BALLPARK HISTORY

Ballparks are full of history. They each have thier own distinct features, The bricks and ivy in Wrigley, monument park and the mystique of Yankee stadium, the warehouse at Camden, the green monster at Fenway, and more, but when you go to a park its more than to see the game, its to take in the environment. As much as I dislike it, part of going to Turner is listening to the fans do that tommohawk chant. I also enjoy seeing the statues or plaques of players who have contributed to all that history.

Each ballpark also gives you a different perspective of the game. What might be a HR at one park is just a fly ball in another. The site lines, angles and views of a game vary from park to park, even if your sitting in the same general area. Also the in game extras , like the mascot races, or singing the stretch at Wrigley, Sweet Caroline at Fenway, or the 7th inning God Bless America at Yankee stadium.

Another great thing about parks is visiting the local bar near the stadium. Harry Carays and Murphy's in Chicago, Pickles in Baltimore, Hockeytown Cafe in Detroit, Hooters in Anaheim, Rock Bottom Brewery in Denver (and Cinci), Harpoon Brewery in Boston, and Billys sports bar in the Bronx.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Yankee Stadium, 1999-2008

#4

This was the final season at the old Yankee Stadium (08). The new one was almost finished and I will have to hit it someday. I had been here several times, but my friend Shawn had never been to the old one so this was a must for him.You see him here, he's like a kid in a candy store. He loved watching Mariano get the save against the Rays. Even with my dislike of the team, I enjoy watching them and have a ton of respect for players like Jeter and Rivera.


We got rained out and had to catch the second game of a double header the next day, but went down to the city and had a good time there. Also hit a bar next to yankee stadium, Billys sports bar, it was of course loaded with yankee stuff and was pretty cool. We were gonna hit Philly on the way home, but having to wait until the next day due to the rainout, we had to pass on Philly.


We had nosebleed seats, but thanks to the rain we were able to move up a little closer. We probably could have gotten even closer, but these were pretty good and the fans around us were pretty entertaining as well.


The scoreboard here was very basic, although they knew for many years that the new stadium was coming, so no reason to update it. You can see monument park below in the pic. The all star game was held here earlier in the year since it was the final season of an iconic ballpark.



This last pic was from 1999 when I took my kids to thier first game at Yankee Stadium. They were playing the Tigers that day. Its amazing how much digital cameras have improved since then.
I also went to 2 "subway series" games here. I remember the play that El Duque caught a comeback grounder and couldnt get the ball out of his glove, so he just threw the whole glove to 1st for the out. But I also had a chance to go to a game and passed, of course that was the day that David Cone was perfect. Still shooting myself for that one.