Home Opener

The stadium opens 3 hours before game time this year compared to 2 hours early in previous years. This gives you time to walk around and see the stadium. Now you're there before batting practice starts.

My seats in the stadium are in left field instead of right field where I sat the previous years in the old stadium. The view is very good from left, but I preferred right field. It is great to have front row seats in the second deck because I get a good perspective of the field and no blind spots.
For the opening ceremonies many former Yankees were there including Yogi Berra, Joe Pepitone, Ron Guidry, Mel Stottlemyre, and more. John Fogerty and Bernie Williams each performed before the game. Kelly Clarkson sung the National Anthem and at the conclusion 3 military jets flew over the stadium. It was great to see the jets from my seats because in the old stadium I was in the second deck and couldn't see the sky because of the upperdeck overhang.

That also poses a problem with my new seats. They are in the open and we are no longer protected from rain and sun. The weather forecast was mid-50s for opening day, but in my seats it felt like 70s since we had sun on us the whole afternoon. By the end of the day I had a nice sun burn. I'll certainly remember sunscreen for now on for any day games. I'll also be prepared to bring ponchos for rainy days.

There are a lot of choices for food at the new stadium. So far I have tried the garlic fries, the cheesesteak, and Johnny Rockets. Prices are a little higher than old Yankee Stadium but that doesn't stop the crowds. There were lines at every food stand. A larger garlic fries was 9 dollars and the cheesesteak was about 10 dollars.

It would have been a great day if the Yankees had won.
Johnny Damon enjoys interacting with the fans. He often throws balls into the stands. He's always been a fan favorite and still is. This is the last year of his contract and it would be ashame if he doesn't stay.

I'll write a bit about the new stadium in future postings.

Workout Day

Workout day was my first day working at Yankee Stadium. It was the real opening day for the ballpark. We met up with our supervisors outside of the stadium and they brought us inside when it was time to start work. We all received Nike polo shirts with interlocking NY and Columbia windbreakers also with the NY. Unfortunately on the back of the windbreakers it says How may I help you? Obviously this windbreaker will not be worn outside of work. By using this phrase on the back of the windbreakers the Yankees are trying to be more fan friendly. Initial feedback from all of the fans about the Yankee Stadium employees has been positive.

When the doors opened the fans quickly began to explore the stadium. Almost everyone was raving about how nice the new stadium was. The food lines filled up fast. Everyone seemed excited to try out all of the new foods at the stadium.

The only thing people seemed to have a problem with in the new stadium was Monument Park. They felt it was too closed off and not in the open like it was in the old stadium. It is kind of hidden under the restaurant above it. This didn't affect the lines for Monument Park. People were standing in line for duration of the entire workout.

My job was roaming the field level of the stadium answering any questions fans had about the new stadium. Some typical questions were the location of the ramps to the upper deck and the entrance to Monument Park. Fans also were looking for the Hard Rock Cafe.

Overall the workout day seemed to be a success with the fans.

New Yankee Stadium

I will be working for the Yankees this season as an ambassador and will be responsible to greet and assist fans. My responsibilities will be to help everyone locate everything they desire from a restaurant to monument park or even a food stand. I had the opportunity to visit the stadium the other day. The following are some pictures that I took:

A-Rod and Steroids

A good amount of Yankee fans seem to forgive A-Rod for his involvement with steroids. Why is it only A-Rod's name that was exposed out of the 104 positive tests? Obviously he was being targeted. Are you telling me there weren't any Red Sox in that 104?

I'm not condoning A-Rod's use of steroids, but I am saying he was 1 of 104 and his to be the only name plastered all of the newspapers is unjust. All of those names should be released by Major League Baseball and the Union. Everyone who cheated should be exposed. Not only would it point out who cheated, but it was clear the names of the players who were clean during this time period.

Remember how everyone said Jeter was the 3rd best shortstop behind Garciaparra and A-Rod? Jeter couldn't hit homers like they did and his offensive statistics were not as gaudy. Defensively people claimed Jeter's range wasn't as good. Today, he's the only one left standing out of the 3. There are probably other players like Jeter who didn't use steroids and the only way they'll receive credit for playing by the rules is to release the names of the 103.

Spring Training

I went to Tampa for spring training. Guess who was on my flight from Newark? The Yankee radio broadcasters, John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman, sitting in first class. Nobody recognized them except after I mentioned it. I was looking forward to catching them at baggage claim to say hello, but luck would have it I was one of the last off the plane and the monorail I was on from the gate to baggage got stuck for about 5-10 minutes. By the time I got down to baggage claim the bags were out and they were gone. For those of you not familiar with the Tampa airport, the bags get loaded quickly from the airplane and often beat you to baggage claim. Not like Newark.

I attended two games while I was in Tampa. The home opener against the Rays and the second home game against the Twins. During the game against the Rays half of the stadium was filled with Rays fans. Bernie Williams threw out the first pitch and all of the guest instructors were introduced before the game started. When A-Rod came up to hit he got booed by the Rays fans, but received an ovation from the Yankee fans. Mark Teixeira seemed to have already won over a bunch of Yankee fans, he would constantly be cheered through out the games.

Some highlights from the games were great defense by Teixeira on a few plays, it was good to see Posada hit a homer after coming back from his injury, and it was great to see fan favorite Shelley Duncan crush a 3-run homer way over the left field fence.

My highlight of the trip was arriving early to the Twins game to watch batting practice. The treat wasn't batting practice, but the superstar who stayed after practice to sign autographs. Reggie Jackson was on hand as an instructor and he graciously stayed for about a half hour to sign for a mob of fans. I managed to make my way through the mob, being crushed in the process, to receive his autograph.Other fans have said he has done this before and is very good with the fans. I remember last year during the last few games at Yankee Stadium he would sit in different parts of the ballpark and sign autographs for fans.

Obama's victory started in the right field bleachers

In mid-September Barack Obama stepped up his campaign by taking it to the right field bleachers at Yankee Stadium. The Bleacher Creatures are the heart and soul of America. Getting their endorsement was the deciding factor in the Presidential race.

Obama's presence was unannounced. First, there was a commotion originating from the bleachers. As the rest of the fans in the stadium strained their necks to see the source of activity, it was obvious there was a guy in a suit that was the center of attention. He was taking pictures and shaking hands with everyone. I am sure some intense political discussions were being carried out.

It became obvious to the whole stadium that Obama was there when they put him on the Jumbo-tron. After seeing this, the whole stadium erupted in cheers. You could even see the flag pin on his suit lapel. Unfortunately, the secret was out so Obama left within an inning or two because of security concerns.

McCain should have known better. When he visited Yankee Stadium he sat with Giuliani in the box by the dugout. He failed to understand the real power brokers in New York are the Bleacher Creatures.

Did you ever see a full game from the 1950s?

The MLB Network made its debut by showing Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers. It was the first time the game was aired since it happened. This was a great way for MLB Network to open.

I've only seen clips of the old-time players. It was a treat to see them play for a whole game. You get to see players for 3 or 4 at bats rather than one swing for a homerun or a hit. It is a big difference to watch a game for 9 innings because you get to see every aspect of the game, every throw, every routine out.

I finally was able to see these legends play a whole game including Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Don Larsen, Billy Martin, Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, and others.

All of the original commercials were shown throughout the game. Most of the commercials included players involved in the game. The majority of the commercials had to do with shaving. There also were not as many commercials as there are today. Without a lot of commercials the game moved faster and seemed to be well under 2 hours.

Watching this game also gave me the idea of what it was like to watch games back then. The camera shot was coming from behind homeplate rather than from center field. They would rarely have a shot of the dugout and almost never had a close up of a player. The quality of the picture and the black and white broadcast were a contrast to today's telecasts.

Seeing this game gave me the chance to hear "The Voice of the Yankees," Mel Allen, and a young Vin Scully. The way they broadcasted is different from the style used today. Mel Allen did the first half of the game alone and Vin Scully did the second half of the game on his own. The broadcaster concentrated mostly on play by play with very little to no color commentating.

Hopefully the MLB Network continues to air classic games from the past. It would be nice to see games from when Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle were going for 61 homers. Uninterrupted World Series games from beginning to end would also be great to see. Regular season games would be great to telecast to see players like Ernie Banks who never made it to the World Series. It was great to see how the game and television have changed over the years.