New Yankee Stadium Review

This weekend I had the privilege to see the Phillies play the Yankees at New Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.  The first 8.5 innings of the game were amazing, but we're not going to talk about the MOTHER FUCKING BOTTOM OF THE NINTH, GOT IT?!?!  But this post is a review of the stadium, not a write-up about the game.

Before we get to that, I have to comment on the train ride to New York.  First off, I didn't enjoy the ride all that much.  I attended an open bar from 9-12 the night before, and I don't really remember much from 12:30-2:30 AM.  So needless to say, I wasn't feeling all that hot on the train.  Couple that with the fact that the A/C wasn't working on the train, and you have a long hour and a half ride.  Of course, we ran into a couple of middle-aged women who were also heading up to the game (actually, like half the people on the train were Phillies fans going to the game) and we were chatting them up for a while.  Like all Phillies fans, they were extremely classy and were not so discreetly pouring mini bottles of vodka into their water bottles.  Good times!!!  After showing them the way on the subway, they told us to call them if we go to any Sunday games.  Probably won't, but apparently the one lady's daughter is an 18 year old cheerleader who is going to attend Pitt in the fall.  So who knows, maybe I'll save that number for a while.

Anyway, we got a nice bonus on the subway to the Bronx, as this group of 4 guys hopped on the train, started pumping a boombox, and doing ridiculous flips and dance moves on the train.  After their act, I wondered out loud, "Can I pay these guys?"  I received a quick answer when the youngest of the kids walked around with a hat looking for change.  Nothing in life is free.

When we got off the train, we walked out and observed the gargantuan structure staring us in the face, New Yankee Stadium.  As Old Yankee Stadium is still sitting across the street, the size comparison was stark; it's not even close.  New Yankee dwarfs its older brother.  It's a giant concrete structure that looks kind of like a coliseum from the outside.  There's not much decoration on the outside, besides some giant pictures of current Yankee stars.  Once we got inside, it seemed to be much more of the same.  Very big, and very concrete.  If you've been to Old Yankee Stadium, the concourses in the new one are 4-5x the size.  Even if 55,000 people (capacity) showed up to a game, which never happens because the seats are too damn expensive, there would be plenty of room for everyone.

After walking around the concourse for a while, we went to see Monument Park, which is basically the Yankee Hall of Fame for those of you who have been living under a rock for the last 75 years.  This is where the flaws of the stadium began to show (and there are many).  To get into Monument Park, you have to walk through an extremely narrow staircase that for some ungodly reason is unlit.  The hallway is way too narrow for the amount of people trying to cram into Monument Park, and once you finally get into the exhibit it's not much better.  I hadn't been to Monument Park at Old Yankee Stadium, but apparently there was about twice as much room at the old stadium to walk around.  However, the exhibits in Monument Park were astounding, you're literally on top of the field and the home bullpen, and it's pretty amazing to be a witness true baseball history.  Of course, the best part of Monument Park was the member of the staff who welcome the "fans" to the park.  His job was to literally stand on a porch, and scream "Welcome to Monument Park, fam!  No lines here, fam!  Move along now, fam, no lines here!"  Of course, he was actually saying, "fans," but it sounded like "fam," and it was hilarious either way.  Unless your name is Kanad, you probably find the last few sentences completely useless.  I don't really care.  I type what I want, I'm the President.

After Monument Park, we walked up to the Yankee Museum.  The museum was really sweet because it contained all kinds of rare artifacts in the vein of the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.  The best exhibit though, and probably one of the coolest things I've ever seen is the collection of autographed baseballs contained in the exhibit.  The first ball is signed by Don Larsen, and a statue of him throwing a pitch sits right next to the exhibit.  The last ball is signed by Yogi Berra, and a statue of him catching Larsen's pitch sits next to the end of the exhibit.  In between, you'll find approximately 600 balls autographed by former Yankee legends including Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Joe DiMaggio, and not so Yankee legends including Bobby Munoz and Sal Fasano.  I spoke to the curator of the museum, and he told me the goal is to collect an autographed baseball from every Yankee ever to play for the team.  While I doubt they'll ever accomplish this feat, the fact that they already have as many as they do now, and counting, is pretty amazing.  

After the museum, we decided to finally head to our seats to check them out.  We lasted about 0.7 seconds there since I purchased horribly obstructed view seats that left us no view of right field.  Instead, we decided to watch the game from Standing Room Only, which there is plenty of around the stadium.  I looked around, I saw about 20-30% Phillies fans, which was extremely impressive.  Phillies Nation showed up, and they showed up in force, definitely one of the benefits of winning a World Series the year prior.

Since this is way too long already, I'll post most of the rest of this post in bullet format:

• Everything in the stadium is sponsored by something, the subway race, the sound made after a strikeout, the sound made when someone stole a base, and I think the toiletpaper was sponsored by Waste Management.  I'm joking about the TP, but ask anyone who has been to New Yankee, and they'll all agree it's not that far away.  
• The food choices are second to none at New Yankee.  The variety there was amazing.
• Contrary to popular opinion, you can afford to drink at New Yankee.  A beer costs....$6!  Cheaper than Philly, cheaper than Citi Field.  Amazing deal for a ballpark.  It is $10 for the souvenir cup though, if you wish to purchase.
• I don't know how much parking costs.  I don't wanna know how much parking costs.
• Half the seats in the expensive sections were empty.  The other half were taken by Phillies fans or the sailors who got free seats for Fleet Week.  Terrible pricing strategy.
• 4 Bleacher sections were completely or partially obstructed view seats.  Please for the love of god, knock down the damn Mohegan Sun.
• There's a Hard Rock Cafe in the stadium.  In poor taste if you ask me.
• The stadium plays like a complete joke.  Every fly ball flies into the stands.  On Sunday, Teixeira hit a broken bat home run.  Whoever designed that should be ashamed, seriously.  There were 12 home runs hit in the 3 games vs. the Phillies, and 2 Cy Young candidate pitchers threw on Sunday.

Overall, the stadium is gorgeous if you're looking at it from a strictly aesthetic perspective.  It did cost $1.6B, so I would hope it looks great.  However, it doesn't seem like a ballpark to me.  It's way too focused on the luxury corporate experience, and not on watching the ball game.  There's way too much concrete, not enough brick, and nothing distinguishable except for the white facade around the stadium.  There's too much corporate sponsorship, and I pray to god this is only a New York trend, and not something we're going to be seeing at all stadiums around the country.  Sadly, I know which way it's going to head.

After the game was over, I expected to be bothered by Yankee fans on the subway and walking out of stadium.  However, every New Yorker in the god damn city must have watched the game, and I had to hear shit from every person in the city for 3 hours.  I refused to take off even one article of my Phillies clothing, as I wear it as a sign of pride, not a badge of shame no matter what happened in the 9th inning of the game.  Yankee fans, we took the series 2-1.  We are the current World Series Champions.  We invaded your stadium and made it sound like Citizens Bank Park for most of the weekend.  Take your 26 World Series Championships, your $1.6B stadium, and shove it up your ass.  We'll see you in October.

- Kaps

Song of the Day:  Rise Against - Swing Life Away

Saturday Night Throwback Movie: The Sandlot

Summer is beginning to heat up, baseball season is already in full gear, and maybe you're thinking about watching a movie tonight.  What should you choose?  The Sandlot.  O yeah, it's been over 15 years since this masterpiece hit theaters, but it's still a classic that maintains watchability to this day.

Let's start with your protagonist, Scottie Smalls.  New kid in town, Dad recently passed away, can't play baseball worth a lick.  When he first shows up to "The Sandlot" he is ridiculed by all the members of the team except for one kid...

Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez - Tremendous baseball player.  Obsessed with the game, almost to a fault.  All he wants to do is play baseball.  He's also the consummate leader.  He's fair to everyone on the team, and sticks up for the underdog, even when it's not the most popular decision.  He also somehow is able to pickle "The Beast"

Timmy and Tommy Timmins - The brother duo who repeat everything each other say.

Kenny "The Heater" Denunez - Team's pitcher, second best player on the team.  Doesn't really add much to the movie.

Bertram Weeks - Gives everyone chew at the amusement park.  Leads to the disgusting but oh so hilarious vomiting scene on the spinning ride.

Alan "Yeah Yeah" McClennan - I think everyone knew someone like this kid when they were younger.  Kind of obnoxious and thought he was better than everyone else.  Didn't really make sense though since he had a nervous tick and always said "yeah yeah" at the end of every sentence.

Michael "Squints" Palledorous (pictured above) - One of my favorite characters in the movie.  He rocks the thick black-framed glasses, his clothes are out of style (even for the sixties), and he has a huge crush on the lifeguard at the local pool.  Best known for faking his drowning and making out with the lifeguard, Wendy Peffercorn, when she administers CPR to him.  Absolutely classic scene.  Of course, let's not forget about his brilliant telling of the story behind "The Beast."

Hamilton "Hambino" Porter - Without question, my favorite character in the movie.  He's the fat red-headed kid who plays the catcher in the movie.  He's a complete wise-ass and always has something to say to everyone.  He single-handedly vaulted the movie from great to classic with his line, "You're killing me, Smalls," which many people still repeat on a regular-basis to this day...yours truly included.

In all seriousness, this movie has a little bit of everything; action, romance (sort of), drama, and of course, lots of laughs.  You can watch it with your family, but it's still cool to watch even in your twenties.  I've covered the movie from a character perspective, but missed so many classic moments in between.  When it's all said and done, this movie is a fantastic nostalgic piece that will bring you back to your childhood, a simpler time, when the world didn't seem so crazy or messed up.  Go watch it tonight.

- Kaps

Song of the Day:  The Fray - Heartless (Kanye West cover)

Bernie "Jed" Solomon 1932-2009

It has been nearly a month since I last wrote, and I apologize for the long absence from the blog.  Things over the past 4 weeks have been pretty crazy to say the least.  To start, my grandfather, who many of you lovingly knew as "Jed," passed away 2 weeks ago.  For those of you who did not know Jed, he was absolutely crazy and hilarious.  You never knew what he was going to do or what was going to come out of his mouth, and he made for some really good times.  I'll miss him a bunch, but every time I think about him he always brings a smile to my face.  I'll share one of my favorite stories with you now.

During a break from college, I went over my grandfather's house to hang out with him for a while and shoot the shit.  We were talking for a while, and Jed was running through the usual list of questions:  Are you getting laid? (No)  Are you gay? (No)  What's wrong with your pecker? (No response)  After the questioning, Jed started flipping through the channels.  Then he looked at me, got a gleam and his eye, and said, "You'll like this, pay attention."  I knew something was going on in his crazy head, and of course, my suspicions were confirmed...when he turned on the Playboy Channel.  "I just ordered this from those schmucks at DirecTV.  It's free for three months."  We then watched the Playboy Channel for the next hour or two before I left.  Jed asked me all kinds of great questions like, "What do you think of her bazooms?" and "Do you think this shit is real?"  I have to say I feel pretty damn lucky to say I'm probably the only person on this planet to watch the Playboy Channel with his grandfather.  

Of course, my grandfather wasn't always about raunchiness and swearing.  He was deeply devoted to me and my brother, and always took the time to see how we were doing and ask about our day.  He was a great man, staunchly devoted to his convictions, and I imagine I get some of my bull-headedness and stubbornness from him.  He was quite a presence, and there's going to be quite a large void in our family due to his passing.

Jed, you were quite the character, you'll never be forgotten.  RIP.

- Kaps

Song of the Day:  Oasis - Shock of the Lightning

The Ultimate Catharsis: Thursday

The past couple of days have not been good ones.  Yesterday, I, along with the rest of the Philadelphia community, lost Harry.  Today, my grandfather wound up back in the hospital for the third time in 6 months, and in my opinion, he's never making it past a nursing home.  His illness is going to drag out for a long time, and it's not going to be pretty.  On top of that, I had one of those famous 12 hour days at my client site, and it was just an ugly, miserable day.  Needless to say, by the time I left work, I was pretty much ready to explode.

Luckily, I had a solution close-by in my CD player as soon as I got into my car.  I popped in Thursday's new album, Common Existence and just lost myself.  I turned the volume as high as it could go without making me deaf, and rocked the fuck out during the hour car ride back from Princeton.  Let me tell you, there is nothing better for a body cooped up in an office all day with tons of aggression, angst, and anger ready to explode from his body than listening to a Thursday album.  This time was extra special, as I had some serious steam to blow off.  I literally screamed for an hour the entire way home.  And you know what?  As soon as I turned down the radio and stepped out of the car, I felt 1000x better.

Like I said, when you're locked in a conference room for 12 hours straight, you simply want to bounce off the walls, especially when you've been inundated with bad news for 36 hours.  Thursday is a fantastic way to get some of that aggression off your chest.  Their music is cathartic, and makes any emotion you've possibly been feeling spill out with ease.  One caveat though, Thursday isn't for everyone.  There's lots of screaming, and it may come off as a little "emo."  But if you want to get something off your chest without calling a best friend to talk to, I couldn't recommend anyone better.  Trust me, Joe Dopirak will attest.

- Kaps

Song of the Day:  Thursday - You Were the Cancer 

Outta Here: A Great Man Has Left Us

Sorry for all the baseball posts, but this one is absolutely necessary.  Today was an extremely sad day, not only for the city of Philadelphia, but for the entire baseball world as well.  Harry Kalas, the Hall of Fame broadcaster of the Philadelphia Phillies passed away today at the age of 73.  Appropriately, Kalas passed away in the place he loved most, the ballpark, as he collapsed in the press box a few hours before game time.  The game had to go on though, and the Phillies managed to pull out a sloppy 9-8 victory over the lowly Nationals.

Anyone in Philadelphia under the age of 40 has no idea what it's like to watch/listen to a baseball game without Harry's voice.  He's been with us for what seems like forever (38+ years) and has called just about every Phillies game during that time.  I think we all took Harry for granted, and just assumed he would always be there, even though his health was clearly deteriorating over the past few years.

The thing that I keep hearing about Harry, and which makes me extremely proud to be a Phillies fan, is hearing what a great guy he was.  Harry never turned down an autograph, never turned down a conversation, and was generally good-natured towards everyone he came in contact with.  He was truly old-school and loved the game of baseball.  Of course, Harry was also a real man's man.  He could always be seen smoking a nice cigar or sipping on a glass of scotch.  I wish I would have had the opportunity to sit down with him, grab a beer, and discuss baseball for an hour.

For those of you from outside Philadelphia, specifically Pittsburgh, this is the equivalent of when Myron Cope left us last year.  Harry was that loved.  You would probably know Harry Kalas as the voice of NFL Films, and the Campbell's Chunky Soup commercials.  You also may know him from his famous "OUTTA HERE!!!" home run calls, which were imitated all over the country, but never duplicated quite like Harry could do it.  Watch any old NFL Films telecast, and you'll realize what a true treasure the city of Philadelphia was blessed with in the form of Harry Kalas.

Of course, my best memories of Harry came from the last few years, as the Phillies truly became one of the most dominant franchises in baseball.  We would always laugh as Harry would get really excited about a fly ball, anticipating the home run, and then watch the ball come up 50 feet short of the wall.  My favorite Harry Kalas call was from the 2006 season, when Ryan Howard grounded out to the pitcher, and Chase Utley made a huge heads-up play and scored all the way from second base.  After Utley crossed the plate, Harry excitedly proclaimed, "Chase Utley, you are the man!"  He also made other memorable calls, capping off his Hall of Fame career with the call of the Phillies World Series victory last October.  I watched the clinching game from a bar in Center City, and because Fox has exclusive rights to the game, Harry was only able to broadcast the radio.  After I came back from the hours of partying and celebrating, one of the first things I did was go onto YouTube to hear Harry call the final strike.  I listened to it over and over again, and was the perfect end to the perfect season.

Harry truly bowed at gracefully, and at the top of his craft.  The last playoff game he ever called was the Phillies' World Series clincher.  The last home game he ever called was last week, when the Phillies were presented with their World Series rings.  Guess who threw out the first pitch?  As if we would have it any other way.  It had to be Harry.  And the last call Harry ever made was on Sunday, as the Phillies pulled out a dramatic 7-5 victory over the Rockies.  Harry was there to make the final home run call, a Matt Stairs 2 run blast that sealed the deal.  Thinking about these calls makes me feel so empty, still unable to believe that I'll never hear him call another game.

I think Jayson Stark said it best when he mentioned that no moment in Philadelphia baseball was real until Harry Kalas called it.  How true that is.  Now, we'll have to move on without Harry.  The games will go on, but they'll never be the same again.  I'm sure for a while, it's not going to seem real.  I've never watched a game with anyone else behind the mike, and for nearly 23 years, Harry was in my living room 162 days out of the year for 3 hours a day.  He feels like a part of the family, and now it feels like a part of our family is gone.  There's a huge hole in the city of Philadelphia right now, and it's one that will never be filled.  Harry is gone, and there will never be another Harry.  Godspeed Harry Kalas, you will always be missed, and you will never be forgotten.

- Kaps

Song of the Day:  Frank Sinatra - High Hopes (Harry's favorite)

Phillies Live Blog

7:07 PM - Fuck, that was quick, 1 pitch, down 1-0.

7:27 PM - You've got to be kidding me.

7:49 PM - This has been the most boring 12 innings of my life.

8:02 PM - Can we get a hit with runners in scoring position, please?

8:05 PM - I knew Moyer was gonna get shelled, glad I took Chipper Jones in every fantasy game I could.

8:32 PM - Yawn.

8:46 PM - They better play better than this tomorrow.

8:57 PM - Looks like we're starting this season exactly like last season, 0-2.  I guess that's a plus.

9:12 PM - More futility with RISP.

9:30 PM - At least our bullpen looks good.  7 innings pitched, 7 perfect innings.

9:43 PM - FUCK!!!  This is really frustrating, now I know what it's like to be a Pirates fan.  Scratch that, I'll never know what it's like to be that bad.  

9:45 PM - It's official, 0-2.  Time to wake up boys.

9:50 PM - I should go to bed.

Am I Dreaming...?

...or did the Phillies just lose their first game at home since September 25, 2008?  A span of 10 in a row at home without a loss.

...or did the Pirates (no, they weren't relegated, this isn't European Soccer) win their Opening Day matchup against the Albert Pujols-led St. Louis Cardinals...and win the game when they started the 9th inning down 4-2?  A clutch win?

...or did CC Sabathia give up 6 earned runs in 4.1 innings pitched in his Yankee debut?  Didn't he gave up about that many runs total during 18 starts with the Brewers last season?  That $161M acquisition didn't look too good in Pinstripes today.

...or was an Opening Day game in Chicago postponed...due to snow?

I love baseball, and I really love Opening Day.  Welcome baseball season 2009, you've finally arrived.

Kaps

PS - I kissed the World Series Trophy tonight.  Hell yes.

Song of the Day:  The Fratellis - Chelsea Dagger