Yankee Stadium [I] Demolition

[toefer]

I was watching this DVD/documentary last night, and by the end I felt a little mad and a little sad that the old stadium is actually being torn down. There's a part with Randy Levine talking about the new stadium, and how the new stadium would be an exact replica of the old one, but with modern amenities surrounding it. Ok, that part ended up being semi-true (we all know the wall dimensions are not exactly the same). But then he mentioned how the outside would be exactly like the old stadium, so that when you walk up to the stadium, you see exactly what Babe Ruth saw.

Um, nope.

Sure, it definitely looks a lot more like the old stadium than what RYS looked like, but to say it looks exactly the same is a bit of a stretch.

But aside from that, if Levine is selling the new stadium as being just like the old stadium, doesn't he understand how important the old stadium is to a lot of people? He's essentially saying "I know you like this thing, but I'm going to tear it down, and I'll be sure to give you a new one that looks a lot like it.", as if the physical appearance is all that matters to people.

And then if you look at all the things that happened in the stadium over the years, even just in the last 10 years, you can't help but feel like there was a bit of crazy magic in that place. Whether it was Cone's perfect game on Yogi Berra day, Game's 4 and 5 of the '01 World Series, Game 7 of the '03 ALCS, or anything else. How crazy is it that the first time in history that the pope ever came to the US, he gives mass at Yankee Stadium, of all places?

Anyway, I understand baseball's a business, and I can't blame them for wanting to build a new stadium, I just wish that there was more consideration given to the old place, which had become such a huge part of history. Ideally I think they should've gutted out the old stadium, and built a new one around the existing field. I'm sure they could've found a place to play their home games again for a season or two.

The problem is they wanted to cram so much unnecessary stuff into the new place (all the restaurants) that the shape of the stadium became bloated, and couldn't have fit in the footprint of the old one.

If Levine really wanted us to see what Babe Ruth saw, he'd have rebuilt the old stadium on the same site of the old one. Start with that idea, and plan around it. Instead it seems like they figured out how they could make the most money, and they figured they'd keep the field dimensions and throw the old-ish looking shell around the whole thing, to pass it off to people as just like the original stadium.

Finally, MP just doesn't seem the same. To me, in the old stadium, you'd get chills thinking "wow, all these guys have played here", whereas now you see them and think "oh, all these guys were Yankees".

Overall I don't have anything against the new stadium, other than the prices of some seats. I'm sure once the old stadium is torn down and you realize there really is no going back, it will be easier to move on and get fully behind the new place, but it still seems like it will be years before the new place really feels like home.

[yankies4life]

I was watching this DVD/documentary last night, and by the end I felt a little mad and a little sad that the old stadium is actually being torn down. There's a part with Randy Levine talking about the new stadium, and how the new stadium would be an exact replica of the old one, but with modern amenities surrounding it. Ok, that part ended up being semi-true (we all know the wall dimensions are not exactly the same). But then he mentioned how the outside would be exactly like the old stadium, so that when you walk up to the stadium, you see exactly what Babe Ruth saw.

Um, nope.

Sure, it definitely looks a lot more like the old stadium than what RYS looked like, but to say it looks exactly the same is a bit of a stretch.

But aside from that, if Levine is selling the new stadium as being just like the old stadium, doesn't he understand how important the old stadium is to a lot of people? He's essentially saying "I know you like this thing, but I'm going to tear it down, and I'll be sure to give you a new one that looks a lot like it.", as if the physical appearance is all that matters to people.

And then if you look at all the things that happened in the stadium over the years, even just in the last 10 years, you can't help but feel like there was a bit of crazy magic in that place. Whether it was Cone's perfect game on Yogi Berra day, Game's 4 and 5 of the '01 World Series, Game 7 of the '03 ALCS, or anything else. How crazy is it that the first time in history that the pope ever came to the US, he gives mass at Yankee Stadium, of all places?

Anyway, I understand baseball's a business, and I can't blame them for wanting to build a new stadium, I just wish that there was more consideration given to the old place, which had become such a huge part of history. Ideally I think they should've gutted out the old stadium, and built a new one around the existing field. I'm sure they could've found a place to play their home games again for a season or two.

The problem is they wanted to cram so much unnecessary stuff into the new place (all the restaurants) that the shape of the stadium became bloated, and couldn't have fit in the footprint of the old one.

If Levine really wanted us to see what Babe Ruth saw, he'd have rebuilt the old stadium on the same site of the old one. Start with that idea, and plan around it. Instead it seems like they figured out how they could make the most money, and they figured they'd keep the field dimensions and throw the old-ish looking shell around the whole thing, to pass it off to people as just like the original stadium.

Finally, MP just doesn't seem the same. To me, in the old stadium, you'd get chills thinking "wow, all these guys have played here", whereas now you see them and think "oh, all these guys were Yankees".

Overall I don't have anything against the new stadium, other than the prices of some seats. I'm sure once the old stadium is torn down and you realize there really is no going back, it will be easier to move on and get fully behind the new place, but it still seems like it will be years before the new place really feels like home.

i totally agree, but ive already moved on and i know some others have as well. the only way to fully convert all those who still havent and still see the old place and say, why cant we go back there? all the yankees have to do is win a world series at the new place as soon as possible. thats it. thats how you knows this place is home. when the winning continues here. sure you would like something special to happen here like a perfect game or a cycle, but the yankees have always been about winning and clinching the world series in this new building is sooooo important right now.

and yes, they couldve done another renovation of the old place but where were we gonna play? citi field? the new home of the mets? i recall hearing that steinbrenner hated playing in shea during the first renovation, how in the world would the organization feel during a second in this new age. im just curious if there ever was a thought to renovate the old place and what they wouldve done. i would love to see those blueprints if there are any.

[toefer]

i totally agree, but ive already moved on and i know some others have as well. the only way to fully convert all those who still havent and still see the old place and say, why cant we go back there? all the yankees have to do is win a world series at the new place as soon as possible. thats it. thats how you knows this place is home. when the winning continues here. sure you would like something special to happen here like a perfect game or a cycle, but the yankees have always been about winning and clinching the world series in this new building is sooooo important right now.

and yes, they couldve done another renovation of the old place but where were we gonna play? citi field? the new home of the mets? i recall hearing that steinbrenner hated playing in shea during the first renovation, how in the world would the organization feel during a second in this new age. im just curious if there ever was a thought to renovate the old place and what they wouldve done. i would love to see those blueprints if there are any.

True. Some magical wins would help too, to get the feeling that if the mystique and aura were real, that it carried over. This weekends games were good, but only Friday's really felt like a surprising win. If the game is tied after the top of the 9th, I always assume the Yankees will win, so Saturday and Sunday's games weren't as amazing to me. Plus it was the Twins. Not to say they're a bad team, but if the Yankees could do that to Boston later this season, it would be even better.

As for the logistics of renovating RYS... I'm not sure how it'd work. Obviously the only legitimate options seem like Citi and Shea, but if Shea had to be torn down right away, then Citi is the only option. I would've let the Mets play a season or two in their new stadium first, and enjoy it on their own, before starting renovations on YS, and bringing the Yankees in to share the place.

It's just a different time in sports, I guess. Of course the new stadium will have it's share of great moments, but now with free agency, there will be fewer and fewer people that seem like Yankee legends, and instead just feel like the Yankees rented talented players for a few seasons. And by switching stadiums, you lose a lot of that connection between the old guys and the future. Sometimes I fear Jeter, Mo and Po will be the last ones we have for a while. But who knows, Maybe A-Jax and Montero will be big things 10 years from now. Maybe people will stop saying Joba should be in the 'pen, and he develops into a star starter.

Anyhow, it's not really a big deal. It's just baseball, right?

[David Atkatz]

and yes, they couldve done another renovation of the old place but where were we gonna play? citi field? the new home of the mets? i recall hearing that steinbrenner hated playing in shea during the first renovation, how in the world would the organization feel during a second in this new age.

Oh. Steinbrenner hated playing at Shea.

And the organization would be sooo upset if they played a year or two at Citi.

OK.

Let's tear down Yankee Stadium.

[David Atkatz]

Its unfortunate but the old place lost a lot of the history when they renovated it. I mean, honestly, it wasnt the same place. I was not alive to ever see the original but just from photos and from what ive heard from people, it never looked the same. The only thing that was the same from the old park was the structure and thats it. It isnt the same place where Babe and Mickey hit tape measure shots. Or the same place were Roger Maris hit number 61 or where Joe D hit during his 56 game hit streak. It wasnt the same place were the original Iron man played his entire career and gave the most famous speech in sports history.

This is the part I really love.

Some one who never even saw the pre-renovation Stadium lectures us that it's no longer the same place.

Guess what?

It is the same place.

When Lou Gehrig bade us farewell, he was standing within those same walls.

(The walls that will be coming down this summer.)

When Ruth hit his 60th, he was standing within those same walls.

(The walls that will be coming down this summer.)

When Maris hit his 61st, he was standing within those same walls.

(The walls that will be coming down this summer.)

None of this--or anything else of note--occurred north of 161st Street

[IPO]

i totally agree, but ive already moved on and i know some others have as well. the only way to fully convert all those who still havent and still see the old place and say, why cant we go back there? all the yankees have to do is win a world series at the new place as soon as possible. thats it. thats how you knows this place is home.

This is not about winning, it's about a ballpark for the entitled that no winning on a field can ever change. It's an insult to New Yorkers who are forced to pay for it, an insult to Yankee fans with it's seats a mile from the field, the obstructed view steakhouse burying monument park, the stupid moat, the rip off of the neighborhood and the grate Paramus mall inside that is all about the entitled and nothing else with a phony frieze that looks cheap.

It's a corporate building made for corporate fans, the public knows it that's not changing nor will winning make more people pay those prices.

and yes, they couldve done another renovation of the old place but where were we gonna play? citi field? the new home of the mets? i recall hearing that steinbrenner hated playing in shea during the first renovation, how in the world would the organization feel during a second in this new age. im just curious if there ever was a thought to renovate the old place and what they wouldve done. i would love to see those blueprints if there are any.

Both teams could have played at Shea and neither ballpark was necessary, the Mets should have shared YS while Shea was renovated first because it's older.

The Convicted Felon wanted out of that ballpark in the eighties and the criminal would not even pay his rent and Fernando Ferrer never rolled over for King George III who never would have accepted another renovation.

Frankly NYC should have told him he gets nothing, by the mid-90's he lost whatever leverage he had with threats to move because NJ would not give him the time of day.

[Jim Vaz]

I NEVER ever thought I would feel for the Yankees fans, but I must say even me seeing the place go makes me sad.
I'm a Mets fan, I'm a Yankee hater, but Yankee Stadium is still the first place I ever saw a game in.
That 8 year old in 1985 will NEVER forget how green the grass was, how amazed I was by the subway that rolled by every few minutes. Nothing will ever replace that moment.

[GordonGecko]

Some one who never even saw the pre-renovation Stadium lectures us that it's no longer the same place.

Guess what?

It is the same place.

Repeating this doesn't make it true

[Gary Dunaier]

It is the same place.

When Lou Gehrig bade us farewell, he was standing within those same walls.

(The walls that will be coming down this summer.)

When Ruth hit his 60th, he was standing within those same walls.

(The walls that will be coming down this summer.)

When Maris hit his 61st, he was standing within those same walls.

(The walls that will be coming down this summer.)

None of this--or anything else of note--occurred north of 161st Street

And let's not forget the apartments on Gerard Avenue. The ones that overlooked the Stadium. Number one, those were the very same buildings the players saw and were aiming for when they were at the plate, from Ruth on down the line, and number two, if those windows could talk, oy! the tales they could tell.

[yankies4life]

This is the part I really love.

Some one who never even saw the pre-renovation Stadium lectures us that it's no longer the same place.

Guess what?

It is the same place.

When Lou Gehrig bade us farewell, he was standing within those same walls.

(The walls that will be coming down this summer.)

When Ruth hit his 60th, he was standing within those same walls.

(The walls that will be coming down this summer.)

When Maris hit his 61st, he was standing within those same walls.

(The walls that will be coming down this summer.)

None of this--or anything else of note--occurred north of 161st Street

It just reflects and goes back to what Yogi said, how he felt about the place. He said that this place, the way it was then in 2008, he never played there. Im sure thats the way that a lot of the players who played in the prerenovated building feel the same way. It doesnt look the same. The field isnt even the same. The seats are different. Monument park was moved. The stadium changed following the renovation and it lost a lot of the historical pieces of it. Cause when you stood at home plate where Babe stood in 2008, it wasnt the same place.

Dont get me wrong, Ill miss the old place. I had a lot of great memories there and usually im one of the people that find it hard to move on and accept new things, but I do feel the new place is better. Im one of the people who sits in the upper deck and having so much more room is such a relief. Plus, now bleacher fans can roam the entire stadium. And now you can even stand on field level concourse and watch the game there without getting harassed by security. There are more bathrooms and concessions. Sure the pricing is up, but that wouldve happened at the old place too. Maybe im in the small crowd that has adapted to the new place but its our new home. We cant move out. You have to accept it, thats really all you can do. There is no going back no matter was trost or levine says, it isnt the old the ballpark, I hate that thats how they were the selling the place. Its a modern version of the look of the original place.

[Bobby_Ayala]

RYS was the #1 revenue producing stadium in baseball. Fenway #2. There was not an economic need to replace it.

Exactly, Yankees had the highest revenue and the highest attendance at RYS. The Yankees built a new stadium because they could.

unpleasing back of the upper deck, with concrete, spidery-looking columns vertically dissecting it

the back of the upper deck at NYS is nothing to write home about. :twocents:

[David Atkatz]

Repeating this doesn't make it true

Denying it doesn't make it false.

[04golf]

It's just a different time in sports, I guess. Of course the new stadium will have it's share of great moments, but now with free agency, there will be fewer and fewer people that seem like Yankee legends, and instead just feel like the Yankees rented talented players for a few seasons. And by switching stadiums, you lose a lot of that connection between the old guys and the future. Sometimes I fear Jeter, Mo and Po will be the last ones we have for a while.

Jeter will be the last true Yankee IMO. Being a Yankee is different from being a good ball player for the Yankees. Even if some kid comes up and is a superstar doesnt make him a Yankee. Jeter carries himself well, almost like a Dimaggio. A-rod will never be a Yankee as long as he tries to be. One day Jeter will have a monument along with Yogi I would think. With free agency its all about buying talent. Texiera is an example, he will never be a Yankee, he can be a good ballplayer for the Yankees but will never be a Yankee. Im so happy I was able to watch Jeter from when he came up to present, no one carries them selves and is respected like Jeter. You cant buy respect you earn it. He also played most of his career in the real Yankee Stadium, no other Yankee will be able to say they played in the same stadium as the greats.

Yankees just buy players, they should start following bostons lead. Start getting some good talent from their farm teams not picking up players after every offseason because they had a great previous yr and then cant perform on the same level when in NY.

[NYFan1stYankFan2nd]

. A-rod will never be a Yankee as long as he tries to be.

Neither will that fat weasel from the Texas Rangers.

[DaBigMotor]

RYS was the #1 revenue producing stadium in baseball. Fenway #2. There was not an economic need to replace it.

The one place where many baseball fans depart from reality is when it comes to the inevitability of replacing stadiums. All the whining and always blaming the owners aside, these stadiums all eventually HAVE to be replaced. They were neither conceived nor designed to last F-O-R-E-V-E-R, no matter how structurally sound they are at present, nor how many memories we experienced in them.

A renovation to a building as massive as the one YS experienced in the 70s is akin to a nose job. It isn't as simple as just doing it again every time the last one gets old.

Even if YS could endure another major renovation like back then, it still wouldn't be on par with building a structure conceived in and for the 21st Century. That would be like adding a CD player, leather seats, AC and moon roof to a Model T, then saying that it's a brand new Lincoln!

The arrogance of many Yankees fans is confusing...if you have the best team, the best uniforms and the best players in the world, how do memories alone make a stadium built by folks who watched the sun set on the 19th Century the best in the world in the 21st Century? Hell, we ALL had memories in our old stadiums.