| Craig Settimo. 16th June, 2005 - 3:22 pm
 June is shaping up to be "Stadium Plans Month" in New York. During the past week the Jets had their West Side project derailed, the Mets threw out a proposal to save the Olympics for 2012, and Steinbrenner, never to be outshined, delivered plans for a new Yankee Stadium to be built adjacent to the current stadium.
The House of Ruth that also housed Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle, Maris, Berra, Jackson, Munson and on and on is old--the third oldest stadium in Baseball. It's almost 30 years removed from it's last major renovation. However Baseball purists are sure to be upset about The Boss and his plans to build a new stadium for the simple fact that Yankee Stadium is a historical landmark.
Maybe I'm a purist but to me it's more than the players and moments. It's a constant flashback to my youth and maybe more importantly my father's youth. It's about a bond I have with my father that he had with his.
When I go to the Stadium with my Dad he'll point to the field and talk about watching Mantle blast home run after home run--and he'll always remind me that the dimensions were much more brutal before the renovation.
He'll tell me how my grandfather would take him to games and sit in the bleachers trying to catch a Mantle bomb. And he'll swear to me that one game they moved seats and the very next pitch Mantle delivered that very bomb to their old seats.
Then while driving cross-country my dad and I will be able to kill 12 hours a day talking about the Yankees. He'll recite every starters stats from the 1961 team and he'll get angry when he talks about Mantle's career getting cut short because someone didn't replace the storm drain.
I'll sit down and listen to my godfather debate the merits of Maris and how he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Then he'll say he hopes the current Yanks lose 100 games this year to rub Steinbrenner's face in his absorbent payroll. Yet after watching that day's game he'll go nuts when the Yanks are able to pull out a win and scream that this is their year.
Then there's my other Uncle who for years had his own children believe he loved the Bombers because they were owned by CBS--his employer at the time. Yet truth be told he loved the Yanks because they were loaded with Italians and were the immigrants team during the 30's and 40's. Just after his family came here from Italy.
For me that's why I love the Stadium. So I was quite apprehensive when they finally announced their plans for the new Stadium. Sure part of me wanted to go with the New York Highlanders--who later became the Yankees--original plan of building a stadium on a floating platform and sailing up and down the Harlem river during games. However something told me Steinbrenner wouldn't go for that.
Instead he's announced a new stadium, designed on the old, yet with the current dimensions. Confused? Don't be. It actually looks great.
George is a business man and he's driven by money. What billionaire isn't? He currently has 18 luxury boxes, now he'll have 50. The new Stadium will have about 5,000 less seats, yet they can be added when needed--hence when the Red Sox are in town or it's playoff time. The facade will be designed like the original, yet the concourse will be twice as big and much more fan friendly.
The last 12 years have seen a boom in baseball stadiums and possibly more important the re-emergence of stadiums in cities. This in turn has cleaned the urban areas and actually made it a tourism destination. It doesn't get any nicer than downtown Baltimore or San Diego.
Steinbrenner's mellowed in his older years and maybe he realizes that this can be his mark that he leaves on a city that he loves so much. A new Stadium and a reinvigorated Bronx.
So what will they do with the current stadium? In the City's agreement for funding it calls for part of the park that will house the Future Bronx Bombers to be replaced.
To keep Baseball purists satisfied and possibly my Uncle's, they should keep the original stadium and turn that into a Park and Museum. This way decade's from now people can still walk around and see where the immortals played. Then can then walk across the street to the House of Jeter and watch the Billion Dollar Yankees coast to another World Championship.
One day I'll be able to take my son to the Park and Museum and show him where my dad and I sat all those games. I'll swear to him that my Dad and I switched seats and on the very next pitch Donnie Baseball hit a homer to where we were just sitting.
I could continue now and debate Mattingly's merits for the Hall but I don't want to get my family riled up.
---Craig Settimo is a contributing writer to Realgm.com. He lives in Los Angeles and can be reached at csettimo2@hotmail.com |
