Yankee Stadium (II)

Bronx, NY

Team: New York Yankees	Opening Day: April 3, 2009 (exhibition), April 16, 2009 (regular season)
Capacity: 51,800	Dimensions: LF 318, CF 408, RF 314
Ground Breaking: August 16, 2006	Architect: HOK Sport (Kansas City)
Developer: Tishman Speyer (New York)	Contractor: Turner Corp. (Dallas), Skanska USA Civil (Queens)
Cost: $1.3 billion	Owner: New York Yankees
Financing: $220 million from NYC, $1.1 billion from Yankees

Memorable Moment:

2009 World Series Champions
August 4, 2010: Alex Rodriguez hits his 600th home run.
July 9, 2011: Derek Jeter gets his 3,000th hit.
June 19, 2015: Alex Rodriguez gets his 3,000th hit.

This stadium was constructed across the street from Yankee Stadium (I) at a public park. (The original Stadium will be demolished and a new public park will be built at its site). The Stadium is actually two structures. One is a facade meant to resemble the original Stadium. There is a "Great Hall" (pictured below) separating the two structures with retail options. The second structure is the actual park which rises above the facade. The distinctive lattice work from the original Stadium is present in the new park.

My thoughts on this structure fall into two categories. First of all, I like how the facade reminds me of the 1923 Yankee Stadium. I also like that even though the park holds only a few thousand less, you feel much more on top of the action here. Now I have been to quite a few of the new ballparks, and most of them (Camden Yards, Citizens Bank Park among others), still create a charm and uniqueness for the fans. Yankee Stadium (II) feels very corporate, sterile, and efficient. You get in, see a game, and buy concessions very easily and comfortably, but all together unremarkably. This stadium is essentially, a reflection of the stereotypical image of the New York Yankees.

The Yankees retired numbers are (in numerical order and the years they were retired):

1 Billy Martin (1986)
3 Babe Ruth (1948)
4 Lou Gehrig (1939)
5 Joe DiMaggio (1952)
6 Joe Torre (2014)
7 Mickey Mantle (1969)
8 Bill Dickey (1972)
8 Yogi Berra (1972)
9 Roger Maris (1984)
10 Phil Rizzuto (1985)
15 Thurman Munson (1979)
16 Whitey Ford (1974)
23 Don Mattingly (1997)
32 Elston Howard (1984)
37 Casey Stengel (1970)
42 Mariano Rivera (2013)
44 Reggie Jackson (1993)
46 Andy Pettitte (2015)
49 Ron Guidry (2003)
51 Bernie Williams (2015)