Daily Archives: April 4, 2009

In a terrific write up in the Sunday Times, Joe Sexton writes that the true sport fan’s most exquisite sensation is “not joy, but relief.”  I remember when the Yankees were winning championships in the late ’90s–especially when they beat the Mets–relief is exactly what I felt when it was all over, not joy. 

Anyhow, Sexton’s piece is about a new documentary about the third fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.  The Thrilla in Manilla fight, most famously captured by the late Mark Kram for Sports Illustrated.   Sexton says the movie is most effective when dealing with the action inside the ring:

Watching again the two at war did not evoke 18th-century painting so much as, well, the Toronto Blue Jays’ 15-14 defeat of the Phillies in Game 4 of the 1993 World Series — a glorious, near-endless horror from which you could not avert your eyes.

Neither fighter was much good at defending himself anymore. Ali was 33, freshly triumphant from his defeat of George Foreman in Zaire but lazily out of shape. Frazier, 31, had absorbed a hurricane of hurt when destroyed by Foreman, had a bit of a gut, and his head, as Liebling wrote of the former heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano, retained its “unlimited absorptive capacity for percussion.”

But in watching glimpses of the fight in “Thrilla” I love again the quality of Ali’s chin. I wonder anew at Frazier’s forever forward-moving sense of purpose. I am touched by Futch’s brave decency. Simple enough pleasures, and durable enough truths, that held up pretty well to re-examination.

Mark Teixeira hit two home runs today as the Yanks rolled over the Cubbies to end the pre-season.   And as such things go, it was a succesful spring for the Bombers.

It was overcast, windy and brisk in the Bronx this afternoon but that aside it was a fine time for those who stuck around, getting their first look at the new stadium.  What’s not to enjoy about an old fashioned beat down?  The Bleacher Creatures picked up their first inning roll call right where they left off last season, and from behind home plate, they sound louder than ever (and, they capped off the call with the de riguer “Box Seats Suck” chant proving that some things remain the same).  In all, it was a small taste of what’s to come at the stadium. 

Opening Day in a few weeks should be a carnival of excitement.  Big BIG BIG.  It will be the first time I’ve ever been to season opener and despite my initial reservations about the brightness and busyness of the new stadium experience, there’s no other place that I’d rather be.

It stopped raining by the middle of the afternoon on Friday. I walked through Central Park to reach the subway at Columbus Circle. It was damp and warm and the early spring evening light was almost pale white. I paused to take in the massive Time Warner towers and thought how much the landscape has changed over the years.  The future is now.  Then I went into the hole in the ground and when I emerged in the Bronx, the first thing I saw was the old Yankee Stadium, which of course is still standing.

The new Yankee Stadium is across the street and last night it opened for business in the form of an exhibition against the Cubs. The Hard Rock Café is built into the corner of the place, right on River Avenue, but across the street, is just one bar, a 99 cents Odd Lot, a non-descript Dentist Office, and a few souvenir store fronts. The new place looks grand from the outside but as I walked west, away from River avenue, I couldn’t help but look to my left at the old Stadium. At one point, there is a clear view into the right field upper deck.

The sun was still high enough in the sky though it was past six. It splashed across the empty upper deck seats. A few fans turned and noticed. But not too many. Most everyone was too absorbed with what was right in front of them—the new new thing. The old Stadium will be taken apart slowly over a sixteen month period of time. Standing in front of the new place looking across the street, the old Stadium still looks imposing, formidable, and it will feel odd watching it go piece by piece.  A Death Star in reverse.  It seems as if it will feel very empty when it is gone–even with the knowledge that it is to be replaced by public parks.

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The Yankees’ home opener may not be until April 16, but the first baseball game ever played at the new Yankee Stadium took place last night, as did a number of other firsts, which though they may be unofficial, will always be the ones I count because I was there.

Because of the rain yesterday afternoon, neither team took batting practice. I arrived at the park a bit after 5:30 and the Cubs took the field too loosen up soon after. Here are some photographs from before the game (as always, all of my photos can be enlarged with a click).

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Let’s get to it . . .

• The Times provides an interactive guide to the new cathedral.
• Joel Sherman has mixed feelings about the new Stadium:

The new Yankee Stadium has just about everything you would want in a modern sports facility, except charm and a sense of proportion. . . .

(Yet) the place brought nausea, not nostalgia. It just feels like the wrong time in the history of this country and this city to be opening up the George Mahal. When the project was initiated 2 ½ years ago, the Yankees could not have known what the state of the economy was going to be now.

But this is about more than wrong place, wrong time. The Yankees’ sense of entitlement and unrestrained excess is timeless. They will tell you they built this stadium for the everyman, stressing what they consider still affordable pricing and amenities. But this stadium, in actuality, was built for a moneyed class that in many respects does not even exist in this city any longer.

• Mr. Sherman provides a listing of the 2009 payroll, and comes up with $207.4 million.
• Harvey Araton seems to feel the same way as Mr. Sherman:

The new Yankee Stadium is not about improved atmosphere; it is about amenities — and there are many. But in the context of New York’s fiscal reality, are they worth what was taken from the neighborhood folk, the taxpayer subsidies and the unholy prices of the premium seats, a fair number of which remain available? . . .

The unsold seats that stand to create pockets of blue reminders of overreaching are the Yankees’ problem. But the Steinbrenners have what they long wanted, while the players have computer screens at their dressing stalls inside a mall of a clubhouse that has a kitchen with two chefs, among places where reporters won’t roam. . . .

Of course, the demolition of the old Stadium is overdue. The neighborhood deserves at least some of its precious parkland back now that the house George M. Steinbrenner built with the help of the willing and the unwilling is officially open for business.

• PeteAbe gives his first impressions of the Stadium on a game day:

The biggest difference? Those fancy Legends seats that stretch from first base to third base are set apart by a high concrete wall. It’s like they wanted to protect the wealthy from the rest of society.

The building is just immense. The Great Hall looks like you could run a train through it. There are two small scoreboards in right and left field that show the linescore, the count, etc. There are also a lot more bleacher seats. A whole lot more.

• Some fans offered their thoughts on the new park:

As a longtime Yankees fan who saw more than 200 games at the old House that Ruth Built, Mike Generose acknowledged feeling a bit sentimental about the Yankees’ old park, still standing alongside the new venue.

“A little bit of your heart stays across the street,” he said. “But I guess if you have to move, this is a good place to move into.”

The Bronx stadium felt and sounded every bit like its urban setting, with elevated subway trains rumbling by within sight behind the outfield.

John Panzico lauded the ballpark’s openness as he squeezed the new, cushioned seats.

“I grew up in the old stadium. I brought my children there,” said the 62-year-old Panzico, who was raised on Staten Island and now lives in upstate Monroe. “I hope I’ll be starting a new tradition at this stadium with my grandchildren.”

• MLB.com offers a brief overview of the Yanks for the coming season.
• Derek Jeter and David Wright are going head-to-head . . . for charity:

Under the rules of Delta’s Jeter/Wright Batting Challenge, the player who ends the season with the highest batting average (based on a minimum 400 at bats) wins the big bonus for his charity.

In this competition, the loser is still a winner – his charity gets $50,000.

If for some reason one of the players gets hurt and doesn’t make the minimum number of at bats, Delta will call off the competition and give $75,000 to each of the players’ charities.

• The Boston Globe starts the year with 100 things to know about the Rays, Sox and Yankees.
• On this date in 1989, on the opening day of the new season, New York Yankees pitcher Tommy John ties a major league record by playing in his 26th season. John beats the Minnesota Twins, 4 – 2, for his 287th win.
• On this date in 1994, a total of 56,706 fans attend Opening Day, making it the largest crowd ever at the (then new) Yankee Stadium.
• We’ve arrived at the NCAA Final Four, which means we should take a look at the 2009 “Bronx Madness” standings.  “Heel Yeah”, despite having two fewer correct picks than “Karim Abdul Garcia”, leads by 38 points.  “Heel Yeah” has three of the four teams, including their title pick of North Carolina, still alive.  “Garcia” only has two teams alive, and their title pick of Louisville went down in the Elite Eight.  The only way “Heel Yeah” doesn’t take the honors is if Michigan State and Villanova win their respective semifinal matchups.  Then “Spanking the Wooden Floor” (ahem) will steal the top prize.

See you Monday . . .