What a Day in New York - Day 10

The most anticipated home opener in this or any season took place today in New York and the Tribe was on hand to help the Yankees open their new ballpark.

Impressions of the new Yankee Stadium. For the first time in 85 years, the Yankees are playing on a new tract of land. Yes, they played in a remodeled stadium beginning in 1976, but for all concerned it was still the original House that Ruth Built. The new version is everything you would expect for a ballpark that cost $1.5 billion to build. There are the many luxury features that have been well documented but somehow, they've managed to keep a similar feel to the place that old Stadium had. I took the subway from the team hotel and arrived at 7:30 am. I travelled with Bill McCracken, the Indians video coordinator and last year's American League Video coordinator of the year. (that's not really true, but Bill likes to believe it). The 161st street subway station in the Bronx leaves you right outside the rightfield gate. The security guard let us in and pointed toward the Indians clubhouse. Once located, we found ourselves to be the first ones inside and it was tremendous......tremendously large ! There are more hallways, side rooms, back rooms, video rooms, training rooms....well you get the idea. And that's the visitor's side. Double the size and amenities for the Yankees clubhouse.

The critical test came when it was time to look at the field. When entering the field through the dugout at the old stadium, you were overcome by the size of the place. You could feel the history, and even when empty, you could see how it would be intimidating for the opposition. Amazingly the new place has a similar feel and they've done a great job recreating the look. That sentiment was backed up by Tribe third baseman Mark DeRosa. He grew up a Yankee fan living in New Jersey about 25 minutes from the Stadium. When he first took a look at the field from the dugout, he gave it the thumbs up, especially from the standpoint of keeping the old stadium feel.

As for opening day ceremonies, all the Yankees really have to do is bring back the many stars of the past. Most of the big ones were there with Yogi Berra throwing out the first pitch. My favorite moment was after the field was cleared of all the dignitaries prior to the game beginning, Yankee pitching greats Don Larson and Whitey Ford snuck out to the pitchers mound and filled a couple of plastic bags with dirt from the mound for a keepsake. Cool stuff right there.

Oh, and on the field, the Indians spoiled things for the better than 48,000 Yankee fans by putting together a 9 run 7th inning to blow the game open. Perhaps of more importance: Cliff Lee was solid, allowing just one run in 6 innings.