Yankee Stadium Open To Watch Game 3 Of The ALCS, Live From Anaheim

Well, this is something new from the Yankees (courtesy of WCBS880.com):

The New York Yankees announced Sunday that they will open the Stadium Field Level and Great Hall to the public to watch the broadcast of Game 3 of the American League Championship Series from Anaheim on Monday, October 19. The decision to open the Stadium was made after consultation with Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr.

Turnstiles between Gates 4 and 6 will open at 3:30 p.m. for the 4:13 p.m. Game. Fans can watch the Game in the Great Hall or in the opened sections of the Field Level.

What a great idea. Those expensive high definition video boards are amazing to look at and fans will certainly enjoy the opportunity to pay $9 for beer cheer for their team with fellow fans. No word on whether they'll do something similar for game 4, but this is probably a one-time deal due to the 4:13 PM start time.

Anyone planning on heading up to the Bronx for this? We'll be stuck at work, but it seems like a great opportunity for Yankees fans to watch the game together.

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Yankees New Mitsubishi Diamond Vision Video Screen Broken Already?

(click the photo to see the damage)

What you see above is what happens to a 101- by 59-foot HD Diamond Vision scoreboard manufactured by Mitsubishi after it spends a week in the rain. We're not television repairmen, so we can't say what is wrong with it, but we immediately noticed the glitch as soon as we entered Yankee Stadium on Thursday, May 7. For those with not-so-impressive eyesight, take a look at the stuff on the right side of the video screen that looks like sound meter bars. Those aren't supposed to be there.

The Yankees have not divulged the cost of this mammoth screen, but the Dallas Cowboys are installing one only slightly larger and it cost them $35 million. If we had to guess, we'd think this one set the Yankees back at least half of that. Perhaps the Yankees should have been like the Mets and gone with a Daktronics screen?

Hopefully Mitsubishi offers a good warranty...

A couple of more photos if you






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About Our Rainy Sunday In The Bronx

We knew going in that yesterday's game was likely to be postponed, but we had access to the highly regarded Audi Yankees Club waiting at the Will Call windows, and wanted to snag them up for use at the rescheduled game. The lovely girlfriend was on hand, meaning we had the pleasure of her company and also the opportunity to chronicle what we saw with some photos. We'll be a bit less wordy today and let the photos tell the story, if you

Since we had access to the Audi Club, we got to enter through the fancy Gate 2, otherwise known as the home of the silver George Steinbrenner statue. Unfortunately the girlfriend was having no part of us posing for lewd photographs, denigrating the statue. Disappointing. An uppity elevator ride later and we were at the entrance of the uppity Audi Yankees club. Welcoming us at the door was this lovely menu:



For dinner with a couple of big eaters it might be worth it. For a guy and his light-weight girlfriend, it just doesn't seem like a worthwhile investment, especially for lunch. Since we weren't eating, we were banished from any part of the "club" that had a view of the field. Essentially we were in an upscale bar, and and a cramped one at that.







If you decide to look on the bright side, the club also offers $140 tickets which include all you can eat food and actually have a great view of the field. Definitely not for those on a tight budget, but if you want some guaranteed value out of your tickets, go with these. Plenty of good seats are still available:



Five minutes shuffling around the "club" uncomfortably was enough for us, so we headed out to see what else the rainy stadium had in store for us.

The public areas were cramped, as would be expected with everyone scrambling for cover from the rain. The Nathan's was especially crowded:



So was the Carl's Cheesesteaks (what else is new):



But if you wanted a cold one from the [plopped in the middle of nowhere] "Beers Of The World" stand, there was no need to wait:



Taking a peek at this sign gives you an idea why people aren't lining up:



$11 for a 16 oz. Blue Moon on tap? PASS.

Many others made the same choice regarding Famiglia's $5 slices of cardboard covered with cheese and sauce:



It was great to see the Yankees infuse some life into an area that we had previously deemed "concrete-jungly," and so boring that we had stopped the live stream - even if the tables and chairs were a bit of an odd couple:



Once in the upper deck, it was apparent that we should have brought our galoshes. Apparently $1.6 billion doesn't buy you drainage in the upper deck:



Try as they might, sweeping water around without a drain nearby just won't cut it:



Even though we knew that the game wasn't going to start, we were sick of dodging puddles, and we didn't want to head home yet. So like those around us with covered seats, we decided to sit down:



Good thing the Yankees were making use of the huge hi-def monitor that probably accounted for a large chunk of the $1.6 billion dollar stadium:



How else would we have known what was going on? The tarp on the field and the water pouring from the sky might have been a bit too subtle for some.

Right around 2 PM, the Yankees put us all out of our misery and postponed the game. Just before the announcement was made, they actually did make use of the huge video board. A five minute video featuring a chef from the NYY Steak restaurant took center stage, showing off some delicious-looking lobster mac 'n cheese (this is the second time we have been tempted by this) and the creation of some creme brule (we're too lazy to figure out how to put the accents in over the e's). As tempting as the offerings were, we continued to resist the urge to spend our hard-earned money on the Yankees' new and exciting food options - at least on this rainy Sunday.

Some more skeptical folks might accuse the Yankees of taking advantage of their loyal fans and allowing them to spend money on concessions while knowing all the while that the game would not be played. We'd like to think that even with a forecast as bleak as today's was, the Yankees were simply doing all they could to squeeze the game in. After all, the Angels won't be coming back to town. At the very worst, the Yankees knew that many people were likely making their first trip to the new stadium and wanted to give them a chance to check out the new place, even if the game was going to be canceled.

As of now, the makeup date for this rainout is not scheduled. With an exciting start like today, we can't wait to resume our adventure. Hopefully the makeup game isn't played in Anaheim!
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Jorge Posada LAUGHS at your lo-def stadium video screens

(Photo: WCBS 880)

Pictured above is a video test being administered on Thursday, January 29 inside of the new Yankee Stadium. As you can tell, that screen is huge. If it looks this great in photos, I can only imagine how impressive it is when you are at the game. As River Ave Blues noted earlier this week, don't expect to see in-game replays of controversial plays on that mammoth 58 by 103 foot screen - it is against MLB rules.

Be sure to check out all of the rest of the photos that WCBS 880 shot from inside of the stadium. There are even some photos from inside of John and Suzyn's radio booth, but we'll let the guys over at It Is High... cover that one!

For a change, the eye in the sky, Tom Kaminski is NOT responsible for these photos. We can only assume he is up there, watching like a hawk, waiting to snap some more impressive aerial photos.

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Video from inside of the new Stadium

This was a pretty cool find by Greg over at Sliding Into Home. Someone posted footage from inside of the new Yankee Stadium on YouTube. Good to see they are already forcing 16 oz. cups of watered down Budweiser down our throats. Will beers crack $10 next season (other than the 24 oz. Fosters/Heineken)? The anticipation is killing me.




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The new Yankee Stadium continues to take shape...

Sliding Into Home has been on top of the new Yankee Stadium construction updates since day one, so it is not surprising at all to find these photos.

Without stealing Greg's scoop too much, here are some of my favorites:




That screen sure does put the screen in the current Stadium to shame.



That is some legit legroom in the upper deck seats. I'd say it is at least double the current leg room that upper deck seats offer.

Finally, this overhead shot is epic.

Just 8 months until the crowds start pouring in!

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