Wed August 5No list of stadium tours would be complete without a visit to Yankee Stadium, home to US Major League Baseball behemoth the New York Yankees.
Having pre-booked our 9.40am stadium tour tickets through Ticketmaster the previous day, Chloe and I got up early and caught the subway for about 30 minutes from midtown Manhattan to the Bronx, a trip that drops you right outside the front door of the stadium.
The new Yankee Stadium, which opened in April this year and cost US$1.5 billion, is super impressive. It has a capacity of 52,325 that is down from the 56,500 in the old stadium that sits across the road, which was built in 1923 and is set for demolition.
Because the Yankees have built the new stadium on parkland, they have been forced to knock down the old stadium and put a park there – which will be known as Heritage Field.
From a customer service perspective, the tour did not get off to a great start. The actual tour departure point was not very clear (no signage) and there appears to be no actual tours reception/service area – rather, the venue is in event mode at all times, so you scan your tour ticket at the turnstiles, have your bags checked and then waltz in and wait until someone herds you in for the tour.
Today, we were joined on the tour by a group of 20 schoolgirls on summer camp which, while it made it more challenging to hear the guide, provided a different perspective (all they wanted to do was meet the players!) The tour itself was very good. The guide, Taylor, gave a good overview of what we were about to see, while a security guard and another staff member chaperoned us the whole way.
First stop was the Yankee Museum, which although not very large, pays appropriate tribute to some of the biggest names in baseball – Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Bera and Micky Mantle among them.
Highlights include several championship trophies and jerseys, Ruth’s first home run bat, the locker of former captain Thurman Munson, who was killed in an airplane crash in 1979, and sculptures of catcher Bera and pitcher Don Larsen replicating the last pitch of World Series Game 5 in 1956 when Larsen became the first player to pitch the perfect game.
Then it was downstairs to ground level behind centre field to visit Monument Park, a series of plaques and monuments that Yankees greats. There is also a monument dedicated to the victims killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks at the World Trade Centre. It says:
“On September 11, 2001, despicable acts of terrorism were perpetrated on our country. In tribute to the eternal spirit of the innocent victims of these crimes and to the selfless courage shown by both public and private citizens, we dedicate this plaque. These valiant souls, with unfettered resolve, exemplify the true character of this great nation. Their unity and resilience during this time of distress defined American heroism for future generations.”
Indeed.
Next stop was the dugout, where we got to sit and experience the view and the feeling of waiting for our turn at bat on the big stage. We were informed of a view things about the stadium, including that it holds the largest scoreboard in baseball – when laid out from home plate, it would go past first base by 10 feet. It is seriously huge. Other points of note:
• The turf consists of Kentucky blue grass.
• Like the Mets, the Yankees have a merchandise store and range catered specifically for females.
• Around the stands, there are evaluation forms that fans can fill out and provide feedback on their experience at the event.
The tour then took us into the player change rooms (where photography was not permitted) and is basically a massive player lounge, with each player having a computer in their locker and couches to rest on. It is a wonderful facility. We saw Yankees captain Derek Jeter’s fan mail, inside seven shoeboxes stacked five feet high from the floor!
Like every tour I have been on during my visit, we ended up in the huge merchandise store, which has anything and everything to do with the Yankees, surely one of the biggest franchises in the world of sport.
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