Previewing The Homestand Ahead: Lets Play Some Night Games Already!

For 2009, we thought we'd introduce a new series of posts, previewing the upcoming home stand. Instead of making the game on the the field the focus of these posts, we are going to focus on the things that affect the fans the most - ticket availability, weather, stadium news and notes and more. Hopefully this will be helpful to anyone heading out to any of the upcoming games. Since this will take up a lot of space on the page,

The Basics

• Dates: April 30 - May 7
• Games: 8
• Teams: 3
• Night Games: 6
• Weekend Day Games: 2
• Mid-week Day Games: 0

The Yankees return to the launching pad for their second home stand. The Yankees won four out of their first six home games in a rain-shortened set last week. Unfortunately, the losses they suffered were by the score of 22-4 and 10-2, so some fans have a bad taste in their mouth about the new stadium. Hopefully the Yankees can change that.

Tickets

• At a glance, courtesy of FanSnap.com:

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim @ New York Yankees Yankee Stadium (Bronx, NY)

Thu, Apr 30 at 7:05PM 5,000+ tickets from $8

Fri, May 1 at 7:05PM 9,000+ tickets from $8

Sat, May 2 at 1:05PM 9,000+ tickets from $18

Sun, May 3 at 1:05PM 9,000+ tickets from $15

Compare all 4 events

Boston Red Sox @ New York Yankees Yankee Stadium (Bronx, NY)

Mon, May 4 at 7:05PM 14,000+ tickets from $25

Tue, May 5 at 7:05PM 17,000+ tickets from $24

Compare both events

Tampa Bay Rays @ New York Yankees Yankee Stadium (Bronx, NY)

Wed, May 6 at 7:05PM 17,000+ tickets from $11

Thu, May 7 at 7:05PM 17,000+ tickets from $10

Compare both events

Face value tickets are available directly from the Yankee box office for the games against the Angels and against the Rays. Obviously, tickets for the Red Sox series are harder to come by and only the overpriced seats costing over $100 are available. Taking a look at the secondary market on StubHub and FanSnap, prices seem to be plummeting - even for the premium games.

We were able to use Ticketmaster.com to pull up a pair of face value, $23 Grandstand tickets for the home stand opener against the Angels. The tickets were in the outfield and in the last row. It looks like the secondary market might be the best bet though. There are plenty of deals to be had for below face value if you circumvent the Yankee ticket office, as evidenced by the lowest available price indicated in the "at a glance" section above. As we mentioned last week, the fun, new seats in the Mohegan Sun Sports Bar, The Bleacher Cafe and The Audi Yankees club are available for most of these games (at the time of writing this). Of course, the Legends seats ("greatest seats in the world") are available as well.

Weather

As always, the official NSI weather forecasts are courtesy of our friend Steve from NYNJPAWeather.com. Steve is a firm believer in the "don't focus on more than 5 days at a time or you will go crazy" theory of weather forecasting, so here is what he has to say about the weather for the Angels series, along with a sneak peak at the Boston series. Unfortunately, it seems like the beautiful, Summer weather from earlier this week is gone, and we are once again in a rainy, Spring weather pattern. Ugh:

The Yankees are going to have their hands full with impacts from the weather conditions through this weekend's series and into the Boston series.

The best potential playing conditions will be for tonight's game where generally dry conditions can be expected. The will be a risk of a shower for a later innings of the game, but the majority of the precipitation should hold off until after the game. Winds will be from the southeast around 5 to 15 mph. Temperatures for game time will range from 53 to 56 degrees.

There will be a persistent threat for showers and thunderstorms on Friday evening. A few of the thunderstorms may reach severe levels with the most significant threat being strong wind gusts and frequent lightning. However, the showers and thunderstorms will be scattered in nature. Otherwise partly cloudy to overcast conditions can be expected with a veering wind from the southwest to west around 5 to 10 mph with higher gusts around and in thunderstorms. Temperatures will range from the 63 to 67 degrees for game time.

Showers and thunderstorms will again remain a threat on Saturday afternoon, however I don't expect wide spread rainfall. The position of the cold front will be key as locations north of the cold front can expect a break in the precipitation. Winds will be from the west around 5 to 15 mph. Temperatures will range from 62 to 67 degrees through game time.

On Sunday, another area of low pressure along the cold front will produce more widespread rainfall. There is a very high threat for a delay or postponement of the game. Winds will be from the north and northeast around 5 to 15 mph and then northwest around 5 to 10 mph as the low pressure system passes to the south. Temperatures will range from 55 to 59 degrees through game time.

A brief look at the Boston series does feature some drier weather, but not by much. A warm front will approach the region on Monday evening, but the majority of the rainfall is currently expected to hold off until after the game. Conditions ahead of the warm front will be cool with a raw easterly wind. Low clouds may be an issue here off the Long Island sound. As for Tuesday evening, the threat for strong to severe thunderstorms return, but the timing of the storms will be highly dependent on the timing of the cold front, which is still questionable in exact timing.

Have a great weekend and be sure to bring a rain coat if you are going to these games!

Check back for more late-breaking updates from Steve when the weather dictates them.

Stadium News and Notes

• A Return To The Scene Of Many Nightmares

Bobby Abreu will return to the Bronx, after a few quality seasons with the Bombers. Our feeling is that the fan reaction will be one of indifference, as Bobby steered clear of controversy during his time in Pinstripes. With the supposed jet stream out to right field, Bobby is probably having nightmares about getting reacquainted with his biggest fear - the wall in Yankee Stadium.

• We Live In A World Where $1,250 For A Ticket Is A 50% Discount

The Yankees "slashed" prices of their most expensive (read: overpriced) seats this week. It likely won't have any effect on the average fan, so we're not sure why we are even including it in this piece.

• Cheers & Jeers

Cheers: Nick Swisher. Even after struggling through most of the road trip, Swish headed home in style, bashing home runs from both sides of the plate int he series finale against the Tigers. Nick was already a fan favorite after the first home stand, and it isn't likely to change now - he'll receive some of the biggest cheers.

Jeers: Mark Teixeira. We're not predicting boos of A-Rod proportions, but things could get ugly if Tex continues his struggles. Smart fans would notice that he is just missing some balls, drawing walks, and coming through when it counts (his OBP is over .500 with RISP). However, as we have learned the past few years with the A-Rod booing, Yankee Stadium isn't always filled with smart fans.

Which Games We'll Be At

We can't guarantee we'll be in our seats the whole time, but we are in possession of tickets for Friday, Sunday, Monday and Thursday. Our seats are in section 428, Row 10. If you are a reader of the blog, come and say hello. Our pictures are floating around in the "about" section at the top of the page in case you want to stalk...

Special Shout-Out

Friend of the blog and security guard at the new Yankee Stadium, Chris is heading back to his post at "Shaq's Shower Curtain." He missed the first home stand after some serious finger surgery. He isn't quite back to playing ball yet, but he is well enough to resume his duties of keeping people from sneaking down to the expensive seats. Chris is one of the good guys in the security force and he really enjoys his job. Please join us in welcoming him back to the stadium.