Olbermann Digs.. The New Digs

[HT to SlidingIntoHome]

Jeter: It Won't Be The Same

From the Bergen Record comes Derek Jeter's comments on the New Yankee Stadium gradually making its way toward completion. Seems the players, like the fans, are essentially split on the idea of tearing down national monument in the hopes of replicating it across the street:

Building a new home for Jeter, A-Rod, Rivera and Posada is like sculpting a new Mount Rushmore for Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln.

“Just a hundred yards away?” Derek Jeter said. “That’s not too far for the ghosts to go.”

Later, after the hope of morning surrendered to the grim forecast for the afternoon and a postponed debut for Joe Girardi, the shortstop sounded a bit less enthusiastic about leaving the field of his childhood dreams.

“It’s not going to be the same,” Jeter said. “It’s a different stadium, so it’s impossible to have the same thing. It could have the same feel. It could have the same look. But it just won’t be the same.

“Regardless of how you try to duplicate something, it’s still a duplicate.”

..."I was saying I was building a house in Florida,” Jeter said, “and you’ve got the plans and you’ve got the model, but you still can’t picture yourself in it. ... You look over there and see a new Stadium, but I just can’t picture myself in it.”

It will be sad when children of the future ask, is there where Babe Ruth played, and we all have to reply: Well, sort of... they played next door where that Starbucks now sells Mocha Lattes.

Bleacher Creatures On New Stadium

Filip Bondy, author of the excellent Bleeding Pinstripes book, took the temperature of the infamous Bleacher Creatures regarding the new stadium and the impending fate of the current House That Ruth Built.

But there is no stopping the cranes now. The new stadium is rising right across the street, scaring the Creatures half to death. Where will they be next year at this time? The Yankees are offering them season tickets again, but will their seats be further removed from the field? Will their section feature the beloved, butt-molded plastic benches?

It appears from early sketches that the Creatures may be forced to sit directly behind box seaters at the new stadium. This is good news, in that the heckling of fellow fans will be made easier and it will be difficult for beer vendors to boycott the Creatures. But it is also bad news, because opposing right fielders might not hear the carefully concocted taunts, and Derek Jeter might have to strain to recognize his name during the first-inning roll call.

“As far as 39 goes next year,” says Bald Vinny Milano, “there is a right-field bleachers now, there will be a right-field bleachers in the new stadium. When it comes time to pay for our seats, I believe they will offer us something ‘comparable’ to what we have now and we’re pretty much gonna be at their mercy. I have zero faith that anyone that works with or is involved with the Yankees actually cares one way or another if any of us go to the new stadium.

“Personally, I’m not even sure that I will make the move.”

"You know me well," says Tina Lewis, queen of the Creatures. "I'm very, very, very sad. It's going to be strange. I've seen things out there - the magic, the good, the bad - it just breaks my heart. Something hit me the first day I saw the place. I can't explain it and no amount of money in this world could replace it."

It appears from early sketches that the Creatures may be forced to sit directly behind box seaters at the new stadium. This is good news, in that the heckling of fellow fans will be made easier and it will be difficult for beer vendors to boycott the Creatures. But it is also bad news, because opposing right fielders might not hear the carefully concocted taunts, and Derek Jeter might have to strain to recognize his name during the first-inning roll call.

As a frequenter of the Yankee Stadium bleachers, it will be sad to see an end to that irreplaceable atmosphere - which includes the crappy confines, horrible food selection, alcohol-ban and dilapidated tunnel.

Can't Tear Down "The Bat"

The meeting hub for the Yankees universe has a cloudy future, according to this Newsday article:

“Meet me at The Bat.”

It’s as much the Yankee Stadium experience as a visit to Monument Park, the Bleacher Creatures’ first-inning roll call or a $7.50 beer.

It’s The Bat, a popular meeting place at The House That Ruth Built. And no one is saying what’s going to happen to it once the stadium is demolished.

The 120-foot Louisville Slugger outside Gate 4—actually a boiler stack fitted to look like a bat, complete with a knob at the top, tape at the handle and Babe Ruth’s signature on the barrel—seems to have been overlooked as the Yankees prepare to make the move across the street to a new Yankee Stadium in 2009.

“We do not have knowledge of what will happen to ‘The Bat,’” Yankees spokesman Michael Margolis said.

Yankee Stadium's Hockey Farewell?

As the Yankees close in on their final season at the current Yankee Stadium, it appears as though the final professional contest held at the House That Ruth Built may involve slapshots and powerplays in place of double plays and walk offs. That's right. The Bronx may become Hockey Town USA II as the New York Rangers will likely play a regular season NHL game before the historic venue is torn down.

From the Daily News article:

As the current Rangers continue to drive down the stretch of this season, what is shaping up as a historic 2008-09 schedule now is expected to include a game at Yankee Stadium.

Momentum has built in recent weeks toward finalizing a deal that would have the Rangers play the final game in the storied history of the current Stadium, the Daily News has learned. The Yankees, who will move into their new Yankee Stadium for the 2009 baseball season, are said to be completely on board with having the NHL close the 85-year-old original.

And, anxious to build upon the buzz created by the wildly successful Winter Classic outdoor game between Pittsburgh and Buffalo at Ralph Wilson Stadium on New Year's Day, NBC and the NHL are intent upon seizing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. League and network representatives visited the Stadium recently to get an on-site view of what would need to be done to stage the event.

"It's something we've spoken both to the Yankees and to the city about," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The News. "But it's not a done deal. There are still other possibilities and a lot of moving pieces."