In my last poll, I asked fans if they liked the new Yankee Stadium (I call it Yankee Stadium III; Yankee Stadium I being from 1923-1973 and Yankee Stadium II being from 1976-2008). The majority didn’t have an opinion yet, but others either liked it or thought there are too many homers.
Like it: 28%
Not a fan: 4%
Don’t know yet: 42%
Too many homers!: 23%
I have not been to the stadium yet, so I didn’t want to judge it too soon. However, from what I have seen on TV, I am very upset with the number of empty seats at home games, and am a little concerned with the abundance of home runs.
I don’t care if the seats behind home plate are luxury seats. Each one of those seats needs to be filled for every game; it is embarrassing to see a brand new stadium unfilled every night (not even close), especially the best seats in the house. As my dad put it, the Yankees need to move the decimal over one space to the left for all ticket prices ($100 seats go down to $10). He exaggerates a lot, but I don’t think he is kidding here.
My only concern with the high frequency of homers is the major impact it will have on home run records. As long as the end of the year totals aren’t too absurd, then I will be ok. I just don’t want Mark Teixeira to hit 75 homers next year (yes I do, just read on), and then hear people say that he only was able to do it because of his home ballpark.
For those who haven’t seen the stadium, here are a few links to pictures of the new stadium:
Please vote in my new poll (left nav-bar). Your input makes these results clearer and more accurate.
Question: Should the Yankees try and trade Melky Cabrera now while he has likely reached his peak value?
Photo above from Getty Images