Inside the new clubhouse
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- April
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The clubhouse inside the Stadium is really amazing.
For starters, you could play touch football in there, that’s how big it is. Each locker is separated by a frosted glass partition and there’s a replica of the frieze above lit by a blue neon light.
Each player has two electrical outlets, enough room to charge a cell phone, an iPod or whatever else you have. While that doesn’t sound like a big deal, the old Stadium was pre-cell phone and there only a few outlets in the entire room.
There’s also an IBM ThinkPad with the revolving screen installed at each locker. Ostensibly, it’s for the players to receive messages and make their ticket requests. But of course the guys have already personalized the desktops with family photos (Joba), a scene from 300 (A.J.), a skull and crossbones (Bruney) and other things.
“I haven’t even turned mine on,” Jorge Posada said.
As for who is where, picture the clubhouse like a clock. Jeter is at 1 o’clock. Then going clockwise around the room you have:
Burnett, Pettitte, Wang, Chamberlain, Sabathia, Cano, Molina, Pena, Albaladejo, the doorway, Swisher, Damon, Nady, Teixeira, Gardner, Ransom, Cabrera, Berroa, Matsui, Rivera, Ramirez, Veras, Coke, Bruney, Rodriguez and then Posada back at 11 o’clock. There’s a doorway between Jeter and Posada.
Jeter and Posada get the all-important empty locker next to them to store more stuff. Perks of being around so long. Mo is next to a wall and a post, so he is sort of secluded.
The photo over to the right is the “bat room.” Each player has a locker within the room that he can store his bats. The lockers have combination locks. In the past, there were bat racks within the clubhouse or the players just stacked up their lumber in boxes near the lockers. No more.
There’s a room for bats. That’s how complete the place is.
“They said they wanted to build the best stadium in sports. I haven’t seen every stadium but I can’t see any stadium being better than this,” Jeter said. “I don’t know what else you could put into a stadium.”
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on Friday, April 3rd, 2009 at 10:48 pm by Peter Abraham.
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Chad Jennings
Sam Borden
Josh Thomson
Wow, Pete – thanks for the great description – the clubhouse sounds like a fantastic place. No wonder the players feel like Christmas came early!
Great description Pete!
Is listing Berroa’s locker position and not Pena just a hint at the final roster spot or did I work through an official announcement today?
Oops just saw Pena. Scratch the above question.
Pat, from the prior thread – thanks for the link! I really liked hearing what Piniella had to say …..I’m glad he had the chance to visit the new YS.
Few questions:
I heard they recently lifted the ban on alcohol in the bleachers, is that true?
Are the bleachers connected to the rest of the stadium?
Is the big bat outside the stadium moved? What about the bat on top of the flagpole?
Where are the retired numbers?
Just got home what an amazing place ill post thoughts in a few need to upload my photos
GreenBeret7
April 3rd, 2009 at 10:59 pm
Betsy
April 3rd, 2009 at 10:46 pm
Even for you, GB? I’d love to see that, lol
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LMAO. You must lead a sad, lonely life if that’s what would make you happy, Betsy. I wouldn’t wish that on anybody.
GreenBeret7
April 3rd, 2009 at 10:59 pm
Betsy
April 3rd, 2009 at 10:46 pm
Even for you, GB? I’d love to see that, lol
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LMAO. You must lead a sad, lonely life if that’s what would make you happy, Betsy. I wouldn’t wish that on anybody.
Pete,
Another great job. Does the locker room still have a locker reserved for Thurman Munson?
I believe they have Munson’s locker on display in the museum.
Do the pictures also get bat lockers?
gayle! great photos!!
Do the pitchers also get “bat lockers”?
I made the same mistake pat made regarding Pena.
Which concerned me because Jeter’s defense was just awful tonight. They don’t need a backup SS whose defense is worse
IBM ThinkPads?
They ought to go first class and put in MacBook Pros.
I just wanna point out that this “In-Seat Service” stuff is not very smooth yet. Which I was not even close to annoyed about because it was the first day and it was still awesome just to have ordered from my awesome seat (20 rows from third base … thanks friend’s birthday). It ended up working out in my favor cause they were all discombobulated and sent us our food twice. I felt a little guilty taking it, but I couldn’t turn it down–I wanted another hot dog so badly.
Go Yankee stadium. Food was great, baseball was great (my boy Cano hitting the first home run), people were great, service was great considering the new technology/protocol.
God I love baseball. I love baseball so much. Go yankees, go baseball. Go Yankees blog. Go world.
Oh, and go Ronan Tynan.
thanks pete, great job as always.
I gotta say, loading the lockers with personal computers and bat rooms is a waste of money. Some expenses are unnecessary. It’s a locker room, not a college computer lab. In the end, these frivolous perks are passed on to the patrons in form of higher ticket and food prices.
# Whitey Fraud April 3rd, 2009 at 11:13 pm
IBM ThinkPads?
They ought to go first class and put in MacBook Pros.
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Nah, they should put in Wii consoles with HD flat screen monitors.
Honestly, to the extent the players need to access messages, they do that on their Iphones/Blackberrys.
Yaye, a great clubhouse and luxury boxes, with free wifi! It’s a cold gray concrete shopping mall from the stands – with hard dividers to separate the classes (and I was in good seats!). I guess the $1.6 billion went behind the scenes. Thanks for the cushion seats and cup holders – oh and the clean and aplenty bathrooms (seriously, that’s something, just not worth 2x prices).
For me the new stadium is a cross between a Big Ten sloppy concrete mess and a casino with attendants, elevators, and bright colorful screens every place you look. It’s the A.D.D. palace. It is designed for people who don’t want to actually watch the game – or at least don’t want to stay in their seats.
This girl’s gonna need a lot of wins to get some soul. I’m not a nostalgic guy but the first thing we saw as we exited the New Yankee Stadium was the old girl… and people were snapping photos. I’ll warm up to it, but the more the stadium experience felt like watching the Yes Network, the more I wondered why I was not just sitting at home watching it on the Yes Network (cheaper beer at home – and more than just Bud – hah!).
Looks like we have a jealous SAWX fan in here…
according to Sully’s logic (charge for tickets according to the quality of the locker rooms), Fenway tickets should be 50 cents each.
I wanna live there
loved seeing Cano jack the huge HR, if he’s swinging the bat well the first 4 weeks of the season, it will be huge for this offense w/o AROD
Hey, the Red Sux got a locker room upgrade this season, too. Additional nails were driven into the wall to hang more stuff on.
Seriously though, locker rooms don’t mean squat.
GB, I’ve spent all evening on the computer posting in various message boards and this blog. What does that tell you about my life? LOL
Boston Dave-
penny wise, pound foolish ~ Ben Franklin
The Thinkpads will last a week….they will break get pushed aside when the IT guys hired to hang in the locker room never show up.
You know what else is huge for the offense without A-Rod? Cody Ransom. Ooh no he din’t!
On second thought, it’s worse than I thought.
It really sounds like one of those wall street guys who go to prison for fraud and it turns out they wasted shareholder money on thousand dollar garbage cans, gold shower curtains, and platinum toilets.
Do Thinkpads work when they’re soaked in champagne?
Sully Sox
I gotta say, loading the lockers with personal computers and bat rooms is a waste of money. Some expenses are unnecessary.
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They’re paying players tens of millions of dollars a year, and you’re concerned about the added cost of PCs in the lockerroom? Seriously?
If the Sox had laptops in the home clubhouse first, then their front office would be hailed as geniuses.
“Do Thinkpads work when they’re soaked in champagne?”
Well played, sir. Well played indeed!
Jeter in LF-
You right. I don’t why anyone got mad when the Air Force got stung for paying $700 for a toilet seat. I mean, $700 per seat was a drop in the bucket when you pay $20 million for a single fighter.
People will complain about anything. ANYTHING.
Stadium looks great. Cliff Corcoran of Bronx Banter did an awesome walk-around of the stadium here:
http://www.bronxbanterblog.com.....-new-digs/
The new Yankee Stadium looks a lot like the old one save for the huge HDTV screen, dark blue walls, frieze and sawed-off backstop. And that’s a good thing.
Citi Field also looks really good except for the fact that it looks a little bit like Citizens Bank Ballpark on the inside.
So, I missed a decent game, huh?
And what’s with all the jealous yapping? From the media to the visitors here.
If the writers can’t write anything nice, don’t write anything at all!
If the Sox had laptops in the home clubhouse first, then their front office would be hailed as geniuses.
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The Sawks did have laptops in the clubhouse, but Clay Bucholtz stole them.
Just got home from the game. This was the epitome of a soft opening. Lots of little things need to be addressed by Opening Day. The new Stadium is really nice and very fan friendly. Just having all that space in the concourse to walk around is priceless, it sure beats hugging the wall and being packed like sardines avoiding people waiting to buy food.
Cavernous is a good way to describe the inside. That’s not necessarily a good thing. There’s no intimacy where you feel you’re on top of the action and involved in the game. I was on the field level up from the visiting on deck circle, just under the overhang. In terms of distance, it felt like being in the middle of the main reserve of the old Stadium, due to the extra foul territory.
The big screen in center is the nicest piece of visual equipment that I’ve ever seen. The clarity was ridiculous. My HD at 12 feet looks like crap compared to that thing from 500-600 feet. But there are a few visuals that need to be corrected. The scoreboard under the screen is blurry. I don’t know if it’s because the screen is so clear or most likely because the screen and scoreboard are so bright. The lineups to the left of the screen is far too small to read the names, I have 20/20 vision, and it took me a couple innings to figure out what the 2 sets of numbers were next to the names, it was the players hits and at bats totals for the game. The out of town scoreboard is bigger but still hard to read. It’s also incomplete without some of the things other new ballparks have in their out of town scoreboards. For example, the Nationals park has every game shown with info like runners on the base, the count, the batters name and updated in real time. I think CitiField is going to have the same type of thing. The Stadium has 4 games at a time and just the basic info. The 2 manual scoreboards in the outfield walls are much to small and it loses it’s effect.
In terms of amenities, they did a great job. Lots of food options and lots of places to get it which made for much shorter lines. Still some kinks to work out but getting food doesn’t take 2 innings anymore. We ordered food from our seats as well and that system needs drastic improvement. It took them 4 tries to fill our order with it coming to us piecemeal.
The bathrooms were immacualte and in the 8th inning they still didn’t smell like urine. They had a gentleman mopping the floors even in the later innings. I think because it’s so nice, people aren’t as quick to treat it like a gas station toilet. My only gripe is that there weren’t enough sinks. It got backed up with people waiting, but it was nice to see people waiting instead of not bothering.
All in all, it’s a very nice Stadium and fans will love the amenities, which really improve the experience. I just hope the new Stadium finds it’s character and charm and doesn’t turn into a huge cavernous sterile place to watch a game.
OK here are my thoughts at my first glance. I really didnt get to explore a lot of the Stadium as there is just too much to explore so tomorrow will really try and spend some time. But..
The concourses are absolutely huge when you first walk in you see The GreatHall (Which I will walk around tomorrow0 but you go right to this huge concourse and the great thing is being able to see the entire field of play from the concourse it reminds me of the Skydome in that respect.
The food options are immense you really should not want for anything.
The seats are a bit strange in some places I thought. I lucked out with a Legends seat first row just to the right of home plte they of course were the lap of luxary the usher even wiped the wet rain off the seat before I sat down. When you sit there you get your food for free (I would hope so for what they normally cost) and once again the menu selction was great.
I did think that some of the seats seemed further back from the field than the old stadium particular the field level seats behind home plate they seemed a mile away. And the way the lighting is in the upper deck and part of the bleachers it seemed very dark in those seats.
The seats were I sat were indeed very empty and I have a feeling they are going to be for a lot ofthe season as well. The guys that sat next to ne were also partial season ticket holders with their regular seast in the Grandstand and got their seats like myself through the presale which says they are not sold for full season. The majority of the people sitting near us were also in the same boat.
Right field seemed to play very HR friendly maybe more so than the old stadium but maybe that is just my perception with the HR and JOhnson triple didnt seem to be hit all that hard whereas Posada ball to center off the bat sounded great and just seemed to die in CF.
Here is a link to my photos if anyone is interested.
http://2009thefirstseasonatthe.....erfly.com/
Sully Sox
April 3rd, 2009 at 11:24 pm
Boston Dave-
penny wise, pound foolish ~ Ben Franklin
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Trolling a sports board at 11:30 PM on a Friday night is a pathetic waste of oxygen – GB7.
Sully Sox
Jeter in LF-
You right. I don’t why anyone got mad when the Air Force got stung for paying $700 for a toilet seat. I mean, $700 per seat was a drop in the bucket when you pay $20 million for a single fighter.
__
Are you really so naive (I’m being kind) that you can’t distinguish because public and private expenditures?
Islesfan you experience ordering food from the seat a bit different I ordered top of the 1st inning got it by the bottom. Guess what top of the 3rd inning they brought me another order of the exact same thing thinking that I hadnt gotten it yet.
The earlier report of some booing for Tex seems to be accurate but whether “some” is 5 or 50,000 idiots is TBD.
“Teixeira joked that he swings and misses a lot more here than he did across 161st Street. His first at-bat was deflating, a strikeout with Derek Jeter on third and one out. Some fans booed.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04.....f=baseball
Islesfan, thanks for the great recap. Yes, the inside looks cavernous, which concerns me. I also miss the black – what’s there now is a bit antiseptic. I have no doubt that the the new Stadium will generate it’s own sense of history – the players and fans will see to that. Right now, I’m just taking it all in. Perhaps subconsciously I’m comparing it to the old YS (which I don’t mean to do), which is not a good thing because I have such fond memories of that place. I do love the idea of being able to wander around without feeling suffocated (I hate crowds) and the food seems like it’s going to be quite an improvement. Then, too, there is the museum – going to a game will be an all day affair; it will be just fantastic.
That’s disgraceful, but you can never go broke understimating the intelligence of Yankee fans. Poor Tex – he thinks Yankee fans are passionate when they are just stupid.
I just got home. I liked the new stadium but I’m not going nuts over it. Seeing baseball in the Bronx was wonderful.
I don’t remember seeing the museum but I’m guessing it is by moument park or off the great hall. (The moument park line was hugh). The numbers are on an interior wall which looked a bit lost. They are just hung up on unpainted concreate. We did go in around 4 and walked all over. The people working there were very friendly but still don’t know much information. The choice of food was varied. The space between the dugouts and the field is MUCH larger. To answer the above questions, no the bat was not nor is not being moved. Yes, you can access the stadium from the bleachers. There were tons of people congregating on the concourse between the main level and the field level. Since it was the beginning of the stadium, the stores were very crowed including the Steiner store. Finding the pitch count was not very easy from the right field sections and if you have any of the big screen blocked. There are areas in which you don’t have a tv nearby to see that information. I found the new signage on facade between the suits and the top level to be a little annoying. It was very bright and had more ads than information. I realize I’m posting more negatives than positives but these are just my observations. The one area that is non-baseball but stadium related which drove me nuts is the bathrooms. Positive – they were much bigger and had staff who were really working. However, the field level bathrooms had hands free sinks but not the other levels. Also, no where is there hands free flushing. (I guess they left technology money go to the think pads to the guys know what time they need to report) Getting into the Hard Rock from inside was difficult. They (a/k/a the lady at the door) kept saying that the Hard Rock was overcrowed but when you looked in from the store, there was plenty of room. Tommy Bahamas is the only non-members bar on the main level. For anyone who is looking to get a non-Bud, non-Miller but domestic beer, its the place to go. We only found one international beer stands. The Monegan bar you need some type of membership to go in. The parking garage across from NYY stadium changed the payment methods. You need to pre-pay to get out with a ticket. The ticket machines were not working when we left. It was right outside Gate 8 and was very convenient. All and all, once the game started, I was very happy. Lets go NYY.
What no one has mentioned insofar as Jeter and Tex is that this was an exhibition game. It doesn’t count. If Jeter strained a muscle in a cold nothing game it would be criminal. On a cold day in April, just hitting the ball hurts.
Great pictures, gayle. Thanks for sharing.
(Do you mind if I ask what kind of camera you used?)
gayle – I laughed when I read your experience.
My friends and I ordered 3 hotdogs, 1 pizza, 1 fries, 1 beer and 1 hot chocolate. About 2 minutes later some guy comes and brings us the beer. I was like, “Is someone else coming to bring the rest?” finding it odd that he only brought one item. He had no clue and looked at me like I had 3 heads. As far as he knew, we only ordered a beer. We showed him our receipt with everything and he was dumbfounded. Got the waitress who took the order and she told him the rest of the order.
A few minutes later, the same guy comes back with the pizza and a hot beverage container. We were like, what about the hot dogs and fries? He still had no clue and left again. The container had coffee in it instead of hot chocolate. 5 minutes later he shows up with 3 hot dogs and still no fries. We asked the waitress and she gave some explanation that we didn’t understand. I think she was blaming the electronic equipment and said that the fries were never ordered. 2 innings later some guy comes asking if we ordered fries. We said yes and tried to explain but he was like ok, just take them.
They definitely need some work. Didn’t they change food and beverage service companies? I think they went from Aramark to an in house company. Either way, it needs improvement.
Bo, it was like 60 degrees.
this teix got booed stuff is massively over rated, massively! As are any gripes with the new stadium, if you ever walked the old stadium, went to the bathroom or tried to buy food, you’ll quickly notice all aspects are light years better. I can’t see how anyone can be let down, but that’s just me.
Great pics Gayle.
Booing Tex – unacceptable!!
The idea that supplying computers to the players is somehow an extravegant display – utterly laughable.
Bo Knows, what’s funny is that it almost felt like a regular season game – well, not quite, but it didn’t feel like an exhibition game. You’re right – April weather can be miserable. Any game where the Yankees emerge healthy is an good game.
Tex got booed? News to me and I was there.
same here isles, heard a tiny bit from some idiots, but nothing approaching bad or insulting
Does anyone know why the lights directly above home plate were off? looks like a power failure. aside from this and the screen obstruction on tv, i have no complaints. great ballpark
Any pics of the visitors locker room?
Thoughts and pictures from tonight:
http://www.puristbleedspinstri.....ks-to.html
It really is incredible.
After all the anticipation the Taj Mahal would be a let down. People, you were there first, it will get better and you can always start conversations with “Well, when I was at Yankee Stadium pre Official Opening”. It’ll be great.
Kenny,
I don’t think there are lights directly above home plate. There weren’t in the old Stadium and didn’t look like there were any here either.
Actually, I take that back, seeing the pictures it does look like there is a light bank behind home plate.
http://www.newsday.com/media/p.....778671.jpg
No idea why they weren’t on.
kenny
April 4th, 2009 at 1:09 am
Does anyone know why the lights directly above home plate were off? looks like a power failure. aside from this and the screen obstruction on tv, i have no complaints. great ballpark
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Possibly because they aren’t aimed properly and they were shining in the eyes of the center fielder and distracting them.
Thanks Gayle.
Really — the front row seat you sat in is unsold for the season? Yikes.
gayle–your pix are fabulous..thanks for sharing
Holy smoke. This is great stuff.
when did it become cool to call the facade the frieze ?