Category: New York Mets

Just in time for the pennant race, we have yet another review of the new New York Yankees and Mets stadiums, courtesy of Metropolis magazine’s Mark Lamster, who’d previously critiqued New York Times architecture critic Nicolai Ourossouff’s review of the new places as being too focused on abstract aesthetics and not enough on actual ballpark experience. Lamster’s principal conclusion this time around: New Yankee Stadium and Citi Field are mostly about making money, and aren’t shy about it.

When I first started attending games on my own, some 20 years ago, a ticket to the Yankee bleachers cost $1.50, pocket change even for a kid on a tight allowance. That same ticket now costs $14: not an unreasonable sum, but more than a movie and enough to keep a student on a limited budget from making it too much of a habit. The new stadium, for that matter, doesn’t beg that kind of relationship. It’s a special-occasion place, somewhere to visit a couple of times a season. Why empty your wallet for an entertainment event that might not be entertaining? (Even the best teams lose roughly 40 percent of their games.) When you’re stuck in the nosebleed seats, and a beer, a dog, and a bag of peanuts cost upward of 20 bucks, thoughts of exploitation inevitably percolate through the mind. It is in those moments that the fan-team compact seems hopelessly broken, and one begins to wonder about the difference between being a fan and being a chump. Sometimes it seems like there’s no difference at all.

I’m pretty sure Yankees bleachers prices went up to $3 in 1986, but otherwise, hard to argue with that — and yes, I’d be saying that even if Lamster didn’t quote me in his piece.

It’s official: Everybody and their sister has now chimed in with their thoughts on the Yankees‘ new stadium. The latest:

• There are still lots of empty seats, according to the New York Times, though the ultra-pricey ones in camera range appear to be filling up some.
• Bald Vinny likes it, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, though all he’s actually quoted as saying is that he likes that bleacher tickets are still the same price and it’s “sad to see” all the empty luxury seats.
• Alan Schecter at Bleacher Report says, “I don’t think they could have put together a less fan-friendly experience if they tried.” He also reports that the new let the fans down to the field during batting practice rule isn’t as generous as it appears: It only applies during Yankees batting practice, and fans are ordered to skedaddle as soon as the visiting team takes the field.
• The Business Insider suggests the Yankees management could fix matters through the magic of the marketplace: “24 hours before each game starts, for example, remaining seats could be sold via an online auction in which prices drop 1% a minute until they’re all gone.” Though they also note that the risk that “people and corporations [would] stop buying tickets in advance so as to save money.” Now there’s an idea.
• The Newark Star-Ledger thinks it’s time for a fan boycott. It’s never worked before, but you can’t blame people for trying.
• And finally, for a change of pace: Scott M.X. Turner’s bad day at the Mets‘ new stadium, including reports that Citi Field is likewise beset by empty seats and bans on viewing batting practice from the field level.

Some more reactions of late to the new New York Mets and Yankees stadiums:

The New York Times’ Bats blog worries that “Let’s Go Mets!” chants sound weaker in the new, smaller-capacity but physically larger Citi Field. Which will come as some surprise to the Huffington Post’s Michael Shapiro, who insists that Citi is intimate like Ebbets Field. (The HuffPost’s Thomas B. Edsall gives a more measured overview of the new Yankees facility and its funding controversies, including a quote from yours truly.)

NJ.com blogger Mike says he was “both impressed and disappointed” by his first visit to the new Yankee Stadium, digging the open concourses and abundant food options, but missing the close-in upper deck and history of the old stadium: “Overall, the new place lacks the character of the old, but much of that character was rooted in the fact that the old place was old. … The new place in comparison, while more comfortable in many ways, also felt sterile in many areas.”

The Bongo Frenzy blog notes the irony of Citi Field honoring Citi Field while dedicating much of its space to exclusive clubs: “In the elite Delta Club, fans are segregated into Delta Club and Delta Club Silver fans. I wonder if there are signs above the water fountains in the Delta Club that read, ‘Silver’s Only.'”

After the Yankees and Cleveland Indians combined to hit 20 homeruns in the first four games at the new Yankees park, there’s growing speculation as to whether the team has inadvertantly created a homer haven. Greg Rybarczyk of Hit Tracker notes that contrary to team claims that the new park’s dimensions are the same as the old, the Yankees actually moved the right-field fences in at the new place, while making them shorter as well; however, Rybarczyk notes that homeruns are flying out of parks all over baseball at increased rates, and speculates that a juiced ball is the likeliest explanation.

Finally, the Bronx Beat, a site run by Columbia Journalism School students, has turned my Yankees stadium cost spreadsheet into a nifty infographic, suitable for framing, if your wall can hold Flash applications.