Plans have been announced for a new Yankee Stadium. It should be ready for the opening of the 2009 baseball season. Wait! No, stop, damnit! Am I missing something here? Why on earth would anyone want to destroy the world's most famous sports arena? Yankee Stadium (please do not call it the
old Yankee Stadium) is hallowed ground. It's been called the "House That Ruth Built." Well Colonel Jacob Ruppert built it, but "The Babe" made it necessary. The great ones played there! Most of us who grew up in the NYC area could not imagine a summer without going to the ballpark! The main thing, with me, is that Yankee Stadium
is hallowed ground. It's more than the thousands of hot dogs and beers that I have enjoyed there. It's more than seeing Mickey Mantle hit a ball farther than I had ever seen before. It's more than remembering my dad tell me of when he attended Lou Gerhig Day and the entire sell-out crowd wept. It's more than all of this.
A new stadium will be built. George will get his luxury boxes. We will live to see beer sell for $20 and we will savor the $15 hot dog. I have sat in luxury boxes. I know what I'm talking about. Baseball was meant to be watched from the open air with the beverage of your choice, hot dogs, peanuts and their shells all over the place and vendors hawking their wares. Maybe we should remember that we are watching a sporting event in a large ball park, not going to a formal theatrical event. I feel very strongly about this, even though I am no longer in the neighborhood. Please comment on this.
New Yankee Stadium
