The House that Taxpayer Money Built

I'll never forget the first time that I entered the original Yankee Stadium, way back in the early 1990's. Having spent years watching Yankees telecasts, I was simply unprepared for the moment when I walked through the turnstiles and saw the Stadium's facade, the freshly cut grass of the outfield, and the finely manicured infield where my childhood hero, Don Mattingly, over at first base, ate up baseballs like a vacuum. The feeling was overwhelming, because the "House that Ruth Built" seemed so much larger than anything I could have ever forseen; words cannot convey the awe, absolute in its scope, that filled my teenage body and on which I still look back on fondly. The majesty of that building remains a formidable memory, one that I am not likely to forget soon. Such is baseball, and such are the bonds, emotional and otherwise, that are formed through this game.

Earlier today, after many years of attending games up in the Bronx, my brother and I went to the latest incarnation of Yankee Stadium, an edifice created at the cost of $1.5 billion (that's billion with a "b") dollars. The new home of the Yankees, make no mistake, is beautiful, and pays homage to the team's rich, unrivaled legacy, but was raised at great expense to those who live year-round in the South Bronx, one of the country's poorest and most economically depressed areas. The Stadium, built atop what was once public parkland, and which was secured by financial incentives, makes little sense in today's world, a world in which people suffer to pay off their mortgages in light of so much uncertainty. Truth be told, there was nothing wrong with the old Yankee Stadium, a building that lacked comfort and amenities, but which had plenty of gritty, rough-hewn charm and a fabled history courtesy of some of baseball's all-time greatest players.

Did I mention that the new Yankee Stadium cost a total of $1.5 billion to build? The figure is worth repeating, because with all of the shops and restaurants, the place simply begs for you to open up your wallet and spend money. Incredible. Here's a total of how much money I spent on food, drinks, etc.:

1 game-day program/magazine: $10.00
4 hot dogs + two beers: $42.00
1 salmon sushi roll + 1 soft drink: $14.25
1 noodle bowl: $8.50
TOTAL: $74.75

I write those numbers not to brag, but to show just how expensive it is to attend a major-league baseball game in New York City. Can you imagine taking a family of four to see Derek Jeter perform his signature leaping throws? An evening at the ballpark will surely cost fans hundreds, and shows just how out of touch Yankees' management is with reality, the working public; one wonders how the team, in what is considered one of the deepest American recessions in decades, can dare charge upwards of $2,000 for its prime, field-level seats. I hate to say it, but my Yankees, my beloved Yankees, have taken what I love about baseball and turned it something vile and crass; the team seemingly spits in the faces of those who can no longer afford to subsidize the multi-million-dollar contracts of men playing what is essentially a game for children. While it is true that the glory years of baseball, its professed innocence, faded long ago, and that the sport is a business like any other, there is absolutely no reason for the Yankees to take advantage of its own fans by forcing them to pay exorbitant ticket fees--extortion money, really--for the "privilege" of sitting in the last row of the bleachers.

I didn't quite feel the same sense of wonder earlier today on my first visit to the new Yankee Stadium, but then again, I am much older if not a little wiser, and understand that some changes are simply meant to carry one moment into the next.

[D | R]