24 & 5

Back in early April when Paul and I went to our first game at the new Citi Field, I calculated the total of major league baseball stadiums where I had attended a game. I qualify it by attending a game because I have been to a football game at the Diamondbacks stadium and took a tour of the Astros' stadium in Houston. The tour in the latter park included the opportunity to sit in the dugout, but unlike the stadium in Phoenix, I still want to go back to Houston for a game.

With Citi Field, my total had reached 23 (Paul's is a little higher), it isn't as easy a calculation as one might think because multiple stadiums for the same city have to be included. Yesterday both numbers went up as I made my first visit to the new Yankee Stadium (above left). I was somewhat surprised to realize that I have now seen five different teams play in two different home stadiums. There are, of course, the two New York teams and the Phillies, all of which isn't that surprising given where I live. But I have also seen two games in the home ballparks of the Cincinnati Reds and the Detroit Tigers. In the case of the Reds that was a fluke of the schedule as by coincidence we made a trip there the last year the Reds played at Riverfront and then intentionally went back the next year to see the Mets play at the Great American Ballpark. In the case of Detroit, it is due to my professional baseball fan cousins living in Michigan, we have made multiple trips to both Tiger Stadium and the new Comerica Park.

I think the approach that ownership took to the new Yankee Stadium is interesting. Once you are inside the park, there really isn't a lot of difference between the old and the new. I am sure there are to purists, but it didn't look or feel that different and I am confident that was intentional. The part of the stadium inside the gates before you get the seats, however, is dramatically different, much bigger, much more open - my companion, a college age Yankee fan found it majestic, almost cathedral like. Certainly that makes attending a game a lot more enjoyable - access to everything was easier and getting out was remarkably simple especially since we were sitting in the upper deck.

My overall sense of it is that Yankee fans will really like it - it maintains the memory and feel that it is important to them while improving the other aspects of attending a game. That is after all the team's market and it makes sense that ownership did everything possible to please that market. At the same time as a non-Yankee fan, it doesn't have the same kind of appeal to me that other new stadiums have. I really like Citi Field primarily because everything about it is new and different I am sort of a Mets fan, but that doesn't explain why I have enjoyed my two trips and want to go back more this year. The same is true of Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, I will go back because of the Stadium. That will not be the case with Yankee Stadium, although I will be going back this year with my cousins and most likely with Paul as well.

I am also very glad that I went yesterday, it was good to reward someone who has given me a lot of help on my research projects and I always like seeing the numbers go up. With trips to Chicago and Milwaukee scheduled for July, I should be at 26 this year - four more than a year ago. I don't have any ambition to see all the parks, but still probably have at least another 1/2 dozen that I would like to see. Of course, there are also a lot of minor league parks as well - so many stadiums - so little time!