The NEW Yankee Stadium

I made my first visit to The New Yankee Stadium today.  I was invited on a small tour, but I will leave out the details of who got me in, just in case we weren't supposed to be there.  I have a feeling  I will be writing a lot about The New Stadium in the coming weeks.  I have some ideas that I am kicking around, but for today, I will stick to the facts and leave my thoughts for future posts.

I arrived a bit early and wandered around River Avenue for a few minutes.  There were many people working on the exterior, and I would find later, hundreds of people working inside.  They are in the home stretch with the first event April 2nd.  One worker was hanging banners of current players along the exterior of the building, the images of which were amazingly clear.

Once we went inside, the first stop was the weight room.  Needless to say, they spared no expense.  I was surprised to see a Muhammad Ali quote as the dominant image above the mirrors.  It was a quote I have never seen before, but obviously very appropriate.  "The first is won or lost far away from the witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights."  Next stop was the trainer's room.  I had heard stories of a scale that has been around for decades.  It was used to weigh all of the greats, and all of the not-so-greats throughout the years and it was there.  

We walked through the room with the whirl pools, peaked our heads in the steam rooms, stopped in the men's room, and then walked through the doors to the Yankee Clubhouse.  Immediately, someone pointed out Derek Jeter's locker.  Can you blame me for sitting down to take a picture?  It was one of the larger lockers and right near the door.  The room is a large oval shaped room each locker has a spot for a small flat screen monitor (not yet installed).  None of the equipment or name tags were in place, but this is an impressive room.

On the outside of the curved wall, across from the manager's office, in black, is a large Yankee logo, the interlocking NY, with the famous Joe DiMaggio quote underneath, "I'd like to thank the good Lord for making me a Yankee."  Us too.

From there, it was through a tunnel and then in to the Ketel One Lounge, which is for Legends Suite ticketholders.  The high rollers.  The quality and sharpness of the images amazed me.  We came in the back door, but at the main entrance is an amazing picture of Lou Gehrig.  Once I walked past Gehrig and up a small ramp, I was in the seats along the firstbase line.  It's really amazingly impressive.  The frazee hangs along the top, all around the park.  All of the seats are new, dark blue.  The monuments in Monument Park were still covered, so we didn't go out to centerfield.  They were working on the infield as well...everyone getting ready.

We then went up to the suite level.  We entered Suite #44, which is the Steinbrenners' suite.  They had recently ripped up the original carpet because they didn't like it and will replace it this week.  The suite is probably three times the size of a normal suite and is in the same position as it was in The Stadium, just above the visitor's dugout.  

From there, we were off to the press box and in to the TV booth.  Again, none of the equipment was in place, but the view was from directly behind home plate.  See for yourself.

Our tour was coming to an end, but not before we made our way to The Great Hall.  This is the main corridor for The New 

Stadium and the hanging banners had color photos of recent greats on one side and black and white photos of Yankee legends on the other.

They spared no expense in making this the premier sports venue in the country.  Again, I will provide some more in-depth thoughts in a later post, but with larger 

concourses, better site lines, more bathrooms, more concessions, more restaurants, more of everything...no one will leave unimpressed or unhappy.  Hopefully, they did as good of a job putting together this year's team as they did putting together the stadium.

If you want to see the rest of the photos, shoot me an email and I will send a link.  

"It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive"  BS

JN