A Review of Angel Stadium

I was out west last week and luckily for me, my Yanks were out west too, so I had the honor of watching them play on the road for the first time in my life.  The Yanks were playing a team called the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, formerly the Anaheim Angels, formerly the Los Angeles Angels, formerly the California Angels.  They changed their name a couple of years ago and kept the Anaheim in their name to please city officials.  Whatever.  That’s why I call them the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of California of the United States of North America of Planet Earth.  I mean it’s virtually the same thing.  The Yanks only changed their name twice, and both times before any of you people reading were born.  At first they were the Baltimore Orioles, then the New York Highlanders, before becoming the Yankees.  But I digress…

Angel Stadium of Anaheim (yes, it gets the “of Anaheim” too).  My friend and I were in Santa Monica, so we figured we’d leave at 5pm to make it to the stadium around 6pm (~35 mile trip).  I had my Joba Chamberlain t-shirt on and I was ready to see him pitch.  Only one problem.

Los Angeles.  Traffic.  Sucks.

It took us just about two hours to reach the ballpark.  If you’ve never been to a game with me, suffice it to say I like to be in my seat having eaten, with the lineups written in my book at least half an hour before the game starts.  We parked ($5, not bad at all) and at 6:55 began walking pretty damn quickly to the stadium.  I’ll be damned if I miss an at-bat.

We got up to the main gate, which is pretty nice, couple of big Angel hats on the side.  The memorial for Nick Adenhart is right in front of the stadium, so I had to pay tribute to the poor kid who was killed after his first start in April by a drunk driver at age 23.  Sad stuff.  Something that isn’t sad is that I paid only $3 for a game program with former Yank Bobby Abreu on the cover.  Impressive.  A company called Team Marketing produces something called the Fan Cost Index, which examines the cost at each stadium for: 2 adult average priced tickets, 2 child average priced tickets, 2 small beers, 4 sodas, 4 hot dogs, parking for 1 car, 2 game programs, 2 cheap, adjustable hats.  (Click the link where I wrote “Fan Cost Index” for the 2009 results).  I was excited to check out “The Big A” because the Angels always do very well in this department and this year the average price for all this stuff was $141.18.  For comparison, at the big ballpark in the Bronx, this will run you an MLB-worst $410.88, or $200 more than the league average.

Inside the stadium, we made it up to our seats just in time to see Derek Jeter finish off the lead-off at bat of the game with a single to center.  Good start.  The stadium is a really nice place.  I like the rocks and waterfall in left-center and the scoreboards are informative and I was easily able to find the information (i.e. lineups because we got there late) I was looking for.  Something I couldn’t find but was looking for was a hot dog.  At every new ballpark I visit, I don’t care about the local fare (in this case churros and pizza from California Pizza Kitchen), I just want a hot dog for a nice, American evening.  There was one girl selling hot dogs who didn’t come near us for 3-4 innings.  I got up out of my seat and walked down the portal and found an information desk where I indicated that I was new around here and wanted a hot dog.  The ladies were kind enough to point me in the right direction and even offered me a this-is-my-first-game sticker.  I wouldn’t accept it because it had an Angels logo and that stupid rally monkey on it, but she actually cut all that garbage out and left me with the text only.  Ok.

I know I’m getting long-winded here, but I can’t end this post without describing the feeling of being a fan of the visiting team in another ballpark.  As I said, I’ve never done that before but it was interesting.  I will say this: I was not alone.  Of the 44,000 allegedly there that game, I would say that a solid 15% were Yankee fans.  There were a number of jerseys and hats of the good guys and I talked to some of them, which was cool.  Sure, I heard the “Yankees Suck” that was yelled at me but I just smiled and gave the thumbs up.  The Angel fans of Anaheim were mostly tame other than that and it was such a good feeling when the Yanks jumped out to a big lead on Joe Saunders.  The 15% of us cheered for the Yanks until Joba gave it all back.  Then, it sucked.  I had to hear the Angel fans cheer and berate the Yanks, which wasn’t fun (although it was deserved).  I hate losing, especially the way the Yankees did, and I wish I had more time to walk around the Big A, but it was a nice stadium and a good experience.  The Angels definitely know how to treat the fans that attend their games and you have to respect that.

Citi Field Review

I’ve owed you, my loyal readers, this review for well over a month now, since I took in my first game at Citi Field back on April 19.

Overall, I thought it was a nice ballpark, a huge upgrade over Shea Stadium.  It was very modern, in the whole modern = throwback sense.  I was able to walk into the stadium through the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, which was pretty cool, although when I got to the top of the escalator, I found myself thinking “that’s it?”  I enjoyed the openness of the concourse, but at the same time, I thought it felt a little narrow with the lines for food (My seats were on the main level left field, not sure about the upper decks).  Walking through the concourse, you really had to avoid the lines, or weave through them.  I thought the selection was pretty good and the prices were fair, for a New York ballpark.

In center field, there are a bunch of other food places that sell more than the traditional ballpark fare.  I thought theses lines were ridiculously long and didn’t bother waiting on any of them despite the really interesting menus. I enjoyed the activity area for kids out with these concession stands, there was a dunk tank, a wiffle ball field, and a video game area, among other things.  Unfortunately, baseball is a sometimes boring game and things like this keep the kids entertained and involved in some aspect of the game of baseball.  This kids area is a great way for the Mets to build interest in their team with kids.  I didn’t walk into the any of the team stores because I’m not a Mets fan and I don’t want any of their merchandise.

I was a bit disappointed in the lack of Mets “things” when walking around.  I think any unintelligent person could walk around the concourse just staring at the walls and not have any idea who played in the stadium.  Worse yet, that same unintelligent person could think they were in the Brooklyn Dodgers’ Stadium.  Granted there were Mets banners and pictures of players on the outside of the stadium, but if I were a Mets fan, I’d like to see more of that in the stadium – a celebration of Mets heritage.  I know they’ve only been around since the early 1960s, but they have two World Championships and dozens of fan favorite players, use them more.

As for the game itself, my seats were on the main level in left field and the overhang of the deck above me blocked my view of the scoreboard, which was annoying but even if it didn’t, since it was at such an extreme angle to my left I don’t know how much I’d be able to see anyway.

I think the field is interesting, mainly because of that “cove” out in right field and also because of the bullpens kind of shoved into right-center field, one team’s pen not even visible from the field.

I enjoyed my experience at Citi Field, it’s a really nice place and a nice home for the Mets.  I’d like to see them put more team stuff up on the concourses (the Yankees do this well at New Yankee Stadium; my review of that forthcoming) and the aisles got a bit crowded, but it was a nice place to see a game and there was a good atmosphere.

Goodbye Yankee Stadium

I never made it to the original Yankee Stadium, it was torn down before I was born.  For as long as I could remember I spent at least one summer afternoon or evening at baseball’s cathedral in the Bronx.  In my lifetime, I think I’ve been to Yankee Stadium somewhere between 60 – 100 times and there’s no way to tell given that I only started collecting my ticket stubs over the past 2-3 years.

This year, while my 5-9 record won’t indicate it, I saw some great games.  A personal high, 14 games seen in person this summer.  Two against Boston, two against the Mets in the final year of Yankee Stadium.

I’ve watched hundreds of games on tv.  I saw all four clinching outs of the 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 World Series’ and can still hear Joe Buck say “The Yankees are champions of baseball!” when Charlie Hayes caught the last out at Yankee Stadium in 1996.  I can still see Wade Boggs riding the horse and him being given a helmet at the parade down the canyon of heroes.  I saw Jim Abbott’s no-hitter at my cousin’s house on Long Island.  I watched the games after 9/11 and Aaron Boone’s home run against Tim Wakefield in 2003.

I don’t remember exactly, but I think my first game was against Texas sometime in the very late 1980s or the early 1990s.  I’ve been to games in rain, snow, and sun.  I’ve been there for bat day, days celebrating the lives of Phil Rizzuto and Joe DiMaggio, and for Old Timers’ Day.  I’ve been to monument park at least a dozen times.  I’ve taken my friends on tours of the park, pointing out all the retired numbers and where I sat for some of my most memorable games.  I’ve sat in every section you could possible sit in: field level, main box, loge, both upper deck sections, and the bleachers.  I’ve chanted “Boston Sucks,” worn the shirt and been told to cover it up.  I’ve been to opening days, the last game of the regular season, and a ton of games in between.  I almost caught a foul ball last year, but I misplayed it and the ball hit me in the arm and bounced back a row. I’ve taken the Stadium tour, sat on the the dugout bench, and been in the clubhouse.  I saw the black square hanging from one locker with the white “15″ on it, and i hit the sign from the clubhouse to the dugout with the immortal words of Joe DiMaggio: “I want to thank the good Lord for making me a Yankee.”

While I don’t remember the first time I was at the Stadium, I will remember the last, Thursday night, a win over the Chicago White Sox.  Since I got back home after that game, I have compiled a list of the top ten games I have been to in my life at Yankee Stadium, evoking my favorite memories of baseball, Yankee Stadium, and the summer.  If you had asked me two weeks ago, I would have said I haven’t really been to many special occasions at Yankee Stadium in my life, missing some milestones by one day (A-Rod’s 500th home run, Derek Jeter passing Lou Gehrig for the all-time hits record at Yankee Stadium). When I made this list, though, I realized that I have been to a lot of special occasions at the Stadium.  I had a terrible time ranking these, because they are each special memories to me, so let me share them with you:

10.  Yankees vs. Mets [June 27, 2008] – This was the last Subway Series game to ever be played at Yankee Stadium and it was also part one of a subway doubleheader, where the Yankees hosted game one and the Mets hosted game two.  The Yanks got clobbered behind Carlos Delgado’s nine RBIs, but it was cool to be there for that.  Box Score.

9. Yankees vs. Twins [July 2, 2007] – In this game, on his third or fourth attempt, Roger Clemens secured career win number 350, a number I thought would never be reached ever again (Greg Maddux did it this year). Box Score.

8. Yankees vs. Blue Jays [June 3, 2008] – Joba Chamberlain’s first start.  I’ve never seen so much excitement leading up to a game than Joba’s first start.  The Yanks lost and Chamberlain left in the third inning, but this was a dawning of a new era to many Yankee fans and people were screaming and taking pictures the whole pre-game.  Box Score.

7. Yankees vs. Cubs [June 18, 2005] – Not only was this the first regular season series between two of baseball’s most historic teams, but after a little over nine years in the big leagues, Derek Jeter hit his first career grand slam.  Box Score.

6. Yankees vs. Red Sox [May 7, 1994] - I think this was my first Yankee-Red Sox game and it featured Clemens and Melido Perez.  Somehow the Bronx Bombers won this one, but what I remember the most about this game was that it is my earliest memory of monument park.  I remember being in monument park and we walked right next to the visitor’s bullpen where Clemens was preparing for the start.  I could barely see over the wall there, but my Dad lifted me up and showed me Clemens throwing, not five feet from me.  Box Score.

5. Yankees vs. Devil Rays [September 27, 1998] - Last day of the regular season.  We sat on the main level of the left field outfield.  Shane Spencer, the September hero of 1998, hit a grand slam and Bernie Williams won the batting title that day.  Williams had gone back into the locker room and when people were standing, screaming for him, someone had to go get him and Bernie came out with his pants on, a t-shirt, sandals and his glasses for the curtain call.  Box Score.

Andy Pettitte started for the Yankees on Opening Day 1996

4. Yankees vs. Royals [April 9, 1996] - Opening Day, 1996, in the snow.  Fresh off their first postseason appearance since the 1980s, Don Mattingly and Buck Showalter were gone and this was the beginning of the Joe Torre/Derek Jeter era.  We were sitting in right field in the last occupied section of the loge (amazing how the place wasn’t always sold out until they started winning championships again).  I was at the end and I kept complaining to my Dad about how cold I was.  He was about ready to smack me when he got up and noticed that my whole right side was covered in snow.  I think we lasted four to five innings of the Yankee win.  Box Score.

Paul Simon on Joe DiMaggio Day

3. Yankees vs. Blue Jays [April 25, 1999] – Joe DiMaggio Day.  The Yankee Clipper had passed away a few months earlier and this was George Steinbrenner’s tribute to him.  Paul Simon came out and sang Mrs. Robinson in centerfield.  Although I never saw DiMaggio play, I was smart enough to realize that he was one of the best and most revered Yankees of all-time and it was an emotional day.  Box Score.  Video.

2. Yankees vs. Rangers [April 26, 1995] - Opening Day after the strike.  My father pulled me out of school for this and that alone is worth being in the top five memories.  Fathers and sons at baseball game, passing the love of the game on, is really what baseball is all about.  One of my favorites of this era, Jimmy Key, made the start for the Yanks.  I remember that my father and I went down early to see the players and Reggie Jackson was there, signing autographs and some of the other players signed too.  My other favorite, Paul O’Neill, walked into the ballpark and didn’t wave or anything. I love the guy for the way he played the game, but when baseball was trying to earn fans’ respect back, that wasn’t the way to do it.

1. Yankees vs. Red Sox [July 1, 2004] – Derek Jeter diving into the stands.  Yankee-Boston games are always special, but this game had the feel of a World Series game.  In the top of the 12th, Trot Nixon popped a ball up near the stands on the third base side of the field, a ball that, from our seats in the first row of the upper deck on the foul side of the right field foul pole, was clearly going into the stands was snagged by Jeter as he dove into the stands.  Wow.  That’s what everyone in the place said.  He was banged up and needed help being brought back to the dugout, but that was a baseball player.  This also marked the only time that A-Rod played shortstop with the Yankees, replacing Jeter in the field in the top of the 13th with Gary Sheffield moving to third base.  The Yanks won in the bottom of the 13th when John Flaherty pinch hit for Tanyon Sturtze (with all the defensive changes, the Yanks needed starting DH Bernie Williams in the field, so they sacrificed the DH) and hit a double down the left field line, scoring Miguel Cairo. I’ve seen two Stanley Cup final games in my life and they don’t come close to the energy in Yankee Stadium after the win that night.  There was constant screaming and excitement on the way down the ramps and you couldn’t hear anything.  That memory represents how special the Yankees and Yankee Stadium are.

Honorable Mentions: Derk Jeter going for Gehrig’s record against he White Sox on September 15, 2008 with a ton of camera flashes; seeing Joba Chamberlain’s father Harlan on April 3, 2008 and everyone stopping and chanting Joba’s name; the day the Yankees were given their 1996 World Series rings in 1997 (don’t remember the date and would appreciate help!).

We all have our special memories of Yankee Stadium.  I don’t agree with them tearing it down and I will miss it.  The Stadium was like my second home in the summer, especially since I’ve gotten older and bought my own ticket packs.  I will cherish the memories of the games I have been to, many I can’t remember right now, and allow the Stadium to live on through those memories.

As we approach 8:00 and the first pitch of the last game of the Stadium, I warn that next year will not be the same and the new Yankee Stadium won’t replace the old, but I guess that’s what my father would say about this stadium.  I have taken a ton of pictures and will always remember Yankee Stadium as an important part of my summers.  The players changed, the teams changed, but Yankee Stadium was always a constant.

For now though, the only thing left to say is Goodbye.