The New Hallowed Ground
Via guest blogger Didyk…
I wasn't sure how to feel about the groundbreaking ceremony for the new
Stankee stadium.
Overdone as only NY can...absolutely!
I'd luv to bash the organization for knocking down what is arguably one of the greatest parks ever (see also Wrigley and Fenway) all in the pursuit of money. And yes, just because the Stanks sell out now doesn't mean the new stadium isn't about money, rather it is about MORE money. The PR spin is that this is done for the fans, but anything done "for the fans" is really done so that "fans spend more money". The two aren't mutually exclusive.
Yet I do recognize that what benefits ownership also arises from fan satisfaction. And that there will be many benefits to the next generation of fans. Randy Levine has already proclaimed that the new stadium will be the greatest ever built. Can that be true if it is still in the South Bronx?
Of course, we all know what Randy Levine's comments are worth. But even in the face of his hyperbole, the new stadium will obviously provide amenities and comforts that the old park clearly lacked - hopefully seats for extra security personnel. As such, it is hard to take a cynical view of this situation. I'm sure that Wrigley and Fenway will be confronted with similar forces that will inevitably lead to their destruction. Ballparks must eventually be updated.
But for now, I can't help by take a little comfort in the building of a new park. No matter how nice it is, and how much propaganda is spewed, the lasting impression for me is that New York loses some of its cache with this entire affair. Fenway and Wrigley will be the beloved cathedrals of baseball. Baseball is steeped in history. And Stankee fans love to brag about how the history of baseball is intimately linked with Stankee history. Well, a symbol of that will be no more, and I couldn't be happier. No more "house that Ruth built". No more "aura and mystique". No more "hallowed ground".
Now if we could only do something about that 56 game hitting streak.
posted by pbryon @ 6:18 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
I don't buy this claim that the Stadium had a mystique or that it was "hallowed ground." The Yankees essentially haven't been playing in the House that Ruth built since they re-modeled in the seventies. Yankee Stadium, after that, really sort of became just another mediocre decaying 70s ballpark. It looked nothing like it did in the Ruth-DiMaggio-Mantle era. Even the dirt is different. They replaced all of the dirt a few years ago. Essentially, the "memories" being lost are the Reggie years and the run from 1996-2000.
My feelings toward the stadium started to change when I took my elderly father in a wheelchair to a game in 2001. While they may have claimed that the stadium was handicapped accessible, the streets around the stadium certainly were not. A wheel came off the wheelchair because of the rough pavement on the way to the parking lot and it was sheer hell to try to get the wheel back on. The bathrooms were so crowded and filthy that it was a miserable experience trying to maneuver a wheelchair around them. The concourse was so narrow and dark that I couldn't enjoy the game because I dreaded pushing the wheelchair through the crowds after the game (We ended up leaving early which I find to be almost a sacreligious thing to do).
All this being said, I would have felt bad if the new stadium was not in the Bronx. It would have been a shame to lose the "Bronx Bombers" nickname.
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