Yankee Stadium [I] Demolition

[Kentucky Bomber]

I wonder why they didn't allow pictures in the clubhouse. When I took the tour last year, they said it was for the players' privacy, but I'd assume all of the players' stuff is out by now...

Which leaves us with the inescapable conclusion that the people who run the tour are a bunch of dicks.

[jnakamura]

Take a look at the pictures of Yankee Stadium in the 1920's: at least 1/3 of it, outfield from foul line to foul line, was made of wood. The plan, obviously, was to put in as much steel and concrete as possible to get the building open for 1923, and fill it in as time went on, which is what they did. It took more than 20 years to create the classic Stadium we knew.

The fact that some of it was made of wood, and that it wasn't the "full" stadium as it became had nothing to do with it.

Cleveland Stadium - complete - all steel, was built start to finish in one year as well.

Wrigley Field was built in two months.

Forbes Field was built in three months.

Comiskey Park was built in five months.

Ebbets Field, Shibe Park and Tiger Stadium took only one year to build as well.

Even RFK Stadium took only 15 months, and Atlanta Fulton County Stadium took only 12 months to complete from groundbreaking to first game.

[SteveJRogers]

I have never read one thing that Shea was supposed to open during the 1963season

Note the caption on the cover of the very first Mets program

[aramism]

well both YS and shea are owned by NYC so perhaps they instead of keeping both shea and YS they kept YS due to the fact that it could generate tour revenue and it is not literally side by side like shea/citi. so i could see the logic to keeping it open and operating in case either citi or NYS are not ready by opening day.

if NYS was not ready there would be no way they would play at citi field because of scheduling conflicts. it would be a PR and logicists nightmare due to schedule conflict as well as seating capacity. there would be like 10,000 people from NYS that would not have a seat at citi field since citi field is much smaller in capacity. so there would be no way the yankees would play at citi field but if something happened in NYS they would certainly play in OYS.


with the mets it would be the same thing, if something went wrong at citi field i'm sure they would just play at OYS.

[jnakamura]

Note the caption on the cover of the very first Mets program

Shea was started in October, 1961. To be completed for opening day, 1963 would have been about an 18 month project. The stadium opened just prior to Shea's groundbreaking, RFK, took about 15 months, so I think they were not being unrealistic to expect a 1963 completion.

[dabx]

well both YS and shea are owned by NYC so perhaps they instead of keeping both shea and YS they kept YS due to the fact that it could generate tour revenue and it is not literally side by side like shea/citi. so i could see the logic to keeping it open and operating in case either citi or NYS are not ready by opening day.

if NYS was not ready there would be no way they would play at citi field because of scheduling conflicts. it would be a PR and logicists nightmare due to schedule conflict as well as seating capacity. there would be like 10,000 people from NYS that would not have a seat at citi field since citi field is much smaller in capacity. so there would be no way the yankees would play at citi field but if something happened in NYS they would certainly play in OYS.


with the mets it would be the same thing, if something went wrong at citi field i'm sure they would just play at OYS.

They had to tear Shea down immediately since the demolition is so close to Citi Field - and they need the parking

[aramism]

They had to tear Shea down immediately since the demolition is so close to Citi Field - and they need the parking

yeah that's why i was saying citi and shea are side by side wheras NYS and OYS are across the street there is more of a buffer zone and they are more independent of each other. this with the fact that YS has the tour value is why i could see them electing to keep it up until opening day just in case.

[cgcoyne2]

I wonder why they didn't allow pictures in the clubhouse. When I took the tour last year, they said it was for the players' privacy, but I'd assume all of the players' stuff is out by now...

There were jerseys and baseball undershirts in the lockers and some shoe boxes lying around. That's it!!!

[NYFan1stYankFan2nd]

I took two tours on Thursday... noon and again at 3.00pm. I took lots of pictures, 274 of which I uploaded to Flickr and can be found right here.



Leaving the Press Box, there's a blackboard with the lineup of the final game, and a plaque honoring an intern who was killed by a drunk driver. I like to get photos from unusual angles like this because everyone and their brother try to get "normal" shots, so you've probably seen the blackboard before... this view gives you some scale, some perspective as to its actual location.


(Photo taken October 30, 2008. © Gary Dunaier. Link to upload on Flickr.com: here)


This view, between the visitors' bullpen and the left field bleachers, looks towards a gate that offers a view of 161st Street and the new stadium.


(Photo taken October 30, 2008. © Gary Dunaier. Link to upload on Flickr.com: here)


As was the case with the tour cgcoyne2 described in his earlier post, our group went underneath the stands on the left field side. (I also took the 3.00pm tour, and on that one we were allowed to enter the warning track from left field.) Walking along this tunnel, on your left as you head closer to home, you'll find a number of "motivational" or "inspirational" signs along the wall. Curiously, these signs have Securitas logos. These are the first two...


(Photo taken October 30, 2008. © Gary Dunaier. Link to upload on Flickr.com: here)


This was the shot I was most looking forward to getting - on the field, directly behind home plate. Unfortunately, the hostile "security" woman who was on our tour barked that we could only take one picture and then we had to move along... so much for being able to enjoy a special monent... under the circumstances I think I took a pretty good shot...


(Photo taken October 30, 2008. © Gary Dunaier. Link to upload on Flickr.com: here)


On-the-field view of left-center field. I tried to position myself so that I was aligned with River Avenue and the bleachers, but again, the fan-unfriendly "security" was not exactly conducive to photographers being able to position themselves as precisely as they might like.


(Photo taken October 30, 2008. © Gary Dunaier. Link to upload on Flickr.com: here)


The seats directly behind home plate. On the 3.00pm tour I had a little more time behind the plate than I did during the noon tour... but we're just talking about a few extra seconds, that's all...


(Photo taken October 30, 2008. © Gary Dunaier. Link to upload on Flickr.com: here)


The Legends Suite seats next to the Yankee dugout.


(Photo taken October 30, 2008. © Gary Dunaier. Link to upload on Flickr.com: here)


Finally, a view looking up the tunnel leading from the Yankees' dugout to the Yankee clubhouse. That open door at the end of the corridor is, in fact, the clubhouse; they don't allow pictures inside, so I was excited to be able to get this view.


(Photo taken October 30, 2008. © Gary Dunaier. Link to upload on Flickr.com: here)

"Security woman"? That says it all. I'm actually more afraid of women in positions of (legal)authority - cops, guards, etc, than of men in those same position. I'd bet she's a Palin fan!

[cgcoyne2]

"Security woman"? That says it all. I'm actually more afraid of women in positions of (legal)authority - cops, guards, etc, than of men in those same position. I'd bet she's a Palin fan!

Read my above post (#175) about the lady I asked if I could get some dirt.

[yankies4life]

since this is the place to post pics from the stadium tour, ill join in. these are from last monday. enjoy em!

[soup]

its kinda weird how nice it's still being kept. The field looks like they've even replaced some sod since the last game

[baseballman1243]

They let u go into the bullpen? Because I don't remember tours getting u that close to that bench in the bullpen.

[yankies4life]

They let u go into the bullpen? Because I don't remember tours getting u that close to that bench in the bullpen.

nope, they didnt let us go in, but the door was open and i didnt go in, just put my camera as far in as i could and snapped

[locke40]

They let u go into the bullpen? Because I don't remember tours getting u that close to that bench in the bullpen.

No, there's a big hole where you can lean into the bullpen.