The Night I Got Kicked Out of Yankee Stadium--and Snuck Back In

It's a story that I've told many times, but one that still seems to bring a smile and cringe to my face: the night I got kicked out of old Yankee Stadium. It's a slow day here and I figured it was a good time to finally put the story on the blog. So here it goes:

The stadium security policy got me kicked out of a game--but provided for a memorable night

It was April 18, 2002 and I headed down to the old ballpark in the Bronx with my buddies Jordan and Micah to see the Baltimore Orioles take on the New York Yankees. The Yankees had David Wells pitching vs. Scott Erickson who the Yankees had pretty much owned over his career (9-13 with a 4.98 ERA and 1.522 WHIP).

I had three seats for that night and we piled into Jordan's minivan and headed down to Yankee Stadium. I was about to have major surgery, I still hadn't decided on where I was going to college, I was nervous/excited/anxious about leaving home to go to school, and I felt like a night of baseball with my boys would help take my mind off what was going on in my life.

Backing up a bit, my invitation to Micah was in return for him inviting me to Opening Day. His father's law firm had acquired four season tickets for the 2002 season in the last row behind the visiting dugout in the Field Box section (I believe that was the name of the area--though @leokitty suggests Field Championship via Twitter which is probably right). We had played hooky, and took the train from Scarsdale on Opening Day to see them play the Devil Rays. I told him I would pay him back with a game and the April 18th game was the one. 

The game was a doozy. The Yankees led off the bottom of first with a Soriano single, then a steal of second and a hit by Nick Johnson put runners at the corners for Derek Jeter (no Bernie Williams that night so the make-shift lineup had Derek Jeter in the three-hole). Jeter singled home Soriano and then Johnson scored two batters later when Jorge Posada hit a line drive single to center.

Read more>>

View from the 4 Train Platform: Yankee Stadium Deconstruction Completed

I made the trip from West Hartford to NYC last week for a doctor's appointment.  Never one to miss an opportunity to observe Yankee history in the making -- however depressing that history may be -- I decided to kill some time between lunch and dinner by heading up to The Empty Plot Of Land Formerly Known As Yankee Stadium for some photo opportunities.

Below are the photos I snapped with my iPhone, documenting the old and the new.  The entire structure of the old Stadium is gone.  All we have left is scrap metal, crumbled concrete, mud, and (de)construction equipment.  Standing in between the two ballparks, I appreciated the beauty and grandeur of the New Yankee Stadium, but I resented it at the same time.  As I walked around the area on such a gorgeous spring day, I just wanted the old place back.

P.S. How sad is that bat, still standing all by itself behind where home plate used to be??

Read more>>

Running Series: Yankee Stadium Deconstruction Update 5/10/10

Yesterday, while heading up to Westchester for Mother's Day through the Bronx, I passed by the New Yankee Stadium and the remnants of old Yankee Stadium. It's depressing. At this point, it is one piece of the stands and nothing else. Mud, debris, cleanup vehicles, The Bat...and this one structure that was one of my least favorite parts of the old place (it was the walkway on the side of the outfield).

The most amazing part for me? The fact that while the Old Stadium felt enormous, the footprint left is tiny in comparison. In other words, it's strange to think that the small plot of dirt that currently sits on this spot housed so many people at one point. I used to walk into the Old Stadium and I felt overwhelmed by the place. Now I look at the plot of land and try to remember the structure that was there. While my subway car was whizzing by, I decided to snap a few photos. Check them out below and let us know your thoughts as the last pieces of the House that Ruth Built are finally torn down.

Read more>>

Running Series: Yankee Stadium Deconstruction Update 5/5/10

Quick!  Get a look at the very last piece of Yankee Stadium before it comes crashing down.

That's all we have left -- just a small piece of the right field stands in front of the 4 train tracks.  Everything else has been leveled.  Since this last segment has been left alone for a while now, I feel like the deconstruction crews have been toying with us.  The longer it stands, the more the knife is twisted and it hurts.  Maybe they are Red Sox (or Mets) fans.

Here is what the now-vacant plot of land looks like...

Read more>>

Running Series: Yankee Stadium Deconstruction Update 4/15/10

It has been a while since we last posted on this running series.  So much has happened since then -- there is barely any Stadium left!  I will spare you the tearjerker introduction and just give you some pictures.

Wait, before I start adding photos, I have one question for our readers.  Why did the City of New York refuse to leave Gate 2 intact?  What possible reasons could the city have for demolishing it?  Not only was it the last surviving piece of the original 1923 Stadium, but it was also located on the corner of the property, directly adjacent to the New Yankee Stadium.  In other words, it wasn't located smack in the middle of the fields.  It wasn't going to interfere with a parking garage or a sidewalk or anything like that.  It could have served as a beautiful entryway to the new fields.  It would have been an enduring symbol of the history that took place on that patch of land in the Bronx.  And it would have looked beautiful next to the majestic 21st century ballpark that was designed to look like a reincarnation of Gate 2 itself!

Alas, there was nothing that we or anyone else could have done to prevent NYC's shortsightedness.  We just have to take solace in the fact that everyone will eventually (or right now) rue the city's hasty decision to destroy the one remaining piece of history we had left.

On to the photos.  As always, these are courtesy of Tom Kaminski in Chopper 880.

Read more>>

Running Series: Yankee Stadium Deconstruction Update 4/1/10 **GATE 2 DEMOLISHED**

Much to the dismay of those calling for its preservation, Gate 2 has been destroyed.  The Yankee Stadium deconstruction process, which had proceeded at a snail's pace for months and months, absolutely raced through the month of March: much of the building's structure has disappeared over the last few weeks.

At this pace, NYaT's highly unofficial estimate is that the remaining parts of the Stadium will be gone in another 4-6 weeks, leaving no trace of the history that occurred there.  This author believes that NYC's stubborn refusal to preserve even a small part of the Stadium is a big mistake that fans of the Yankees and of baseball in general will lament for many years to come.  Gate 2 would have been perfect in that capacity.

Without further ado, here are the photos.  Thanks, as always, to Tom Kaminski in Chopper 880.

Read more>>