2009 – New Yankee Stadium: Opening Week
On May 1, 2017
- Uncategorized
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Getting to go to Opening Day was too rich for my blood, but I got a pair of face-value tickets on eBay for seats that were upstairs, but right behind home plate AND just barely covered by the overhang, which was good because people 2-3 rows in front of me were getting wet when it rained.
There was a lot to check out, but everything had long lines……………some other time, perhaps.
I got a decent shot of the Great Hall and the bonus to me was that you could still see the old stadium through the window – something that soon wouldn’t be possible.
I had entered the building in the center field area, so I started taking pictures of whatever was happening on the field (batting practice).
As I walked around closer to home plate, I saw Derek Jeter loosening up (I think that’s Jorge Posada behind him), while YES Network announcer Michael Kay was holding court on the right.
I headed up to the top deck to do the fisheye interior shot while no one was there:
Then I walked as far as I could toward left field (just past the foul pole) to take this shot of Monument Park:
On the way back, I took a flip phone picture of a helpful young lady. The Yankees had a bunch of people scattered around holding these signs. I think this may be the most courtesy I’ve ever encountered in the Bronx.
Before heading to my seat, I took this shot of a wide expanse under the seats – something that didn’t exist in the old stadium.
I made sure I got a shot of the “Opening Week 2009” logo. Apropos of nothing, I was a friend of the guy who used to paint the field logos at the old stadium until he died and his wife took over. As a kid, I knew him in the late 50s as Dickie Kunath. In the mid-60s, I hired him to paint a name on a hot car I had (see 1968 post). I think the Steinbrenners knew him as Richard.
This may be my best shot of Derek Jeter and it’s not even my shot. I guess I should have waited until they added his last name (over “Casio”).
Now that I’ve listened to the picture, I’m pretty sure I snapped this just before Bob Shepard said, “…JE-tuh – num-buh 2″.
Then it got a little wet, so “Dry-I” took two shots of the unhappy fans on the Jumbotron: the first with my adult camera and the second with the little flip phone.
Finally, here’s my side-by-side views of the old and new Yankee Stadiums, as taken from the last row of each top deck, dead-center with a fisheye lens:
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