New Yankee is anything but “a masterpiece, a new cathedral a work of near perfection.” (By the way, try punctuation sometime.) In fact, aside from the slightly better-quality seats, nothing was done right. It’s still ugly bare concrete everywhere on inside–only more brightly lit than the old stadium.

The men’s rooms at the renovated Trenton train station blow the ones at $1.5 billion New Yankee out of the water.

The grandstand’s farther away from the field than the old tier was.

The video scoreboard is huge, sure, but it doesn’t actually show the score all the time.

The analog, hand-operated scoreboard is minuscule.

As are the World Series years and the retired numbers. And Monument Park is not only poorly situated, it’s poorly built. (Compare all that with, for example, the Tigers’ awesome statues at Comerica.)

The food’s the same quality (i.e., low) as the old place, even if there are more options.

So, in terms of aesthetics, sightlines, and amenities–the three most salient things about any stadium–New Yankee fails terribly.

Citizens Bank cost a third as much and is about a million times nicer–on the inside, anyway. As I said, New Yankee does look pretty great from the outside.

So, in conclusion, sit on it, jerk.

A.J. battles last night, despite not having his best stuff.
Excellent inning by Coke in the 8th. I enjoyed his fire after striking about Bobby to end the inning.

The surgery he had this year corrects most of the problem. ARod should be stronger this year than any year in the past five.

The surgery he will have after the season corrects the rest of the problem permanently. There is nothing else in this guy to suggest that he will break down.

ARod is best understood as a baseball nerd who wants to improve his life, given the childhood that he had. Like most nerds, he lacks some social understanding.

He is a doofus, but he is our doofus as Yankee fans, forever. Haters, get used to it, please–you are starting to get boring.

In terms of the 15% tip, nobody has noted that ARod is good friends with Warren Buffet, and takes lots of financial advice from him. Anyone know how much Warren Buffet generally tips (and he is worth about 50 times what ARod is)? That’s right, 15%. Why doesn’t SI or ESPN mention that?

I posted this last night, and I’ll post it again. If ARod hits 50 HR this season, despite the month layoff, I challenge any of the haters to post a picture of themselves dressed in the one of the Stilleto and Lace outfits.

guess Pete is getting some much needed sleep and just forgot to post the Journal News post. Devaney did cover the game last night from what I read.

“but it freaking sucks otherwise.”

This is false. This is just you being swayed by the all-knowing media who says the park is not what it’s supposed to be therefor, they have already formulated your opinion for you.

The park is a masterpiece, a new cathedral a work of near perfection. Are they flaws, of course… but in a few years those flaws will be embraced by the fans instead of being ripped apart. Inside and outside the stadium is absolutely breathtaking.

But seriously, lets all keep crying about the homeruns.

FYI, my friends were there last night and they said Damons “half swing homerun” was a no-doubter. Somehow, he crushed that.

I was going to facetiously post “First” but I notice you beat me to being first of the morning!

Is it worth it to comment on stuff from last night, or should we wait for the “In Today’s Journal” post?

I did want to say, regarding “the book,” that ARod already has an iron-clad contract, and so he will be the last one standing. MVP awards and all that are nice-to-haves; he already has a couple. He’s said all he wants is to win a WS. Well, if the Yankees win one, nobody votes as to whether he gets a ring or not. And Hurray to Dougie M. for speaking up.

Nice win last night. All wins are nice!

Maybe Tex has the swine flu?

Finally made it up to New Yankee. It looks pretty swell from the outside, but it freaking sucks otherwise. The only thing I liked is that the seats are marginally more comfortable.

The old park was just fine and this new joint is a boondoggle wrapped in a scam stuffed in a travesty.