The Undoucheification Of The New Stadium Has Begun

Via our pal Ross from New Stadium Insider, who was at the game last night, comes the news that the Peter Max Art Gallery has been removed from the Field Level of the New Yankee Stadium in favor of a New York Yankees Women's Team Store. Soooo, people don't buy art work when they go to baseball games? Could a store that caters to the ladies with enough disposable income to be sitting in seats that cost hundreds of dollars might be a little more profitable? Shocking!

I wrote a post earlier on in the season about the divide between the Field Level and the rest of the Stadium and dropped a photo of the Peter Max gallery to illustrate how far over the top it the Yanks have gone.

It's good news that they've responded so quickly to their obvious misstep and hopefully they'll be willing to change some other unpopular things that don't have such a direct connection to the bottom line.

Trash

I went to school for marketing, but it never ceases to amaze and amuse me how far they have attempted to stretch the Yankee brand at the New Stadium. It's a trash can. Do you really need to have your logo on it? After last night I'm glad they did however, because it neatly sums up the on field product. 

Heading up to the game last night, albeit a little late, I had high hopes. Mathematically, when you flip a coin and it lands on heads four times in a row, the probability of the 5th flip is still 50:50. However, as you are observing the coin tumble in mid-air, you get the feeling that tails is due to show. I had that same feeling last night heading up to the Stadium. They can't lose the first five games against the fackin' Sawx, can they?

They could, in fact. 

As he so often does, Alex Belth captured the feeling permiating these recent Yankees vs. Sox match-ups perfectly.  

These days when the Yankees play the Red Sox it feels like they are losing even when the score is tied, feels like they are trailing before the game has begun. A 6-0 lead in Boston a few weeks back was a mirage. The two teams have played five games and Boston has won all five. It’s not as if the Yankees have been getting blown out; they have been competitive, they have shown some fight, but it’s hard to ignore the basic fact that the Yankees are now the team chasing the Red Sox.

I don't think anyone is ready to accept that notion, but it's becoming harder and harder not to. To halve the season series, the Yanks would need to win 9 of their next 13 against the Sox. 

By the time we got off the subway, the Yanks were already down 4-0. The bright side is that, from our perspective, Joba was unhittable! He stuck out 12 of a possible 17 batters in 5 2/3 innings, sending the annoying P.C. Richard's whistle-jingle throughout the Stadium over and over again. (Sidenote: Is there a K counter in the new joint? I couldn't find it. Hope there is, because it provides important context. I didn't know how many K's Joba had until I got home.)

As you could probably tell from the iPhone posts last night, we didn't watch the game from Sec 429, where our $9 tickets from StubHub were located. Instead, we stood behind Section 122 in what was basically Row 31 (there are 30 actual rows). Unless you are there with kids or are physically unable to stand for the whole game, there is no good reason not to do this. It's easy to shimmy up to the railing, giving you the same view as people who paid hundreds of dollars for their seats. I don't think it takes away from the experience at all. The crowd noise reverberates around the concrete concourses making it louder than it would be elsewhere and the close quarters allow you to chat with other fans.

Johnny Damon's three run knock in the third brought the Yanks within one, but that was as close as they would get. The most exciting play of the game from our vantage point what when Melky Cabrera got busted by inches trying to stretch a double into a triple in the fourth. All the third base coaches in the Field Level concourse were yelling for him to go for third, so we couldn't really fault him for getting thrown out. 

The only significant rally the Yanks put together was in the 6th when Nick Swisher walked and a bad bounce resulting in a ground rule double kept Melky from tying the game. There was still only one out, but Beckett struck out Ramiro Pena swinging then got Jose Molina to ground out to diffuse the threat. 

Fairly late in the game, we were pretty starving and decided to check out the garlic fries. I've never been to a West Coast ballpark (never been to California, actually) so I can't compare and contrast, but I thought they were quite excellent. The garnishment reminded me of a typical escargot-style garlic butter with parsely and thyme. It was a pleasant surprise and I would recommend them to anyone not looking to make out with someone in the near future. 

Aside from the Joba strikeouts and the galic fries, the game was as unsatisfying as I was drunk, which is to say, "pretyt fukcing unnastisyfign". Which brings me to this...

::::Very Important Public Service Announcement::::

Attention drinkers on-the-go! Margaritas and paper cups do not mix. 

You might think that since a paper cup is capable of holding scalding hot liquid, such as coffee or tea, that it could also contain a delicious tequlia beverage. You would be wrong.

You can see the discoloration along the seam. I don't know if it was the Master of Mixes or the Montezuma, but the concoction ate right though the adhesive of the cups from Lenny's and sprung a leak of epic proportions. And this all happened within maybe five minutes. I was forced to pound the rest of it, lest I allow it to leak on the sidewalk in front of the Dakota. 

The Great Divide(rs)

I didn't take a picture, because that would be weird, but I found out something about the New Yankee Stadium during our descent into Section 112 that really pissed me off (pun intended... wait for it). There are dividers between the urinals on the Field Level, but not anywhere else in the Stadium.

Is it a huge deal? Of course not, but could there be a better symbol of how much the Yankees have bent over backwards to cater to the wealthiest customers and how they could care less about the core fans? By installing the dividers at the field level, they are acknowledging that it matters, but only providing the "luxury" to those purchasing the most expensive seats. It's an issue of simple human decency, and they can't possibly cost that much to put them in.

Have you ever had a friend who desperately tried to date someone who was out of their league while ignoring a person who was legitimately interested in them? The object of their affection was strikingly attractive, but even if they gave them the time of day, it was just to be nice. The second option wasn't as good-looking, but they had actual feelings for your friend and probably would have done anything to be with them. Guess what, Yankees, the corporate guy, who you want to sit in the insanely expensive seats... he's just not that into you.

Forgive the sweeping generalization, but most of the people who could afford the highest priced seats at the New Stadium are not real fans. Here is why: If you have a job that allows you to spend anywhere from $100K to $800K on two Yankees season tickets, you aren't going to have much time in the day to read blogs or listen to sports talk radio. Wealthy folks also go out to dinner pretty often. When do they do that? Probably in the neighborhood of 7-10 at night, give or take, and three or four star restaurants aren't going to have the game on TV. The more money you have, the more options you have, and everywhere you look in this city, companies are bending over backwards to cater to what remains of the uber-rich. The Yankees are just one option; an option that's not in Manhattan and requires an commitment of 81 games and a small fortune.

The people (and corporations) who buy those seats are never going to love the Yankees as much as the average fan, and the direction of the economy has blatantly exposed that. There are still some who could absorb the price increase in the new building, but for them it was a luxury. You can tell by the outrage and disenfranchisement of the people who were displaced from their affordable full or even partial season ticket packages that they thought of it as a necessity.

It's clear that it doesn't make sense to alienate the average fan in the name of the casual but much wealthier fan from a loyalty standpoint. Given the state of the nation's finances right now it doesn't makes sense in the general ledger either. Did it ever? Ben K. from River Ave. Blues doesn't think so.

All you need to know: While the Yankees put art galleries alongside concession stands on the Field Level, Freddy Sez gets shut out of the Stadium. (h/t Jorge Says No)

You Can't Get There From Here

Ross at New Stadium Insider drums up another detail in the fine print about the New Stadium: Only those with Field Level tickets will have access to the Field Level area and concessions:

We have mentioned before that one of the most enjoyable aspects of going to baseball games is roaming around the stadium and checking out all of the nooks and crannies of the ballpark. Never before have we been to a ballpark that does not let fans explore the concessions on an entire level of the Stadium. We have been to Camden Yards in Baltimore, Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia and Safeco Field in Seattle in the past few years and NONE of those stadiums have this policy.

I'm hoping there aren't any concession stands that are located only on the Field Level, so everyone would have access to everything they wanted to try, but if not, that's the Yankees' loss more than ours.

A lot of the people at the Field Level have the option of having food brought to their seats. Why do can't us commoners come check out the food options and walk around? It's not like people can get down to where the seats are. They are still advertising the availability of "Between the Bases" seats during Spring Training games and elsewhere. The Yankees continue to cater to the endangered species that is "Corporate High Rollers" while telling the average fan where they can stick their New Stadium experience.

Tucked away at the bottom of the Yanks initial press release was the fact that gates would be three hours prior to game time, so fans would presumably be able to take in some batting practice. Ross shoots that one down too. He finds here that "Guests are welcome to watch batting practice from their seat location".

Yup, hurry to the park three hours early so you can sit in your 400 level seats during batting practice and get a head start on getting ripped off on concessions. You wouldn't want to disturb those people in the Field Level, who aren't even going to be there yet.

Or you could just go to Stan's, Billy's, or the Bowling Alley. Your choice.