Yankee Stadium Demolition - 05/05/10

I was out at the Yankee game today (pitiful Orioles pitching...) and took some photos of the Old Yankee Stadium demolition site. At this point, here really isn't very much left. Just one small portion of the exterior wall is still standing (gate 6). The debris field is still quite large with many grapplers cleaning up the mess. The last piece of outer wall has been like this for about a week. My assumption is that the demolition crew is waiting until after the Yankee homestand is over to pull it down. With today's 7-5 win, the homestand is over, so the last piece of the old park probably doesn't have too many days left.

I've uploaded nearly 30 photos and 2 videos to StadiumPage.com today. You can get them through the main site or directly through THIS LINK.

Yankee Stadium (1923) - Exterior Ornamentation

Yankee Stadium - Gate 2

One of the cool features of the recently departed original Yankee Stadium (the last piece is set to fall within days) was the exterior ornamentation. While alot of the details were lost in the 70's renovation, some of them were kept on the old Gate 2 entrance.



Here is a closeup of the "balcony". I don't know how it worked in the original stadium, but after the 70's renovation, there was really nothing behind it. It wasn't like there were offices or a room behind it. I believe it was always just for decoration. If you look closely at the three "seals", the two on the left and right feature a pair of baseballs, while the center seal features a "primative" version of the Yankees' interlocking NY logo.



In a recent visit to the NYC Times Square ESPN Zone restaurant, I noticed the above on display. It is an original seal, probably from gate 4 or 6 that was saved during the 70's renovations. I assume they were colored like this prior to the renovation, but painted grey in the 70's. During the recent demolition, the balconies and the seals were saved, so you may see them show up in the new Stadium's museum or even Cooperstown.




Another interesting exterior feature of the old Stadium was the "Eagle Seals". Originally, there were two of these stationed at gates 2, 4, and 6. Like the balconies, these were removed during the 70's renovation. Two of the eagles were saved, refurbished and posted above the press/club entrance that was just to the left of the post-renovation gate 4.

Check out these and thousands of other photos at StadiumPage.com

Figural Row Ends - Volume 4 - AL East

Continuing the "Figural Row Ends" series, next profiled is the American League East. Four of the five parks have figural row ends and all four opened after 1990. Fenway Park, which opened in 1914, does not have them.


Yankee Stadium

The new Yankee Stadium's row ends feature the Yanks' interlocking NY logo throughout the park. The park opened in 2009 and has already hosted a World Series.


Rogers Centre

Rogers Centre opened in 1991 as the Skydome. The row ends originally featured the Skydome logo, but when the name was changed a few years ago, each dome logo was covered up by the grey plastic Rogers Centre Logo. On a few of the rows in the upper deck, fans actually removed the grey plastic and you can see the original Skydome logos.


Tropicana Field

Tropicana Field's row ends do not feature the current logo for the park or even the Rays logo. The logo on the row ends is actually the Florida Suncoast Dome logo. This was the name and logo of the dome when it first opened in the early 1990's.


Oriole Park at Camden Yards

The row ends at Camden Yards feature the Orioles "Baltimore Baseball Club" logo. I've heard that the player in the middle is supposed to represent Hall of Famer Wee Willier Keeler who played for the National League Baltimore Orioles in the late 1800's. Its a classic logo and its cast into the steel of each row end. A very nice touch at an incredible ballpark.

Fenway Park

Fenway Park does not have row ends in any part of the ballpark. Although row ends were at ballparks from the early 1900's, Fenway's original grandstand seats do not have them. Most of the rest of the seats were replaced from the 1970's on, but also do not feature figurals.

Check out these and thousands of other photos at StadiumPage.com.

Unrealized Concepts - Volume 4 - Yankee Stadium Renovation (1998)

In 1998, just at the beginning of the current Yankees run, there were many ideas floated for a new ballpark. Most alternatives involved the Yanks leaving the Bronx to either Manhattan (their home for their first 22 years) or the New Jersey Meadowlands. This proposal was different in that it not only kept the team in the Bronx, but in Yankee Stadium.



The plan was floated by the Bronx Boro President Fernando Ferrer. It involved reintroducing many of the Stadium's classic features including the Frieze above the upper deck and the exterior facade.



An interesting feature that was eventually incorporated into the new Yankee Stadium is above. It seems to be quite similar to the "Great Hall" at the new park. Basically a glass wall which extends the concourse out onto what was then Ruppert Plaza.

The plan was never really accepted by the Yankees though. It never really got past the proposal stage. While its a shame the Yankees didn't stay in the original Stadium, at least they are still in the Bronx.

You can see these and more images of this proposal at StadiumPage.com.

Stadium Remains - Part Six - Polo Grounds

The sixth ballpark profiled in the "Stadium Remains" series is The Polo Grounds. The Polo Grounds was the home of the New York Giants from 1890-1957. Additionally, the Yankees (from 1913-1922) and the Mets (from 1962-1963) called the park home. The old park was also home to the football Giants and Jets/Titans. In the picture above from Google Maps you can see the layout of what remains if you would like to visit yourself



The only monument to the actual park is a plaque (pictured above) that is located on the north-west of the four towers. Home plate on the plaque actually faces the wrong direction. If you are looking directly at the plaque from close up, you would actually be standing in the lefty batter's box.



Just to the west of the Polo Grounds Towers which replaced the park is the Brush Staircase. This staircase was built in the early 1900's to allow residents of the neighborhood on the other side of Coogan's Bluff to access the Polo Grounds easily. It is still there today, but is in a state of disrepair. A few years ago, there were some articles that the SF Giants, the Mets, Yankees, NY Giants and Jets had donated money to the city for a repair. As of March 2010, no repairs have been made. When I visited, the stairwell was fenced off and un-passable.



One of the legends of the Polo Grounds was Coogan's Bluff. This was an elevated area just to the West of the park. It was high enough that people could stand on the rocks and see the game below without paying admission.



This is a closeup of the two buildings in the previous picture. Between the two towers, you get a glimpse of the old Yankee Stadium. One month after my visit, that view is no more. Yankee Stadium has just a few pieces of it still standing and will soon join the Polo Grounds in the list of extinct ballparks. If you do look just to the left, you can actually see the new Yankee Stadium.

It really isn't a bad neighborhood. If you would like to make a visit like I did, just go at a normal hour and be smart. It is easily accessable by car and the B Subway line. (155th Street Station)

You can see these and more pictures of The Polo Grounds' Remains at StadiumPage.com.

Figural Row Ends - Volume 3 - NL Central

Continuing the "Figural Row Ends" series, next profiled is the National League Central. Five of the six parks were built since 2000 and have figural row ends. Wrigley Field, which opened in 1914, does not have them.


Great American Ball Park

Great American Ball Park's row ends feature the Reds' "wishbone c" logo throughout the park. GABP is one of only two parks in the majors to feature red seats.


Busch Stadium

The other red seat park is Busch Stadium. Busch's row ends are quite nice. They have the Cards' "bird on bat" logo cast into the seat post and the features of the logo painted on. It is clearly one of the best and well thought out in the entire league.


Miller Park

Miller Park has green seats and throughout the park on the row ends feature the above logo. It appears to be a giant batter hovering over the Miller Park dome. I don't know the significance of the logo, but it is also on the park's dedication plaque.


Minute Maid Park

Minute Maid Park, formerly Enron Field, features the above row ends. Luckily for the Astros, they did not incorporate the Enron Field logo on to the row ends. This logo is actually also the logo for Houston's Union Station, the rail station that neighbors MMP. I don't know if this logo is a historic one or if it only dates back to the renovation of Union Station that was part of the ballpark's construction. In the planning stages of the ballpark, it was actually known as "The Ballpark at Union Station".


PNC Park

PNC Park is one of the better parks in MLB. It features a simple Pirates logo on its row ends. Since yellow or black would be odd seat color choices for a MLB park, they went with blue. (The neighboring Heinz Field football stadium actually does have yellow seats.)


Wrigley Field

As I mentioned above, Wrigley Field does not have row end figurals. Since all of its seats are plastic, the seat posts likely only date back to the 1970's which was a dead period of sorts for these ornaments. I have never seen any pre-plastic era seats for Wrigley that feature these.

Check out these and thousands of other photos at StadiumPage.com.

Opening Day at Citi Field

It was a great day out at Citi Field today (unless you were a Marlins fan...). With the large crowd, the new Mets Hall of Fame had a long wait to enter it. With that, I wasn't able to get in there this time. Hopefully later this week. But now to some of the bigger changes at Citi that I was able to see.



One of the first things you will see on the field level concourse is an increase in Mets memorabilia. In the image above, there are large cards of past Mets. The Ebbets Clubs behind home plate were renamed the "Champions Club" as well. Lots of the unpainted concrete (especially in the stairwells) were painted orange and blue.



The center field large video board had some changes as well. Some of the uglier ads are gone and replaced by some more understated ads. Specifically, many readers mentioned in emails that they disliked the two large Arpielle ads to the left and right of the board. These were replaced by SHARP Electronics ads.



The bridge in right center field was renamed today. It was dedicated as the Shea Bridge. This was named after William Shea, the man tasked with bringing National League baseball back to New York after the departure of the Giants and Dodgers.



A big change is the lowering of the center field wall to an even height of eight feet. In the image above, any ball hit over the orange line is considered a homer. In 2009, balls needed to clear the high point of the wall for home runs. I don't think this will have much effect on the games. Only a few balls hit the wall in dead center in 09, so there won't be more than a few disputes due to it.



One more change is the changes in the concessions. Above, you can see a new "Box Frites" location. On on the opposite side is a Blue Smoke location. Also on the Promenade food court is a duplicate of large beer stand in the fanfest area. Additionally, there are many spots with beer on tap.

Be sure to check out all of the changes for yourself in 2010. If you can avoid some of the bad seats, Citi Field is a great place to see a game. I've been to 29 different parks, and by far Citi has the best food in the league.

Happy Opening Day!!

Opening Day Bunting at Shea Stadium in 2008

It's the best day of the baseball year. Enjoy all of the games. I'll be out at Citi Field. (My 11th consecutive Mets home opener. 13th straight opening day overall.) I'm hoping for a comeback year for the Mets.

No matter who you root for, its the one day everyone is in first place.

Be sure to check the blog and StadiumPage.com Monday evening for new Citi Field images.

Changes at Citi Field

Any reader of StadiumPage.com and this blog probably knows already, but the Mets have made many changes to Citi Field for 2010. I never had a problem with Citi as it was, but the minor addition of "Mets Stuff" is ok too. I was definitely disappointed that the museum wasn't there from the start. However, I suppose it was a huge task just to get the park game ready, so 1 year late isn't that bad.

Some of the bigger changes:
- New Mets Museum: As promised, the Mets constructed a new museum just off of the rotunda. Some readers have passed along photos and it looks great.

- McFadden's Restaurant: From what I've seen, it won't be ready for Opening Day, but there will be a new bar/restuarant in the building directly below the FanFest area.

- New Location for Old Apple: The old Apple has been moved from the spot behind the visitors bullpen to "Mets Plaza" outside of the rotunda.

- New Bullpen Configuration: Relievers from both teams will now be throwing toward the outfield wall.

- Lower Center Field Wall: This news was out since January, but the outfield wall will be a uniform eight feet from the Modell's Zone to Left Field.

- Bigger "Mets" Presence: This was a big complaint from day 1 by many. There are tons of new banners/pennants/etc inside and outside the park.

- Ebbets Club No More: The pricey Ebbets Club sections were renamed "Champions Club" one side being 1969 themed, the other 1986 themed.

- Greater Access to Clubs: If you have a ticket anywhere but Promenade IF or OF Reserved, there is at least one club you are eligible for.

- New Fanwalk Bricks: The new sections of bricks are now "Mets Moments" themed. My brick is actually in the Todd Pratt 1999 NLDS clincher section. (A game I was at!)

I'm sure there's some other stuff I'm missing. I'll be at the game on Monday taking tons of pictuers. Be sure to check StadiumPage.com and this blog on Monday evening for all the images.

Yankee Stadium Demolition - 03/22/10

Yankee Stadium demolition has progressed over the past week. They are down to the last few sections of upper deck which will probably be gone by the end of the week. From there they will likely move onto dismantling the outer walls.



Check out the above image and about 50 others at StadiumPage.com.

Yankee Stadium Demolition - 03/13/10

Demolition continued at the old ballpark even with today's nasty weather in the New York area. The upper deck continues to be cut into small pieces so they can be torn down. In the video above, you can see the grappler cutting into the concrete so to make small pieces to pull down.



I took about 50 pictures and the above video. Check out these and the whole set at StadiumPage.com.

Yankee Stadium Demolition - 03/06/10

I made another visit to the site of the old Yankee Stadium today. Demolition has progressed quite a bit in the four weeks since I visited last. The majority of the back "bleacher wall" has been torn down, so you can get a unblocked view into the stadium now. Unfortunately for me, the Manhattan bound #4 train platform was closed so I couldn't get any shots straight into the park.



They seem to be shearing the upper deck concrete into small sections that can be removed individually. I didn't see any demolition in progress, so I'm unsure what they are doing exactly. Although demolition is progressing well, I do expect some part of the stadium to be standing on Opening Day. With that, baseball fans should be able to get at least one more glance at the old ballpark.

You can see full size versions of these two photos and another 29 shots in the Yankee Stadium Demolition section of StadiumPage.com.

Stadium Remains - Part Five - Fulton County Stadium

Fulton County Stadium was the home of the Atlanta Braves from 1966-1996. It was a basic no-frills multipurpose stadium which also served as the home of the NFL's Atlanta Falcons. As you can see from the Google Map above, Fulton was located just to the north of the site of Turner Field (the Braves current home).



Though Fulton County Stadium was demolished in mid-1997, the park was actually still standing the first time I went to Atlanta in June 1997.



By the time I made my second visit, for the 2000 All Star Game, Fulton County Stadium was gone and the Braves had put together a nice monument to the old park. The outline of the infield and outfield was placed in the parking lot. Also, the spot where Hank Aaron's record setting 715th was marked with a replica fence and sign. As it is a short walking distance from the new ballpark, it is very easy to see this historic site.

Check out these and thousands of other photos at StadiumPage.com.

Figural Row Ends - Volume 2 - AL Central

Continuing the "Figural Row Ends" series, next profiled is the American League Central. All five parks were either built or renovated since 1994 and all have figural row ends.


Target Field

The new home of the AL Central champions is Target Field. The seat posts are of the same model as Citi Field, and as such have "sticker" logos. As you can see in this picture, the Twins installed wooden seats in some of the club areas. An interesting throwback to ballparks of the past. The only other current parks with any wooden seats are Fenway Park and Dodger Stadium.


Comerica Park

Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers, also has an interesting row end setup. They depict a tiger in a batting stance. This is actually a throwback to the original row ends at Tiger Stadium (then known as Briggs Stadium). Its a really nice touch that appears on every seat row in the ballpark.


US Cellular Field

US Cellular Field was renovated in parts throughout the 2000's. The park opened with non-descript blue seat posts which had no figural row ends. (At right in the above image.) After the renovations, all rows in the park now are dark green with various White Sox logos. The above picture features the 80's "Sox" logo.


Progressive Field

The row ends at Progressive Field in Cleveland have an outline of the field's dimensions with the silhouette of a batter mid swing.


Kauffman Stadium

With Kauffman Stadium's recent renovation which was completed for opening Day 2009, all seats now are blue with a painted on Royals logo.

Check out these and thousands of other photos at StadiumPage.com.

Dedication Plaques - Volume 2 - Angel Stadium

Original Anaheim Stadium Plaque

Anaheim Stadium opened in 1966 as the home of the Angels. Its original plaque actually lacks a few items normally on building dedication plaques. First, there is no opening date. Second, the official name of the ballpark is not on the plaque. One interesting part of it is at the very bottom. The general contractor company is listed as Del E. Webb Corporation. Webb, who made his fortune in construction, was the owner of the New York Yankees from 1945 to 1964.


1998 "Re-Dedication" Plaque

In 1998, renovations were made to re-make Anaheim Stadium into a baseball-only facility. With that, the new owners erected a new dedication plaque. Along with the renovation came a new name: Edison International Field. The Edison Field name only lasted through the 2003 season when the naming rights deal was not renewed. At that point it was renamed Angel Stadium of Anaheim.


Location of the Two Plaques

The two plaques are located on the left and right of the main home plate entrance to Angel Stadium. By 2006, when I visited Angel Stadium, there was no third plaque for the current name.

Check out these images and many more of Angel Stadium at StadiumPage.com.

Figural Row Ends - Volume 1 - NL East

"Figural Row Ends" (aka Figural Seats) are the logos that are cast on the end of a row at a ballpark. I'm sure they go unnoticed by most fans, but they're an interesting touch that really personalizes the ballpark. Sometimes they have the park's logo and sometimes the team's logo. While a lot of the multipurpose stadiums from the 60's and 70's did not have this feature, the tradition goes back to baseball's beginnings. They were seen in parks as far back as Cincinnati's Crosley Field and New York's Polo Grounds.

In this blog entry, I'll go through the figural row ends of the National League East.


Citizens Bank Park

Starting with the three-time defending champs of the NL East, the Citizens Bank Park row ends feature the team's logo. With the ballpark's large neon liberty bell that rings for home runs, it was natural for the Phillies to use the liberty bell logo on the seat ends. Along with the bell is the Phillies script logo.


Citi Field

The NL East's newest ballpark, Citi Field, features two different row ends. The two logos alternate from row to row. One row has the Mets logo and the next has the Citi Field logo. Unlike most of the row ends in the league, Citi Field's are actually just a blank circle on the iron with a big sticker on it. While it seems cheap, its probably a good idea to have replacable logos when your naming sponsor is basically under government control.


Turner Field

The row ends at Turner Field in Atlanta are very interesting. The red script Braves logo catches the eye, but behind it seems to be a silhouette of the great Hank Aaron in a home run swing. Behind Hammerin' Hank is the outline of a baseball field. Its all cast in iron right on the row end.


Nationals Ballpark

Nationals Ballpark keeps it pretty simple. A simple version of the Nationals' "Curly W" logo is cast onto the side of the seat post.


SunLife Stadium

At SunLife Stadium (formerly Dolphin Stadium and Landshark Stadium), the row ends feature the logo not of the stadium or the Marlins, but the logo of Marlins current landlord the Miami Dolphins. With the Marlins slated to open their new park in 2012 this will change.

Check out these and many other images at StadiumPage.com.

Unrealized Concepts - Volume 3 - Labatt Park

Shortly after Jeffery Loria took over the Montreal Expos, plans were announced for a new ballpark in downtown Montreal. For the Expos' entire tenure in Montreal they had played in the "upgraded" Jarry Park and the cavernous Olympic Stadium. The plan called for a unique baseball only stadium. Unlike most of the new parks which opened in the late 90's, the new park would have a steel skin rather than brick.



Oddly, the announcement of the stadium came complete with the park's name Labatt Park. The park would be located within the "downtown" area of Montreal and was slated to have an incredible skyline view.



Unfortunately, the Expos were not able to get a financing deal in place and Labatt Park never came to be. The Expos were sold to MLB in a strange three team transaction where Loria came to own the Marlins and the Marlins owners bought the Red Sox.


Nationals Park

The rest was history. After a few years in Montreal under MLB control, the Expos were moved to Washington D.C. and became the Nationals. Oddly enough, in 2008 the Nationals opened their new ballpark which has a steel exterior which is very similar to the proposed Labatt Park design.

You can see these and more images of Labatt Park at StadiumPage.com.