YANKEE STADIUM

Yankee Stadium has seen by far the most baseball history of any ballpark, and continues to hoist championship pennants 80 years after it's birth. It is known as "The House that Ruth Built" because it was Babe Ruth's enormous drawing power that allowed the '21 Yankees to build what was the largest ballpark in history. In fact, it was so large, it was the first ballpark that could be called a "stadium". 

Unfortunately, the stadium these days is not truly the original - in 1974 and 1975, the Yankees moved to Shea Stadium for two years while Yankee Stadium was essentially rebuilt. Nonetheless, with the inclusion of Monument Park in the outfield and the numerous other remnants of the old ballpark, Yankee Stadium is one of the must-see parks in the country.

Getting to the park is fairly easy, if you take the subway. There are three lines that arrive at the 161st Street stop in the Bronx - the 4, B, and D trains. Once you exit the subway, you are right in front of the stadium. To get tickets, walk to the other side of the stadium to the main entrance, where a number of ticket windows are located. These windows open when the park opens, 1.5 hours before game time. Basically, these guys have bunches of tickets and you just buy whatever they have in the price range you specify - it is not the place where they can check the different locations in the park and get you a perfect seat.

Yankee Stadium is home to the 3-time defending World Champions, which means that tickets are hard to get and expensive. There are a lot of different seating options that are difficult to explain. The stadium is divided into three decks, but the lower deck itself has 3 different seating levels. Within these levels, there is further confusion with the terms Championship and MVP applied to various ticket areas. 

The best level is Field, with the good (MVP) seats only available from scalpers. There are $42 Field Box seats way down the lines, but these are too low and too far away to be much good. The Main level is located in the lower deck above the Field level, and is itself divided into box seats (in the open) and reserved (under the overhang). Main Reserved MVP seats are $37 and would be a good bet if available. 

The next deck is the loge, and at $42 for MVP and $37 for seats down the lines, is too expensive, especially when you consider that the loge section is completely covered by the third deck overhang. We suggest going to that third deck, known as Tier. The cheapest seats here are in the last couple of rows and are known as Tier Reserved Value ($15). These are not great seats, you should spend the extra $2 to get the Tier Reserved Seats at $17. The Tier Boxes are the lower seats in the upper deck and go for $33 - the $17 ticket is a better buy. Sight lines are good from all seats here, although binoculars are needed for the upper deck.

If budget is a problem, go for the $8 bleacher seats - you will not be able to get into the main part of the stadium, but the crowd will be interesting.

Sections here begin at 1 behind home plate and extend to 35 down right field and 36 down left field. Note that the loge and tier boxes have box numbers rather than section numbers - the farther from 400 in the loge (and 600 in the tier) your box is, the farther from home plate.

Ticket windows at Yankee stadium seem unchanged from 50 years ago - they stand apart from the actual building and the ticket seller has to enter the booth 1.5 hours before game time. At that time, he brings a pack of printed tickets with him - you are not able to check the different seating areas as there is no computer in the ticket booth. We generally don't recommend buying tickets in advance on roadtrips, due to potential rainouts as well as the exorbitant rip-off fees that certain ticketing agencies charge, but if you want good seats here, get them far in advance.

Once inside the stadium, make a beeline for Monument Park, the entrance of which is located behind section 36 on the field level. This is the most historical in-park area in the majors and the line-up begins immediately - the entrance closes 45 minutes prior to the game, so don't delay on this one. You can walk through and read about the amazing history of so many famous Yankees. If batting practice is going on, look out for some hard hit balls - they occasionally make it over the protective netting.

The concourses are narrow, and crowded. Escalators are available to get you to the top levels, but the ramps down after the game can also be crowded. 

If you have an upper deck seat, walk all the way to the top and look through the small windows to see the NY skyline in the distance. From the top, the stadium expands beneath you, it's blue seats shining in the sun. You will notice that the last 7 rows of the Tier deck are covered by a roof, which is convenient during rain delays. 

Yankee Stadium is an old-style park with no attractions other than Monument Park. There are 4 scoreboards in the outfield above the bleachers, from left to right they are: the out-of-town scoreboard is small and only shows two games at a time (and is not visible from the upper deck on third base); the line score with the official time; the stats and lineups scoreboard which shows the count and the offensive teams current lineup; and the DiamondVision, which is one of the worst we have seen. Note the white bridge that runs along all the scoreboards; this is a replica of the original copper facade that adorned the roof of the stadium before it was remodeled.

Scoreboards

An interesting aspect is the small foul territory down both lines as the seating area curves into the playing field. This makes for a lot of foul balls down the line as well as lots of exciting plays in the corners. And the grounds crew will dance to the YMCA while they clean the field, which is rather un-Yankee like, in my opinion.

For eating, there is the Sidewalk Cafe near gates 4 and 6 where you can eat food that you have brought, or order the ballpark variety. Food here is typical, although the hot dogs are better than usual. There is a designated driver program, but the drinks you receive are so small, it almost isn't worth signing up. But every game, one DD wins cool stuff in a random drawing, so visit the DD booth on the concourse behind home plate.

A final comment is that the stadium speakers were the loudest we have heard. After a few innings I had a small headache - not sure if it is always that loud, or just an anomaly. 

Overall, Yankee Stadium is really just a normal stadium when you look at it. But when you realize everything that has gone on here, and all the famous players that have played here, you appreciate the fact that it is still here, albeit changed. Monument Park is the highlight, but take the time to explore this grand old park's other areas - it is worth your time and definitely the better of NY's two major league stadiums.