Archive for April, 2009
Open Thread: Scenes from the New Stadium
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(click image of a much larger view)
That sorry excuse for a panoramic shot of the New Stadium was taken by me, from our seats while the Yankees were taking batting practice before today’s game. Sheesh, you’d think I’d remember to at least get home plate in the picture, huh?
Luckily, I did manage to get some good shots of The Great Hall, which has banners of everyone from Reggie Jackson to Paul O’Neill, Donnie Baseball to Thurman Munson, and everyone in between. A banner alone couldn’t hold Reggie’s ego, so got his own wall as well. The screen in center field is frickin’ huge, just massive. The obstructed view seats in right and left fields are pretty bad though, and the TV screens really don’t help.
The position players stretched before the game while the pitchers played catch. Jose Veras played catch with Edwar Ramirez, CC Sabathia with Chien-Ming Wang, Andy Pettitte with someone I forgot, Joba Chamberlain with Brian Bruney, and Phil Coke with Dan Giese. Afterwards the starting rotation got together for a quick chat.
Coolest moment of the day: I was wandering around before the game, and as I walked past the entrance to the luxury suites Pilot Chesley Sullenberger walked out of the suite and took a look at The Great Hall. He’s the guy that landed the plane on the Hudson a few weeks back (I’m sure you knew that already), and threw out the first pitch. I did my best to grab a picture of him talking to some people who stopped to say hi as I went up the escalator. Very cool.
You can check out my entire set of photos via my Flickr slideshow. Ben will upload his pictures at some point for you to see as well.
As far as the actual Stadium goes, the biggest problem I had with it was the levels of the sound system. We were sitting directly below a speaker, and my Mo, it was deafeningly. To whoever the lady is that goes about the Stadium asking people trivia questions and what not … don’t talk so damn loud, the person is right next you! The sound system went completely silent in the sixth inning, and stayed that way for the rest of the game. It’s a good thing they played these two games, now they have a chance to fix that.
Other than the PA system, the place was amazing. Monument Park seems a little too hidden, it would be nice to have it on full display as it was at the Old Stadium. The upper deck isn’t nearly as steep as it was across the street, and I like the look of the dark blue seats. I’m sure some people will bitch and moan about tiny little things, but overall the place is phenomenal. I look forward to watching baseball there for the rest of my life.
Here’s your open thread for the night. The Devils and Islanders are both in action, as are both Final Four games. Anything goes here, just be nice.
Peña makes the cut
Posted by: | CommentsThe Yankees have selected their 25th man. Ramiro Peña, 23 and with no experience above AA, has earned the back-up infielder spot while Angel Berroa has been reassigned to the Minor League camp. To make room for Peña on the 40-man roster, the Yankees DFA’d Dan Giese. There’s a very good chance he will be claimed by the Padres. Peña will back up Cody Ransom, Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano for the next few weeks while A-Rod is on the DL. While Peña has never been much of a hitter, he has flashed some serious leather throughout his career and will be used for this defense.
As I said on Thursday, this is a move that doesn’t really matter, but it is marginally interesting that the Yanks went with Peña. Had they opted for Berroa, they would have just DFA’d him when A-Rod is activated, but Peña will stick on the 40-man and thus limit the Yanks’ roster flexibility. Peña will wear 19 on his jersey even though that number should have been retired in honor of Luis Sojo years ago.
How much it all costs
Posted by: | CommentsWe know the new Yankee Stadium has a gaudy price tag, but what about the new-look Yankees? The team had a total payroll of $209,081,577 in 2008 (source) and spent a lot of money to land CC Sabathia. A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira this winter.
Joel Sherman ran the Opening Day numbers yesterday, and they may be a bit surprising. The Yanks’ total payroll clocks in at $207,461,739, a good $1.6 million less than last year. The team still has to decide between Angel Berroa or Ramiro Peña to that list, but either one of them will get just a prorated amount for the time they spend on the big league roster.
Basically, the Yankees managed to break even on the payroll while filling holes and making the team better than it was last year. Salary cap proponents like to bemoan the Yankees’ spending ways, but they are spending wisely. They replaced players they lost dollar for dollar and did so without sacrificing the minor league depth they have. That’s moneyball for you.
After the jump, the full breakdown of salary figures. This will change before the end of the year.
Exhibition Game Thread: One Final Tune-Up
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Ah finally, the last day of meaningless baseball. The only thing on the line today is the utility infielder job, but I think that’s already been decided and just hasn’t been announced. After the game the team will get ready for their season opener on Monday afternoon, when they’ll be in Camden to take on the improving Orioles.
The New Stadium looked amazing last night, now we get to see how she looks during the day. As Ben mentioned this morning, the two of us will be there to soak it all in. Well, hopefully the weather cooperates and we won’t have to soak anything in, literally. I’ll be wandering around beforehand, but I’ll settle in to my seat (Section 420B, Row 5, Seat 9) about a half-hour before first pitch. Stop by and say hi.
AJ Burnett is starting and will be relieved by Andy Pettitte. I’m guessing we’ll see Phil Coke and Damaso Marte if any extra arms are needed since they didn’t throw yesterday. Head on over to LoHud for the lineup. Enjoy the game folks.
Photo Credit: Eric Thayer, Reuters
San Fran likes Nady
Posted by: | CommentsVia MLBTR, Jon Heyman has a tiny little blurb about the Giants being interesting in bringing Xavier Nady back to the Bay Area at some point. It isn’t clear if Heyman means they’re interested in trading for the X-man during the season, or pursuing him when he’s a free agent next winter. Nady, who grew up about two hours south of San Francisco and starred at Cal-Berkeley, fits their need for a power bat that can fill in at first base and the corner outfield spots. Given his contract status, the Yanks shouldn’t expect much for Nady in a mid-season trade, and would probably maximize their return by offering him arbitration after the year and taking the compensation draft pick(s).
Meet (most of) RAB at Yankee Stadium today
Posted by: | CommentsWe couldn’t let the opening weekend at the new Yankee Stadium go by without heading up to the Bronx to check out the new digs. While Joe is out of town this weekend, Mike and I are heading up to Yankee Stadium this afternoon to scope out the scene. While we’ll be wandering the halls before the game, we’d like to invite any RAB reader who’s coming to the stadium today to find us once the game starts. We’ll be sitting all the way up in the Grandstand in section 420B. We’re in row 5, seats 8 and 9. Come find us.
Corona returned by Mariners
Posted by: | CommentsFollowing up on yesterday’s post, the Yankees officially welcomed Reegie Corona back from the Mariners today. After hitting .281-.311-.386 in 57 at-bats this spring, Corona was assigned to Double-A Trenton, where he played last year. All of the players the Yanks lost in the Rule 5 Draft this year have been accounted for, as Corona, Zack Kroenke and Ivan Nova returned to the Yanks while Jason Jones will remain with the Twins after a trade.
Exhibition Game Thread: Test Runnin’
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Baseball in New York is finally back. It’s been six long months since the city last hosted a game featuring big leaguers, and even though tonight’s game is just an exhibition, who cares? It’s baseball in New York.
The star of the show will undoubtedly be the New Stadium, which will experience the tender lovin’ of a Major League game for the first time tonight, even though the game doesn’t count. The weatherman says to expect some showers throughout the evening, but the baseball gods have a way of taking care of these things. Remember, the final game at the Old Stadium was threatened by rain, but come first pitch there was nothing but blue skies and sunshine.
Lou Piniella and his Chicago Baby Bears will help christen the new place in what amounts to nothing more than a test run of all the services and neat little features. Between tonight and tomorrow the bigwigs will get an idea of what needs to be improved before the season starts, and then while the Yanks are on the road the next two weeks, that stuff will be taken care of. Beautiful, ain’t it?
Here’s the starting nine:
Jeter, SS
Damon, LF
Teixeira, 1B
Matsui, DH
Posada, C
Cano, 2B
Nady, RF
Ransom, 3B
Gardner, CF
On the mound is number forty, Chien-Ming Wang.
Both YES and the MLB Network will be carrying the game; first pitch is scheduled for 7:15. Enjoy folks.
Note: Long-time RAB reader and commentor Arman Tamzarian asked us to pass this along (no, that’s not his real name):
I’m a Program Manager with Larkin Street Youth Services in San Francisco. I’m running a half marathon to raise money for the program, and am looking for sponsorship help. Larkin Street has been working with homeless youth for the past 25 years in San Francisco. Larkin Street not only works with youth ages 12-25 around housing, but has a whole division teaching resume building, interview skills, job retention, and getting youth jobs. Larkin Street works to move youth out of the system and into independence.
You can find his sponsorship page here, and you can also find more info about Larkin St. here. Even if it’s just a couple bucks, please consider helping out.
Photo Credit: Flickr user matt.hintsa
Sprucing up the neighborhood
Posted by: | CommentsFor now, the weather is holding in New York City, and the Yankees may just get to play that first game at the new stadium in a few hours after all. Meanwhile, City Room, the Metro-focused New York Times blog, checked in with an interesting piece on the efforts to cleanup the neighborhood before the stadium opens today.
Here’s how Matthew Warren described it:
Inside the stadium, workers cleaned and polished metal railings. Outside, landscapers planted bushes and trees. City park workers picked up trash, painted benches and spread grass seed in nearby parks. Power washers were sent out to remove graffiti from neighboring buildings. Workers put down lines of fresh white paint on the crosswalks, and even a nearby McDonald’s was undergoing renovation.
“Now for opening day, there’s a little bit more of a rush to get things clean,” said a parks department worker enrolled in a job training program, who was painting park benches green at Macombs Dam Park. “I’m not sure when the last time they were painted was.”
While it’s a good idea for the South Bronx to put its best face forward for the debut of the new home of the Yankees, it shouldn’t take a new stadium for the city to clean up a dirty neighborhood. Mike and I are heading up to the Bronx tomorrow afternoon. We’ll have a full report and lots of pictures after the game then.
Just 21 days 'til pitchers and catchers report.
