Comments:
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You cannot visit this place without feeling the spirits of baseball past. Cooperstown is a wonderful place to visit but nothing can compare with the history I felt wandering around this gigantic edifice. Ruth, Gehrig, Larsen, Mantle, Berra, Maris, it goes on and on. This is the Montreal Forum, London's Wembley Stadium, Brazil's Maracana, Green Bay's Lambeau Field. The ghosts of Yankee past have left their mark. Walking to the park we saw a group of about 30 Japanese on a tour to the stadium, many dressed in Matsui Yankee uniform shirts. I'm sure they were impressed when the national anthem was sung by a group of Japanese-American businessmen and the first pitch was thrown out by the Japanese ambassador to the United Nations.
Sometime in the early 90's, Yankee Stadium was completely renovated. The Yankees played that season at Shea Stadium. While there are still some crowding issues in the concessions areas, they have done a wonderful job making this place feel much newer than it is. Our seats (the Fabulous Gina was aboard) could be considered a bargain at $18.00. Much better sight line than the last time I was here for a Red Sox game and paid $42.00 for a box seat along the third base line. Granted, the right field corner was obstructed.
For a stadium located in the information center of the world, I was somewhat disappointed in the information displayed for the fans. While some may consider the pitch speed and number of pitches thrown to be of little or no interest, how hard would it be to display this information somewhere? Also, it was very difficult to follow out of town games as there was no permanent scoreboard. Scores were displayed along the strip signs on the facade of the first deck along the first and third baselines. If you were looking for a particular score you had to watch this area exclusively and wait for your score to appear thus missing any action on the field.
Another well-pitched game and another home team win. Rating is 8.5 mostly for the venue itself. I know it was a Sunday, lots of families more interested in cotton candy than baseball, but the "in the game" atmosphere was missing. Still a park that should be visited by anyone who considers himself a baseball fan.
- Joe Wagg
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