Thursday, April 2, 2009

The Dimensions Will Be The Same For The Players On The Field, But What About The Fans In The Stands?

The Yankee players aren't worried about the layout of the new Yankee Stadium, but should the fans be? Those who spent countless summer nights in the claustrophobic confines of the cheap seats at the old stadium got used to certain quirks that captured their attention and affected their every day experience.

Fans sitting in the Tier Box seats in right field fair territory were able to take solace in the fact that even though they were in some of the worst seats in the house, they had a very good chance of catching a home run ball from a lefty slugger. With the new upper deck being more recessed from the field of play, upper deck home runs may be a thing of the past.

What about the left field upper deck? It was pretty exciting to see a right-handed slugger tee off and slug one into the cheap seats in left. The fans up there didn't expect it, but when a ball came their way, it was cherished.

Home runs "in the black" in center field are no more. Michael Kay meticulously kept count of how many home runs had been hit there and was constantly gushing about how rare it was. Is Mohegan sun the new black? Is it possibly that A-Rod will plant an A-bomb on TOP of the Mohegan Sun Sports bar? We will have to wait and see.

The Tier boxes down the lines in sections 7 and 8 were hotbeds for foul balls at the old Yankee Stadium. We never did create our proposed foul ball tracker, but from observing many games at the old Yankee Stadium, we came to the conclusion that fans had the best chance of capturing a foul ball by sitting in those sections. The question now is whether or not the foul balls will even be able to reach the upper deck. It is likely that they will reach the upper deck directly behind home plate, but down the lines is now an iffy proposition

We have already touched on the fishnet situation behind home plate. Even if you never had the opportunity to sit in those suites and make failed attempts at catching a ball in a net, you had the chance to boo the little rich kids who failed at it.

It has already been touched on that Yankee Stadium's new seat layout leaves the distinct possibility of a less imposing home crowd. We're less worried about the noise factor, and more worried about the fun quirks that were left behind in the old place. We'll certainly keep an eye out for the new and exciting things that people who spend way too much time at Yankee Stadium notice and learn to love.

Comments (5)

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Biggest difference about the netting (my brother is in the stadium at the Batting Practice right now) is that the net behind home plate is much higher - so from anywhere in the upper deck behind home plate - the netting obscures the catcher, home plate and the batter. While he says that the new Stadium is beautiful - there are a lot of quirky things about our seats (in the so-called Jim Beam Suite) that are very, very disappointing. Details and pics tomorrow when I go myself.
Brother of ICU Doc here...I spent the better part of two years looking forward to this day and, while the Stadium itself is gorgeous, my seats are not.

Mind you, these aren't the run-of-the-mill obstructed seats that are way out in left field or the bleachers or anything like that. These are the FIRST ROW of the Jim Beam Terrace Suite tickets behind home plate.

We have 4 on the aisle in the first row (sec 319), and two on the aisle in the second row directly behind them.

I will likely use the second row.

The problems?

1. Leg room, or the lack of it. Those who sat in the first row of the Tier in the old stadium will remember the ample leg room. Not so in the new Stadium. There are13 inches of space between the front of the seat and the wall. Try putting a chair 13 inches from the wall and sitting down. The second row give you more room because of the space behind the seat in front of you.

2. No cup holders. I'll repeat that...no cup holders in the first row. And no ledge like they had at the old stadium.

3. The Plexiglas barrier in front of the seats are bordered by a one-inch strip of aluminum, and which causes a zig-zag through the infield.

4. The Jim Beam Suite is basically an private enclosed concession stand three sections away. I was led to believe that it was directly behind our section.

5. Those hand-slotted scoreboards in the left and right field walls are microscopic.

The first two seats are $135, 2nd-4th row $110, and the last 3 rows (in my view, the bargain seats) are $100. By far, the first row is the worst.

Please don't mistake this for the rant of a petulant spoiled kid is pissed because he wanted a Mercedes for Christmas and got a Cadillac instead. We paid good money for tickets where the view, basically, is crap and could have easily been remedied by a few common-sense fixes.

I guess we'll see what happens when our feelings are made known to the ticket office. I won't hold my breath.
2 replies · active 834 weeks ago
Mickey -

Do you have any photos? Thanks for the long description, but sometimes pictures really are worth 1,000 words.

Sorry for your misfortune...
I'll have more after tonight. All I have right now is video.
mastermind's avatar

mastermind · 834 weeks ago

In grandstand section 410 the view and leg room was fine- During batting practice a few balls made it into terrice- none will reach upper part of grandstand
And much to my amazement the beam along the 3rd baseline myself and the Insider made public is still there in the expensive seats

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