Taking the Gross out of GNP

If the script had been perfect, the score would have been different in the New York Yankees' season opener in their new ballpark, which has the same name as the old ballpark. The old one was the House that Ruth Built and the new one, well, I guess, it's the House that George Built. I've never been a big fan of either George III of England's management style (it cost him the Colonies) or George I of The Bronx.

I will say this for the Yankees' King George, he's never been afraid to spend money, his own and/or others and sorry, Hank, he seems to have the brains of the clan. And opening Yankee Stadium yesterday on a gorgeous day, weather-wise, if not a great day for the Yankees bullpen, I was struck watching YES by the majesty and beauty of the facility. Cynics might say it should be beautiful as it cost over one and a half billion dollars to build (to help place that in perspective, if you have any memory of high school geography at all, think Central African Republic. Its Gross National Product (the value of all goods and services) ranked 167th of the nations of earth, and was less than the construction costs of the new Yankee Stadium.

I know. Given the opportunity to look at that number for a moment, it's hard to not think 'it's only a baseball stadium' and you're right, except you're also not right. Yankee Stadium is bigger than baseball and larger than life. With all due respect to their cross-town neighbors, it's not the Mets' Citi-Field and it was always bigger than Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds which is where the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants spent their summers before the great Westward Ho! movement of the mid-1950's.

I've been to games in 'old' Yankee Stadium (pre 1976 renovation if my memory serves me well, as well as post renovated Yankee Stadium) and I loved everything about the place--okay, not the getting there part, and not the parking there part and definitely not the getting out of there after the game was over part. But everything else was really swell and nothing tastes as good as a frankfurter in Yankee Stadium and nothing sounds like a ball tagged by Posada, sitting dead on red, and we all roar as it clears the fence.

Still one and half billion dollars is a lot of money and if you're not a Yankee fan (and it may not be your fault, perhaps your parents sold you to a family of wolves) it might be hard to appreciate how that kind of money isn't too much to spend for a place to play baseball. Even if you're a Red Sox fan, you have to regard Yankee Stadium as the first address for major league baseball. It may not be the home of the World Series Champion, right now, but give me the names of five other ballparks, American or National League. See what I mean? And if it helps, let's not forget sports is a multi-billion dollar business so while we fans are important to our teams, we're only important when we pour through the turnstiles, buy the souvenirs and purchase the sponsors' products. Otherwise, as that sage of YES broadcasting, Michael Kay, is fond of saying, "see ya!"

And so the Indians ruined the inaugural game--one and half billion dollars can only buy so much. Did you see that shot of Cliff Lee, the current Cy Young winner and Cleveland starter, in the dugout in the top half of the seventh as the Indians' bats were lighting up the Yankees' bullpen for nine runs? Worst case of hat hair I saw all day. Man should be ashamed of himself. Sitting in a brand new ballpark looking like a crash test dummy for Edward Scissorhands.
-bill kenny