Fans allowed to bring a bag to the game

The blogger behind The Girl Who Loved Andy Pettitte, also  known as @leokitty on Twitter was at last night’s game and reported back some exciting news in terms of Yankee Stadium policy.  Fans are now allowed to bring in one bag that cannot be larger than 16” x 16” x 8”, subject to inspection.

The Yankee Stadium A-to-Z Guide has been updated to reflect these changes as well.

So keep this in mind the next time you head out to the Bronx for a game.

Photo via The Girl Who Loved Andy Pettitte (Click to enlarge)

Reminder: Stadium Metro-North service begins today

Ed. Note: I originally posted this on May 15.  The Yankees-E. 153rd Street Station will serve Yankees fans for the first time today. 

My dad picked up this month’s edition of “Mileposts,” the newsletter for Metro-North customers last night, and it detailed the new Yankee Stadium Metro-North station, called “Yankees-E. 153rd Street Station.” The online edition can be found by clicking here (PDF warning). All links labeled “here” are PDFs.

Many of the details printed in this “Mileposts” can also be found on the MTA site.

Basically, customers on the Hudson Line receive direct service to this station from Grand Central Terminal, Harlem-125th Street and all of the other stations. Here are the game day schedules for the Hudson Line.

If you don’t want to hop on the Hudson Line from Grand Central or Harlem-125th Street, there is direct service to Yankee Stadium. That schedule is here. However, this service only begins two hours before gametime, while the gates at the Stadium open three hours before gametime. So keep that in mind if you want to get to the game early. Also, shuttles returning to Manhattan after weekday day games do not stop in Harlem, so also keep that in mind.

On the Harlem and New Haven lines, you need to transfer at Grand Central or 125th Street. However, the MTA says direct service will be available for weekend and holiday games and there is some direct return service for weeknight games. Here is the direct weekend schedule for the Harlem Line and here is the New Haven Line schedule.

There is also a parking garage, with the pricing and hours found here. Bear in mind that the garage closes at 10 p.m. on weekends, so if you’re thinking about parking in the garage for an 8:05 ESPN Sunday night game, think again. It closes at midnight Monday-Friday. Parking for the event is $19.

As seen in the above graphic, the station is not up against the Stadium like the subway is. There is a covered pedestrian overpass and the MTA says the walk is under 10 minutes.

When exiting the station for the game, you will need to show the ticket collectors your rail ticket. If you have monthly or weekly tickets for travel into and out of Manhattan (Harlem, Hudson and New Haven), you can take the train to Yankees-E. 153rd Street at no extra charge. This also applies to Port Jervis and Pascack Valley customers who travel to Hoboken and Penn Station-NY.

If something isn’t clear or you need to know more information, please let me know.

More seat removal photos

This picture and the rest of this gallery come from WCBS’ Tom Kaminski.

Yikes.

Yankee Stadium Metro-North service to begin next Saturday

My dad picked up this month’s edition of “Mileposts,” the newsletter for Metro-North customers last night, and it detailed the new Yankee Stadium Metro-North station, called “Yankees-E. 153rd Street Station.”  The online edition can be found by clicking here (PDF warning).  All links labeled “here” are PDFs.

Many of the details printed in this “Mileposts” can also be found on the MTA site.

Basically, customers on the Hudson Line receive direct service to this station from Grand Central Terminal, Harlem-125th Street and all of the other stations.  Here are the game day schedules for the Hudson Line.

If you don’t want to hop on the Hudson Line from Grand Central or Harlem-125th Street, there is direct service to Yankee Stadium.  That schedule is here.  However, this service only begins two hours before gametime, while the gates at the Stadium open three hours before gametime.  So keep that in mind if you want to get to the game early.  Also, shuttles returning to Manhattan after weekday day games do not stop in Harlem, so also keep that in mind.

On the Harlem and New Haven lines, you need to transfer at Grand Central or 125th Street.  However, the MTA says direct service will be available for weekend and holiday games and there is some direct return service for weeknight games.  Here is the direct weekend schedule for the Harlem Line and here is the New Haven Line schedule.

There is also a parking garage, with the pricing and hours found here.  Bear in mind that the garage closes at 10 p.m. on weekends, so if you’re thinking about parking in the garage for an 8:05 ESPN Sunday night game, think again.  It closes at midnight Monday-Friday.  Parking for the event is $19.

As seen in the above graphic, the station is not up against the Stadium like the subway is.  There is a covered pedestrian overpass and the MTA says the walk is under 10 minutes.

When exiting the station for the game, you will need to show the ticket collectors your rail ticket.  If you have monthly or weekly tickets for travel into and out of Manhattan (Harlem, Hudson and New Haven), you can take the train to Yankees-E. 153rd Street at no extra charge.  This also applies to Port Jervis and Pascack Valley customers who travel to Hoboken and Penn Station-NY.

If something isn’t clear or you need to know more information, please let me know.

Yankees relax batting practice rules

From the Yankee Stadium A-To-Z Guide:

Remember fans, on game days, arrive early. Yankee Stadium Gates on Babe Ruth Plaza and Gates 2 and 8, open three hours prior to the start of every home game. All fans are encouraged to arrive early to enjoy batting practice and infield workouts from select areas of the Field Level and the Bleachers; specifically, all fans may watch batting practice and infield workouts from Field Level Sections 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135 and 136 and from all Bleachers Sections. Please note, on certain game days the Yankees may elect not to take batting practice, infield workouts or both. Those fans who take advantage of the opportunity to enjoy batting practice and infield workouts from the Field Level and/or the Bleachers may remain until the players leave the field following the conclusion of the Yankees batting practice or 1 hour and 45 minutes after the Gates open. At that time, all fans will be asked to return their respective seats.

Fans are still not allowed in the Legends section, but at least the security guards won’t hound you for going into a section that you don’t belong in.

Seat removal has begun

Sorry to have another post about the Stadium up today, but this is just too sad not to post.  WCBS 880’s Tom Kaminski was up in the sky and snapped pictures of the seat removal process taking shape at Yankee Stadium (h/t to Ross).

Boy is this depressing or what?  Considering how badly the new Stadium has been botched by the upper management, this hurts a lot.

Tom Kaminksi/WCBS Newradio 880

These seats aren’t used anyway; why start now?

NYU held its commencement at Yankee Stadium yesterday.  And – via Peter Abraham via Subway Chatter – just like at a Yankees game, the Legends “Suites” were empty!

Abraham said 25,760 people were there.  Was it a commencement ceremony or was it a Yankees/Rays game?

I hope there was a reason why these seats weren’t used, besides the obvious “if you purchase a suite, do you want somebody in your suite?” line.  Because, as we know, no one has purchased these “suites.”

According to Monnie D., Esq. from Subway Chatter:

I may be a Yankee lifer, but only an idiot would fail to see the damage that these seats, and the organization’s correspondingly buffoonish policies, are doing to the Yankee brand; the post-graduation banter didn’t center around Clinton’s speech, or even the beauty of a ballpark some had just seen for the first time. Instead, many could be heard asking a rhetorical question of their own, one, though, that could and should be posed to Lonn Trost, “What were they thinking not letting the kids sit there?”

I love it.

Picture form Subway Chatter

The entire Trost/writers exchange

Yesterday, we read Lonn Trost’s reaction to being asked about not letting fans into the Legends “suites” during batting practice.  “Well, if you purchase a suite, do you want somebody in your suite? Trost said.  “You purchase a home, do you want somebody in your home?’’

Today, Neil Best, who originally posted this quote, posted the entire exchange between the writers and Trost regarding fans and batting practice here.

Reporter: Are there any plans to change the policy to allow fans closer to the field during batting practice?

Trost: Well, the fans are able to get down to certain areas. They are not able to get into the suite. Right now, that's what the policy is.

WatchDog: What was the rationale behind that originally?

Trost: The rationale behind what?

WatchDog: The rationale behind the policy to not let them get down to that area right by the field during batting practice.

Trost: Well, there is an area by the Legends Suite that is not an area that the fans can get into.

Reporter: That is different than the old stadium.

Trost: But there was no suite there.

WatchDog: So is it primarily a logistical matter that once you start having people down there you have to clear them out?

Trost: Well, if you purchase a suite, do you want somebody in your suite? You purchase a home, you want somebody in your home?

WatchDog: By the suite you're talking about the seating area, not the eating area? You're talking about the seats.

Trost: Yeah.

WatchDog: OK. Got it.

I still don’t understand why those seats are called “suites.”

I want people to keep making this an issue, as the media did with the empty “suites.”  The Yankees have messed up yet another time and Trost is to blame.

Words of wisdom from Lonn Trost

Two posts down, I mentioned how whenever Lonn Trost speaks, the more I can’t stand him.  Well, that was before I read this post from the great Neil Best.

Yankees COO Lonn Trost made it quite clear about an hour ago that the team has no current plans to reconsider its policy of not allowing fans into the Legends Suites area during batting practice to seek autographs or simply to get close to their heroes.

I asked him the rationale behind the policy. His blunt comment on that:

“Well, if you purchase a suite, do you want somebody in your suite? You purchase a home, do you want somebody in your home?’’

Wow.

When I think “suite,” I think of private luxury boxes with their own bathrooms and food above the field.  The seats behind the plate are just that: seats.  Yes, they look like first class seats that you would find in an airplane, but they are seats nonetheless.  The concrete moat that is in place is just another metaphor for Yankee greed.

Stadium memorabilia sale to begin

The Yankees are paying the City $11.5 million to sell Yankee Stadium memorabilia, because the City owns the now-closed Stadium.

Later in this article, we find out that the Yankees are selling pairs of seats for $1,923, in honor of the year the building opened.  For reference, the Mets sold their pairs of seats for $869.

$1,923 for two seats?  What a great deal relative to what the team is charging for the primo seats in the new building!  I can’t wait to see the list and prices of other things they’re planning on selling.

Update – 1:15 p.m.: Here is the press release from Steiner Sports, touting “timeless pieces of Americana.”  There will be an online auction that begins today that features 1,500 pieces from the Stadium.  Here are some other details:

• 1 ft. x 1 ft. pieces of live sod from Yankee Stadium: $120
• Pairs of Stadium seats: ranging from $1499 - $1999; commemorative single seats: $750
• Final Season Crystals with Genuine Dirt from the original Yankee Stadium: $80
• Original bricks from Monument Park in a glass case with etched Yankees logo: $150

Toward the end are words from the great Lonn Trost.  The more I read from this guy, the more I can’t stand him.

"We are excited to give our great fans a chance to take home a piece of the Yankee Stadium legacy through this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said New York Yankees Chief Operating Officer Lonn A. Trost. "These treasures allow the Yankees' legacy to live on and provide fans with keepsakes they can pass along from generation to generation."

Great post by Kepner re: Yankee Stadium

There is not much more I can add to this post by Tyler Kepner about the atmosphere at Yankee Stadium.

All I can say is that the Yankees have focused more on the food options (garlic fries, a carving station, a steakhouse and Hard Rock Cafe) than they have on the game-watching experience.  All we hear from the organization is the gushing about the wide array of choices.  This is evidenced by the ridiculous sports bar in center field, the pushing back of the upper deck and the decrease in capacity.  They don’t care that the place sounds like a morgue.

I’m glad the empty seats have been an issue and I’m glad the place looks terrible on television.  They messed up.  Big time.

(H/T to Ross for tweeting about this article)

Yankees reduce ticket prices

I’m still very busy and don’t have time to sift through this gigantic statement, but give it a read if you’re one of the few to buy the most expensive seats at Yankee Stadium.

Good, I’m glad

Two games have been played at Yankee Stadium, and there has already been much backlash and attention focused on the empty seats and overall attendance of the games.

The top photo comes from Bronx Banter’s Cliff Corcoran at yesterday’s game, and he said this picture was taken around the third inning.  The bottom photo is from Getty Images.  I’m not sure when it was taken.

From everything I’ve seen and heard, it seems the upper decks have been full and the lower deck attendance has been sparse.  The Yankees will be forced to do something if this continues to be an issue.  I hope it continues to be an issue.

I love it.

First photo: Clifford J. Corcoran, 2009
Second photo: (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

‘The House that Mute Built’

That title came from Joel Sherman’s fingers in his latest column.

The claustrophobic feeling an opponent encountered in tough times is gone forever now. The upper deck no longer drapes over the action, but is rather higher and inclined away from the field. The bleachers -- and their creatures -- are now further recessed. The Yanks have played class warfare with their tickets and the result is that their most ardent fans -- those who helped create a 10th-man feel across the street -- will have to all bring microphones to be heard in full in this facility.

Those fans are rumors now to the visiting team. Indians starter Cliff Lee faced runners in scoring position in each of the first five innings. Yet the game might as well have been in Cleveland for all the hostility that reached him. On the other side of 161st Street, Lee would have been made to feel like a gladiator awaiting the lions, the fans in his ear, making him battle for concentration while also coping with the Yankees lineup.

And I agree with every word.

Listen, it’s no secret that the upper deck was pushed back.  We’ve seen the plans since 2006.  But to actually see and hear a real game yesterday was mind-boggling.

Another thing that stood out to me was the attendance figure.  Yesterday’s game was attended by 48,271 people.  Last year’s home opener drew over 55,000 people.  Games this year could be in 30,000s against a weak opponent on a weekday night game.  For a team that consistently drew 4 million people for the last few seasons of the old building, this is a scary thought.  I hope they realize what they’ve done.

What a disaster

That is all I have to say.

Nice job of ruining everyone’s memories of opening day in the new Yankee Stadium, Jose Veras and Damaso Marte.

Games to still be shot through net

The netting behind home plate will be in every
camera shot of batted balls in Yankee Stadium this season.
-Photo by Andrew Fletcher

After watching the first of two exhibition games against the Cubs on YES, I noticed that the reports of the cameras shooting through the netting behind home plate were accurate.

And according to The Times’ Richard Sandomir, they will continue to shoot through the net.

On replays of Mark Teixeira’s two home runs, the home plate camera was used to show the balls soar into the stands. As it zoomed in, the netting grew increasingly vivid and annoying.

The home plate view, combined with the omission of two traditional low camera positions that looked up the baselines at the old stadium, cannot produce an optimum broadcast.

If any debate existed between the Yankees and YES, the network lost it. To avoid the netting, YES could move its camera to a higher deck — although it has no doubt thought of that — but that would produce a worse shot and require taking seats out of circulation.

Right now, the Yankees think the problem is not a big one — but viewers will ultimately decide that. “Like everything we do, we’re always looking for ways to improve,” Randy Levine, the Yankees’ president, said Wednesday. “But as of today, we believe this is not a major issue. Safety is more important, and we’re fine with this.”

Sandomir notes that Citi Field’s protective netting is “nearly transparent from a distance” and suggests that the Yankees could examine what they have done.

The organization has built this “palace.”  Too bad the games being played in it will look absolutely awful on television.

Opening Day plans surface

The Yankees released their Opening Day plans this evening.  The gates open at 10 a.m. and fans are asked to be in their seats at noon.  The West Point Marching Band will be playing John Philip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever” and “Washington Post March” at 12:10 p.m.  These pieces were performed with Sousa in 1923 at the first Opening Day in the original Yankee Stadium.

A 75-foot-by-150-foot flag will be unfurled and the National Anthem will be sung by Kelly Clarkson.

Home plate and the pitching rubber used in tomorrow’s game will be the same set that was used during Yankee Stadium’s final game last season.

Yogi Berra will throw out the ceremonial first pitch and more than 40 ex-Yankees will be on hand (the complete list can be seen by clicking the above link).

Oh yeah, and all fans will receive a commemorative pin!

Hope everyone enjoys tomorrow.  It will certainly be historic and something to remember forever.

Dismantling of the old Stadium

The great Tom Kaminski from WCBS 880 has some overhead shots of the deconstruction of Yankee Stadium.

I am not going to enjoy going to games at the new Stadium while watching the old one get torn down piece by piece. It's going to be very sad.

This is officially ridiculous

Via Peter Abraham, here is Darren Rovell's list of the Yankees' official sponsors:

Official Carbonated Drink: Pepsi

Official Water: Poland Spring

Official Tire: Maxxis

Official Consumer Electronics Company: Sony

Official Luxury Vehicle: Audi

Official Hybrid: Toyota

Official Truck/SUV: Ford

Official Beer: Anheuser-Busch

Official Bank & Official Affinity Credit Card: Bank of America

Official Potato Chips: Utz

Official Hot Dog: Nathan's

Official Automobile Classified Company: Autotrader.com

Official Supermarket Retailer: Stop & Shop

Official Paint: Benjamin Moore

Official Hospital: New York Presbyterian

Official Health Insurance: Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield

Official Rail Fare: Amtrak

Official Ice Cream: Turkey Hill

Official Office Supply and Furniture Retailer: W.B. Mason

Official Coffee: Dunkin' Donuts

Official Airline: Delta

Official Timepiece: Armitron

Official Digital Camera, Copier, Printer: Canon

Official Rental Car: Avis

Official Deli Meat: Boar's Head

Official Life Insurance: Met Life

Official Gasoline & Convenience Store Retailer: Hess

Official Telecommunications Company: AT&T

Official Sporting Goods Retailer: Modell's

Official Payment Processor: Mastercard

Official National Jewelry Retailer: Zales

Official Tax Preparation Company: H&R Block

Official Cap: New Era

Official Secondary Ticketing: StubHub

Update: The mysterious black curtain

On Saturday evening, I posted pictures of the various obstructions I came across during my YS III journey. I originally thought the above curtain was erected to block out the view of the Gate 4 entrance, because it's directly behind the plate.

As commenter Greg pointed out to me, however, Lonn Trost mentioned on WFAN that the pitchers were complaining they could see traffic driving by.

Ross at New Stadium Insider delved deeper, and revealed this:

It turns out that the black obstruction affectionately known by some stadium workers as "Shaq's shower curtain," is actually there as a "fielder's eye" for the infielders. Apparently, the way that the field level concourse at the new Yankee Stadium was built causes the ball to get lost among the fans passing by, so the curtain had to be erected.

I should've done my due diligence and asked a guard what it was for when I was there, but it's good that someone got to the bottom of this.

Picture taken by me.  Click to enlarge.