(Blogger’s Note: Michael Reiter is among several dozen folks on a summer trip to watch baseball. The group took in two of the Twins-Yankees games in New York a few days back. Here’s the first of two reports from the bus tour.)

Like most baseball fans, I am familiar with the history of The Yankees, and of Yankee Stadium, “The House That Ruth Built.” And like many, I was appalled that the team could leave it’s hallowed grounds to play in a new ballpark basically geared to removing customers’ money a little faster (and hand it to the Steinbrenners). However, after two days in The Stadium, I’m surprised to hear myself say - TEAR DOWN THIS DUMP.

The group I’m traveling with is “Ballpark Tours” formerly “Save The Met” It was formed to oppose The Twins effort to leave Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington (unofficial slogan: we wuz right). Having failed in that effort, they have annually been chartering buses and driving around the country to visit outdoor ballparks. (I wonder if we’ll have to keep doing it after the new Twins ballpark opens because we won’t be able to afford tickets.) This year’s trip is a 10-day excursion through the Midwest and to the East Coast.

Days 5 and 6 find us in NYC, after seeing games in Chicago (Sox), Cincinnati, Altoona, PA, and Baltimore. All excellent examples of the recent renaissance in ballparks. One would think that our group would be inclined to be sad about our final visit to Yankee Stadium. However, an informal survey of them taken after the game indicates that we are pretty much ready to move on to Yankee Stadium II.

The truth is, the remodeling that occurred in the ’70s more or less obliterated any sense of the original park anyway. All that remains is the field itself (which should be treated as sacred ground), and the cramped concourses and ramps. New Yorkers won’t be sentimental for long after the new stadium opens.

Post-911 America is obviously more evident in NYC more than anywhere else, from the subways, to the ballpark. So, before you’ve seen a pitch you’ve been subject to hassles most people don’t see outside of the airport. You cannot bring a bag into the stadium; there are places across the street that will charge you $5.00 to store it while you are at the game. Whatever they do allow you to carry in will be put into a clear plastic bag.

Like an obedient Minnesotan, I proceeded to the gate listed on my ticket: Gate 6. Except that upon entering, I find that my seats were directly across the field, probably closer to Gate 2, near where I got off the subway. No big deal, except that it takes 20 minutes to work your way through the hallways to get there. I have clearly been spoiled by our recent visits to Camden Yards in Baltimore, and The Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati.

Having finally worked my way over to my seat, and having procured a slice of pizza and a Coke, I realized that my original plan of seeing batting practice was out the window. Oh well, time to sit back and enjoy the game.

When attending a park that I don’t usually visit, I like to just observe all of the little pre-game activities around the park. Unlike at the dome, when I usually avoid getting there early on purpose.

There are different, yet similar routines at every park, and it is all part of the ritual. On a nice day, it is a real pleasure to sit and watch batting practice. Its interesting to see balls fly around the park, with little urgency displayed by the players or fans, other than the few people in the bleachers with gloves racing to catch whatever balls clear the fence. And when at this place, you can just look around and summon countless baseball memories with little effort. It doesn’t seem as if you are actually there. It’s easy to see why this place looks good on television.

The Yankees have a very good radio team (John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman). They work together well, and are quite well informed about the opposing team as well as the Yankees. In fact, they were quite complimentary about the Twins throughout the broadcast, despite the fact that Minnesota seems to forget how to play when visiting here. The pregame featured an interview with Gardenhire that was longer than you might expect. It was conducted by Waldman and Gardy was Gardy.

The legendary Bob Shepard is the voice of the Yankees in The Stadium, and is quite distinctive. His voice is calm and authoritative, in contrast to the noise and bustle of the city and the park. It is especially refreshing since the rest of the time they seem to feel the need to blast Rock and Hip Hop at inappropriate volume any chance they get. Of course, that trend is not confined to this place. At each stop on this tour (even Altoona, Pennsylvania) I’ve found that to be an irritant. Despite being a rock musician, I find it terribly annoying to be subjected to this at every ballgame. I can’t imagine what senior citizens feel. Save it for hockey, people!

At this night game it was apparent that with every pitch thrown to A-Rod or Jeter, hundreds of camera flashes would ignite, this despite the fact that a flash does nothing at those distances. It appeared that every swing was an historical moment. As far as I know, it was not.

It was apparent early on that Twins fans were present in surprising quantities at this series. Walking around the town, or at the park, they made their presence known. Early on, when Minnesota was in the game, they were unafraid to cheer loudly for the team. Later, there was little to cheer.

What is it about this place that takes the Twins out of their game? You’ve probably heard enough about the team’s lousy record here during the Gardenhire era. On Tuesday, they had a strong start by Slowey; they even lead 2-1 in the sixth. Someone named Darrell Rasner started for the Yanks. But, as soon as a crack appears, the team falls apart. And, of course, it did. The Yankees scored 3 in sixth, 2 off of an Abreau homer, and 4 in the seventh. Four runs were attributed to Slowey, the rest to a bullpen that looked overmatched.

By the time Kyle Farnsworth came in, I was on the subway platform trying to beat the crowd back downtown so I could hit Times Square. By the time the train pulled up, I could hear Sinatra singing “New York, New York,” and the fans chanting “Red Sox suck.” This, despite the fact that the Sox and their fans were not around.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 26th, 2008 at 8:12 am and is filed under Guest post. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.