Heritage Field Construction

So, you are probably aware of the previous posts and videos about the old and new versions of Yankee Stadium. Back in 2009 when the new stadium opened, this post discussed a class divide that seemed to have widened. Last May, this post gave you a video and pictures inside the new facility. Today, though, was the first time I had been able to get a quick look at the latest development.

While attempting to be an athlete on the rooftop park across from the new home (a public park/athletic field sits on top of a parking garage), I decided to take a couple of photos of what will become Heritage Field where the old stadium once stood.

Long time Yankees fans might still cringe, but when Heritage Field is finally completed, there might be a change of heart.

Might be. More photos to come for those interested.

The Demolition of Old Yankee Stadium - Easter Sunday

These have been a whirlwind two weeks outside of Scribe, yet despite another chaotic three weeks on tap, I've neglected this place for too long. And so, at least three times, I'm going to make it up to you with new substantial postings; interviews and other original thoughts I've been meaning to share with the masses.

If anything, some of the energy has been spent with the baseball previews on The Perpetual Post (I handled both central divisions) and April's newest on Norman Einstein's Magazine (which will be fully explained and followed up on tomorrow).

Meanwhile, I took a stroll around the old Yankee Stadium. Here are a few photos with the link to all pictures on Picasa. Also, you'll see the small clip originally published to the Tumblr account.

Yeah, it's not pretty... or it is if you can't stand the Yanks.

Almost (II)

As promised after yesterday's trek to Citi Field, an update of the (almost) completed new Yankee Stadium.



Stadium Wiki

Thoughts? Comments? Questions?

HRD

Instead of writing, a view from above the Harlem River Drive.



Aside from the personal qualms about the stadium's financing (see here and here) and the organization's standing with the City at large, I will do what I can to give you more views from the new Stadium before its scheduled opening in March.

Also, because I just haven't done so, a nod to my personal favorite pitcher of my lifetime, Greg Maddux. While I would have loved to have seen him sign the custom one-day contract to officially retire as an Atlanta Brave, he will undoubtely don those colors when he is elected to the Hall of Fame in five years.

Swamplands

For those of you reading and viewing this who are not from the New York City metropolitan area, there's a reason why it seems that there's a ton of hoopla around sports beyond wins and losses.

While the rest of the world, particularly the United States, had new stadiums and arenas built for their sports teams over the past two decades, northeastern depots like Boston, Philadelphia, Washington and New York were slow to replace their facilities. For various reasons - be political, economic or based on an area's physical infrastructure and space - these cities that were long known for higher-income white-collar jobs, large populations and even larger sports appetites were suddenly trying to out-do smaller cities such as Phoenix, San Jose, Cleveland and Denver in having the most modern amenities for their teams.

Then three of those northeast cities (Boston, Philadelphia and Washington) opened new arenas for their NBA and NHL franchises (TD Banknorth Garden in 1995, Wachovia Center in 1996, Verizon Center in 1997). They followed with new baseball and football stadiums later in the decade and into the 2000s (though Fenway Park has being undergoing selective renovations to add capacity). It seemed as if New York was not just falling behind the rest of the country, but their regional rivals.

And so, it leads us to an unprecedented time in the area's history as three outdoor facilities are being erected at once. Not since Shea Stadium was built forty years ago has there been a new major league outdoor stadium in the area (Arthur Ashe Stadium across the street from Shea is a tennis facility completed in 1997 and it appears that the MLS' Red Bulls have their version of the 'Bridge to Nowhere'). Earlier this summer, you got a look at the new Yankee Stadium and CitiField; both baseball stadiums being constructed for a 2009 opening. Now, here's a brief glimpse at the new home for the Giants and Jets, which is slated to open for the 2010 season.

Welcome to the new and potentially improved swamplands.

New Meadowlands Stadium

Poll

Looky here.

It would be quite interesting to see your thoughts about the place; good, bad or indifferent. Yet, I ask you to please be honest and not regurgitate what the TV tells you to think of the House George (and Sons) Are Taking Down. So please leave your comments here.

Afterthought

Tonight gives us the closing of a venerable piece of American history as Yankee Stadium hosts its final baseball series between New York’s pinstriped bunch and the Baltimore Orioles. Before the finale, there have been (and will be) a lot of tears and tantrums, some waxing poetic and sardonic, some reflection and a few suggestions such as “raze the damn thing already!” Yet, there are very few thoughts coming from the neighborhood itself.

Then again, that’s always been the case, it seems.

David Gonzalez hoped to have provided at least a more honest native voice in his article in Saturday’s New York Times. He spoke of having grown up in the area, more so about attending Cardinal Hayes High School with the Stadium’s imposing presence nearby. He touched upon several incidences where the executives showed a blatant disrespect for the immediate world outside of the Stadium’s walls. To this day, many of the fans that descend onto 161st Street and River Avenue have either heard about, read about or at worst, perpetrated the stigma about the neighborhood it surrounds.

Even as Harlem – where out-of-town fans would speed through en route to the Stadium because of similar fears – continues to gentrify across the Macombs Dam Bridge, you’ll hear a few of the newest residents ask if the borough of “Fort Apache, The Bronx” lore remains.

As someone who has spent his life on both sides of the Bridge, I have never heard anyone who I grew up with say “hey, let’s go to a Yankee game this weekend”. Outside of talking about the players and how they will fare in the postseason, people around the way didn’t take to the Stadium experience the way that the outside world may have assumed. The reasons stem from any combination of the price to attend and enjoy the game, the racial history of the team (integrated fifteen years after Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby) and the beating taken from Howard Cosell’s alleged “the Bronx is burning” quip (amongst others in media). The organization doesn’t embark on a ton of publicized community efforts anywhere in the metropolitan area, but New Yorkers are more likely to see the Knicks (the most active), Mets or either NFL team out and about.

So the closing of one Stadium for another may further cool a frosty-but-accepted existence between franchise and borough, especially as the economic downturn compels the Yankees to reach for the affluent fans from the outside. Yet, with this new attractant into the City should come changing perceptions about the people and the place that is the Bronx.

As said, it should… but it won’t.

Layover

With the return to NYC later today, here are some pieces worth pondering en route back to the Boroughs. As for the rest of the videos from Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, you'll see them tomorrow. Again, many thanks to D-cubed for taking part in the adventure.

• First, some honesty about Yankee Stadium. Since it's the soup-du-jour to wax poetic on the 85-year old stadium, it's good to hear from the folks who have had to make yearly (and seemingly at times, monthly) treks to the building in the Bronx. Maybe I'm being a dissenter from the rest of the media (yes, freelancers can call themselves a part of the clique), but it's about time that the Stadium bids farewell. Should we pay for it? That's another debate for another day.
• Sticking with the Old Gray Lady, an interesting piece from John Tierney, Science writer for the Times. He discusses how Title IX - the still-controversial legislation mostly known for its impact on collegiate athletics - is making waves in a different arena; gender discrimination at universities receiving federal grants for the sciences.
• Two from the Dallas Morning News: Tim Cowlishaw thinks that the Yankees are wrong in changing venues. Jean-Jacques Taylor sheds some light on Milton Bradley (one of the four Texas Rangers' All-Stars).
• It's interesting to see baseball stories coming out of Memphis (where today's layover spectacular takes place). Why? Because they don't have a Major League-level team. Yet, they have two All-Stars with some ties to the city as George Sherrill (Baltimore Orioles) and Dan Uggla (Florida Marlins) take in the festivities.

Sparkling

On the way to the old Yankee Stadium to cover today's Mariners-Yankees tilt, I took these photos of the new Stadium next door.

This was the first time I've been in the area since last year's Game 4 in the Division Series and since then, the new building has come along quite well. I know that there has been well over a billion dollars from public funds to get this going - something that doesn't make me very happy, despite my freelance profession - but for those of you who are going to miss the House that Ruth Built... this place should have been built years ago.

There will be more photos tomorrow. After all, this Scribe just lives over the bridge.

Enjoy the holiday, America.