First off, the phrase "Section 203" has so little panache compared to "Section 39" that the new Stadium may as well be on the moon. But it's still the Yankees and when you're watching the game you forget you're in a new place. So after 2 exhibitions here are my thoughts (with help from Joe, Nanny and Pat) on the new Yankee Stadium.
What Michael will like:
Additional leg room in bleachers
Manual scoreboards
View into the bullpen
Derek Jeter
What Michael will hate:
The railing in front of seats 1 & 2
Location of our seats (height, setback, etc.)
Direction our seats face (3rd base instead of home plate)
Ring of video boards around the upper deck
Excessively loud speakers directly behind our seats
A-Rod
Still up for debate:
Plants between the bleachers and box seats
Mega-Jumbotron
New Monument Park
A.J. Burnett
Winners:
The physically impaired (LOTS of wheelchair seating and closed-captioning)
Standing room only patrons (great views from every concourse)
Yankee ownership balance sheet
Brett Gardner
Losers:
Fans with banners in the first row of the upper deck (due to video boards)
Autograph seekers (due to fencing off of uber-luxury seats)
South Bronx children (due to reduced park space)
Shelley “Unknown” Duncan
Nice Additions:
The Great Hall
Yankee Museum
Pavilion above Bleacher Cafe
Wall of MVPs (which change from silhouette to b&w images)
Sabathia and Teixeira
Regretful Omissions:
Bat on top of flag pole
Flags of AL teams in division standings (hopefully added when season starts)
Bernie Williams
Poor Engineering Award (tie):
Massive pillars on either side of the bleachers (causing bottleneck in/out)
Fencing on the side of upper deck and mezzanine (where blowing trash gets stuck inside)
Monday, April 6, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Bob Shepherd Retires
God, the new stadium sucks more and more every day. His replacement will not be that sound-alike backup Jim Hall, though the NYTimes doesn't cite a source for this. Maybe I still have a shot at it.
UPDATE: Or not. Shepherd got very annoyed. He's not retiring, says the 98 year old. But he won't be doing Opening Day and he doesnt know when he'll be well enough to do a game again. If he's not well enough to do Opening Day, he's not well enough to do any days. There's no reason to expect he'll improve because he's not facing any particular illness but the ravages of age. So he's not retiring; he just isn't doing any games and can't say if or when he will do any ever again. By the way, the initial article said he drove his car to pick his son up at the train station. That is crazy. NO ONE who is 98 years old should be driving a car.
UPDATE: Or not. Shepherd got very annoyed. He's not retiring, says the 98 year old. But he won't be doing Opening Day and he doesnt know when he'll be well enough to do a game again. If he's not well enough to do Opening Day, he's not well enough to do any days. There's no reason to expect he'll improve because he's not facing any particular illness but the ravages of age. So he's not retiring; he just isn't doing any games and can't say if or when he will do any ever again. By the way, the initial article said he drove his car to pick his son up at the train station. That is crazy. NO ONE who is 98 years old should be driving a car.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
The day the music died...
Why, Alex, why??? As if he didn't have enough problems...now he's going to be lumped in with Bonds, Clemens, McGwire, Canseco, Palmeiro, and the rest of this generation's cheaters. I never pegged A-Rod as the sort to do this and the tell-tale signs weren't there either. Very disappointing and probably is the last straw for anyone like myself that had steadfastly defended him to this point.
So what do you think? Will this keep him out of the HOF like it will for the names above?
So what do you think? Will this keep him out of the HOF like it will for the names above?
Monday, January 26, 2009
The New Season Approacheth
Wake up, my Lightningers!
Andy Pettitte is back! What a trouper! Taking less than $6 mil upfront and incentives to get him to $12 mil. Says Andy:
“The bottom line is, I’m a man, and I guess it does take a shot at your pride a little bit,” Pettitte said, referring to the pay cut. “But when you put all that aside, I wanted to play for the New York Yankees. I wanted to be there and I wanted to play in that new stadium.
“There’s no doubt in my mind if I went out as a free agent, I could have made an awful lot more money than what I’m signing for. In fact, I know I could have. It’s just a situation, if you want to play for one team, you’re going to have to make sacrifices for that. If it was going to be me taking a pay cut, it was going to be me taking a pay cut.”
First he cheats for one team (whoops, I mean just tries to speed up the healing process!) and now he takes a pay cut and isn't too embarrassed to talk about how humiliating it is despite the fact that we're in a recession/depression and literally millions of people are out of work and more adding to the list every day. At least he's keeping his Christian perspective.
Plus Joe Torre releases a tell-all. I don't buy the whole omerta, what happens in the locker room stays in the locker room malarkey. But I too find Torre's actions distasteful. He couldn't wait till everyone -- or most everyone -- covered was retired? Or at least until HE was retired and wouldn't potentially be playing against some of these guys or maybe keeping his team from signing them because of what he said or just making THEIR life hell? But who am I to tell him to turn down millions of dollars from a publisher who wants their dirt now? And no, I don't take pleasure in the very believable (to me) comment that players on the team refer to Alex as A-Fraud. It just depresses me and bums me out, even if it is further proof (coming from St. Joe no less) that A-Rod does not help build a good team.
Andy Pettitte is back! What a trouper! Taking less than $6 mil upfront and incentives to get him to $12 mil. Says Andy:
“The bottom line is, I’m a man, and I guess it does take a shot at your pride a little bit,” Pettitte said, referring to the pay cut. “But when you put all that aside, I wanted to play for the New York Yankees. I wanted to be there and I wanted to play in that new stadium.
“There’s no doubt in my mind if I went out as a free agent, I could have made an awful lot more money than what I’m signing for. In fact, I know I could have. It’s just a situation, if you want to play for one team, you’re going to have to make sacrifices for that. If it was going to be me taking a pay cut, it was going to be me taking a pay cut.”
First he cheats for one team (whoops, I mean just tries to speed up the healing process!) and now he takes a pay cut and isn't too embarrassed to talk about how humiliating it is despite the fact that we're in a recession/depression and literally millions of people are out of work and more adding to the list every day. At least he's keeping his Christian perspective.
Plus Joe Torre releases a tell-all. I don't buy the whole omerta, what happens in the locker room stays in the locker room malarkey. But I too find Torre's actions distasteful. He couldn't wait till everyone -- or most everyone -- covered was retired? Or at least until HE was retired and wouldn't potentially be playing against some of these guys or maybe keeping his team from signing them because of what he said or just making THEIR life hell? But who am I to tell him to turn down millions of dollars from a publisher who wants their dirt now? And no, I don't take pleasure in the very believable (to me) comment that players on the team refer to Alex as A-Fraud. It just depresses me and bums me out, even if it is further proof (coming from St. Joe no less) that A-Rod does not help build a good team.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Pitching, Pitching and More Pitching
From Joe:
C.C.
Wang
Joba
---------
Lowe??
Burnett??
Sheets??
Pettitte??
______
Hughes
Kennedy
Aceves
Can never have enough pitching...
From Pete:
Any chance we can package Hughes, Kennedy and Melky for Jake Peavy?
And I'd rank those 4 question marks in this order: Sheets, Lowe, Pettitte, Burnett.
From Joe:
I hope they trade Kennedy for Rick Ankiel just so we can have another
'roid user on the team. I figure eventually with enough 'roid users and
hired guns that Michael's head will explode.
Hughes, Melky, and a minor leaguer for Peavy -- sign me up for that.
From Michael:
x x x
x x
x x x
x x x
x x
x x x
xxx xx x
x x
x x xx
x X
\ \
I /
I /
X X
X X
X -- -- X
X X
X - X
X --- X
X X
X X
XXXXXX
Damn, I carefully drew a picture of me with my head exploding and blogger squished it all together.
C.C.
Wang
Joba
---------
Lowe??
Burnett??
Sheets??
Pettitte??
______
Hughes
Kennedy
Aceves
Can never have enough pitching...
From Pete:
Any chance we can package Hughes, Kennedy and Melky for Jake Peavy?
And I'd rank those 4 question marks in this order: Sheets, Lowe, Pettitte, Burnett.
From Joe:
I hope they trade Kennedy for Rick Ankiel just so we can have another
'roid user on the team. I figure eventually with enough 'roid users and
hired guns that Michael's head will explode.
Hughes, Melky, and a minor leaguer for Peavy -- sign me up for that.
From Michael:
x x x
x x
x x x
x x x
x x
x x x
xxx xx x
x x
x x xx
x X
\ \
I /
I /
X X
X X
X -- -- X
X X
X - X
X --- X
X X
X X
XXXXXX
Damn, I carefully drew a picture of me with my head exploding and blogger squished it all together.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Mike Mussina Retires: It's Official
See ya, Moose. I wish he'd come back and we'll definitely miss him. But there's a lot to be said for a graceful exit when you're still on top. A smart man to the end and an honest competitor in an era of cheats.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
My (Latest) Angry Letter To The Yankees
Dear New York Yankees,
I’ve been going to Yankee Stadium since I moved to New York in 1991 and I’ve owned season tickets in the bleachers since the moment they became available. My seat location in the old Stadium was Section 39, row FF, seats 3-4. Because the stairway “cut into” the row, there were no seats 1 or 2 down low. I was seated on the aisle. Also, the rows began with row CC because rows AA and BB were removed so that people in wheelchairs would have somewhere to be positioned.
In the new Stadium, instead of being in the 4th row and on the aisle, I’m in the sixth row and three seats in. I went to great lengths to make clear I just wanted to stay in my same location but was frightened out of ticking off the “stay on the aisle” box because of course you made it very clear that might well mean being pushed ten or twenty rows back and then if I didn’t take THOSE seats I would be put into the back of the line. I also feel terrible for the people who’ve sat in the front row for years if not decades and suddenly find themselves placed in the third row.
Here’s what I don’t understand. The first two rows and the two seats on the aisle (seats 1 and 2 in row 6) DIDN’T EXIST in the old Stadium. I’m linked to a group of people seated in section 203 from rows 3-9. All we want is to be moved over so our seats begin on the aisle where we’ve been for years instead of three seats in. Why should strangers who have never had those seats get priority over us?
I tried to call up and see about buying TWO MORE SEATS if necessary to get those aisle seats and was basically given the bum rush. How dare I ask any questions? They can’t look anything up (like “Are the seats assigned yet?” or “Can I buy them as well?”), why would I even ask if they were open and available and I better just damn well take the seats offered to me or I’d be out of luck. Forever.
Why in God’s name didn’t you just speak to at least the full season ticket holders when assigning their seat? If you had ten people a day contacting 30 people each, you could reach 300 people a day. I assume there’s probably about 20,000 full season package ticket holders, though perhaps less since I own two seats, my neighbor owns two seats (5-6), his neighbor owns 3 (7-9) and so on. Frankly, I don’t know any full season ticket owner who doesn’t own at least two seats though I’m sure they exist. I suppose spending three months to actually reach out to your full season ticket holders for this once in a generation move was too much effort for you?
This process has been nothing but insulting and frustrating and aggravating, from the constant delays in getting information to us to the abrupt, threatening, take it or leave it attitude that has reigned throughout. Every time I call Yankee Stadium I’m made to feel like a criminal. Instead of being excited about the new Stadium, I am angry and upset. I don’t expect the team to win the World Series every year or get to the post season every year. I do expect to be treated as a valued customer and not as some schmuck who better realize you’ve got a waiting list of people wanting to buy tickets so I better take what’s given to me and shut up.
Obviously, you couldn’t have chosen a worse time economically to make this move; the economy, of course, is out of your control. But your indifferent attitude and obnoxious treatment of loyal customers – even those who feel pressured into offering to spend more money just to regain the seats we should have been assigned all along -- is wholly your fault.
Sincerely,
Michael Giltz
I’ve been going to Yankee Stadium since I moved to New York in 1991 and I’ve owned season tickets in the bleachers since the moment they became available. My seat location in the old Stadium was Section 39, row FF, seats 3-4. Because the stairway “cut into” the row, there were no seats 1 or 2 down low. I was seated on the aisle. Also, the rows began with row CC because rows AA and BB were removed so that people in wheelchairs would have somewhere to be positioned.
In the new Stadium, instead of being in the 4th row and on the aisle, I’m in the sixth row and three seats in. I went to great lengths to make clear I just wanted to stay in my same location but was frightened out of ticking off the “stay on the aisle” box because of course you made it very clear that might well mean being pushed ten or twenty rows back and then if I didn’t take THOSE seats I would be put into the back of the line. I also feel terrible for the people who’ve sat in the front row for years if not decades and suddenly find themselves placed in the third row.
Here’s what I don’t understand. The first two rows and the two seats on the aisle (seats 1 and 2 in row 6) DIDN’T EXIST in the old Stadium. I’m linked to a group of people seated in section 203 from rows 3-9. All we want is to be moved over so our seats begin on the aisle where we’ve been for years instead of three seats in. Why should strangers who have never had those seats get priority over us?
I tried to call up and see about buying TWO MORE SEATS if necessary to get those aisle seats and was basically given the bum rush. How dare I ask any questions? They can’t look anything up (like “Are the seats assigned yet?” or “Can I buy them as well?”), why would I even ask if they were open and available and I better just damn well take the seats offered to me or I’d be out of luck. Forever.
Why in God’s name didn’t you just speak to at least the full season ticket holders when assigning their seat? If you had ten people a day contacting 30 people each, you could reach 300 people a day. I assume there’s probably about 20,000 full season package ticket holders, though perhaps less since I own two seats, my neighbor owns two seats (5-6), his neighbor owns 3 (7-9) and so on. Frankly, I don’t know any full season ticket owner who doesn’t own at least two seats though I’m sure they exist. I suppose spending three months to actually reach out to your full season ticket holders for this once in a generation move was too much effort for you?
This process has been nothing but insulting and frustrating and aggravating, from the constant delays in getting information to us to the abrupt, threatening, take it or leave it attitude that has reigned throughout. Every time I call Yankee Stadium I’m made to feel like a criminal. Instead of being excited about the new Stadium, I am angry and upset. I don’t expect the team to win the World Series every year or get to the post season every year. I do expect to be treated as a valued customer and not as some schmuck who better realize you’ve got a waiting list of people wanting to buy tickets so I better take what’s given to me and shut up.
Obviously, you couldn’t have chosen a worse time economically to make this move; the economy, of course, is out of your control. But your indifferent attitude and obnoxious treatment of loyal customers – even those who feel pressured into offering to spend more money just to regain the seats we should have been assigned all along -- is wholly your fault.
Sincerely,
Michael Giltz
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