with an usher twice and was in the wrong seat the whole time. Wrong seat? The idiot was on the wrong island! Must have forgotten that he wasn’t in Queens anymore – how anyone could get the Dodger’s blue donut looking place called Shea confused with Yankees’ Stadium is quite beyond me.

So what’s George been up to around the place? Say what you want about the guy, but George has two simple things that makes him a good team owner: he wants to win no matter how high his payroll is and he loves his ball club enough to take care of his stadium. Can’t ask for much more from a club owner. This year, they painted everything concrete on the inside of the place. Everything: walls, floors, ceilings, bathrooms, and even a couple of fans that fell sleep while waiting to buy tickets during spring training. Also, all of the light fixtures have been replaces/upgraded. The hallways positively glow now, given the fresh paint and brighter lights – definitely not the place to go, if you’re hungover.

They also upgraded the gift shop that’s on the third base side – I didn’t get a chance to get over to the first base side this first game – and turned it into more like the clubhouse stores that are in Manhattan. Nice touch that, because it used to be a nightmare when you needed to try something on; they used to have a long row of glass showcases that the workers protected, meaning that you had to ask to try something on. Now that it’s a store, it’s a bit more consumer-friendly.

Then there’s the Food Court: no more Domino’s or no-named ice cream place – they brought back Carvel and a new pizza guy named “Famiglia”. They also got rid of Krispy Kreme and replaced them with a “real” New York bakery. Not sure if I like that, but since they have Chai’s there, I’m not complaining too loudly. They also added Mon Wok (or whatever the hell it’s called) in the main Food Court. That’s right – General Tsu’s chicken being served right next to the ballpark hot dogs! How did this happen?

Matsui. That’s my only explanation, however asinine it sounds, offering Chinese food for Japanese fans. When the Yankees started getting a lot of more players from Latin America, they popped in a couple of Mexican places. They’re in NYC and I’m certain they’re the only ball park in the world that has a Kosher deli counter that serves pastrami at a baseball game. Now that he has the Japanese equivalent of Mantle playing on his team, I’m betting Georgie has brought this in to not only add some variety but to also show an acceptance for an Asian culture burst into his team. Of course, he’s put in Chinese food for a Japanese player, but who in their right mind would eat sushi from an American stadium? Right – no one. Whether or not that’s the real reason why it’s there, I don’t know for certain, but I do know that the only time I used to see that many Japanese fans at a Yankees’ game was when Seattle was in town – Sasaki and Ichiro are also popular players in Japan but nothing like Matsui. You know damn well that I’ve got no complaints about this, but that’s hardly a surprise!

Actually, I don’t think I’ve got one complaint about the place this year and it looks like a good season so far, too, at 9-2… Of course, it is only April…

Just another four months until October!


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