April 16, 2009: The New Yankee Stadium Opens

April 16, 2009: The New York Yankees open the new Yankee Stadium, on the west side of River Avenue in the South Bronx, on the north side of East 161st Street, across from the old Yankee Stadium on the south side.

Team owner George Steinbrenner wanted it to have all the modern amenities that the old Stadium couldn't have, including more luxury suites, more and bigger food-service areas, and more and bigger bathrooms. He also wanted it to look as much as possible like the old Stadium did before its 1973-76 renovation. Its exterior is a light brown, sandstone, as the original Stadium was from its opening in 1923 until it was painted white in 1967. The "wedding-cake façade" (actually a frieze), moved to the top of the back wall of the Bleachers in 1976, was restored to the roof of the main structure.

The old Stadium had a peak seating capacity of 67,224, reduced to 65,010 for the 1967 renovation, and 57,545 for the 1976 renovation. The new Stadium was listed at a capacity of 50,287 when it opened, and is now listed at 46,537.

The Yankees got off to a hard start in the 2009 season, dropping their 1st 2 games, in a roadtrip to Baltimore, before winning the finale; then winning the 1st 2 in Kansas City before losing the last; then losing the opener of their series in Tampa Bay, 15-5, before taking the last 2. So they were 5-4 going into their home opener. The 15-5 loss was so bad that newly-acquired outfielder Nick Swisher pitched the 9th inning -- and kept it scoreless.

For the 1st game at the new Yankee Stadium, many Yankee legends were introduced, including Hall-of-Famers Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford and Reggie Jackson. Oddly, the National Anthem singer wasn't a native of the New York Tri-State Area, although she was a big singing star and a Yankee Fan, who would go on to host a talk show that she taped in New York: Kelly Clarkson.

John Fogerty, the former lead singer of Creedence Clearwater Revival, and thus a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and was 13 years old when the New York Giants moved to San Francisco, had previously been a Yankee Fan, and mentioned both the Giants' Willie Mays and the Yankees' Joe DiMaggio -- but not DiMaggio's successor, Mickey Mantle -- in his 1985 hit song "Centerfield." He sang that song after Clarkson's National Anthem, playing a guitar designed to look like a baseball bat, which he donated to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Clarkson will be eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2028. That Hall is located in Cleveland -- Steinbrenner's hometown.

It was probably a coincidence that the opponent for the Yankee Stadium II opener was the Cleveland Indians. The game began with former Indians pitcher CC Sabathia, newly signed to a big free-agent contract by the Yankees, getting Grady Sizemore to ground to 1st base, where another new acquisition, Mark Teixeira, handled the play unassisted.

And for 6 innings, the game was a nice pitchers' duel between Sabathia and the Indians' Cliff Lee. The Indians took the lead in the top of the 4th, on doubles by Jhonny Peralta and Kelly Shoppach. The Yankees tied it back up in the bottom of the 5th. Given that he was injured for the last game at the old Stadium, and that his backup, José Molina, hit the last home run there, it was appropriate that the 1st home run in the new Stadium was hit by Yankee catcher Jorge Posada.

With 1 out in the top of the 6th, Sabathia gave up a walk, Then he got a strikeout. But he had now thrown 122 pitches, and manager Joe Girardi replaced him. Big mistake. If a pitcher's last result was a strikeout, and he's not visibly in pain, leave him in. Girardi brought in Edwar Ramirez, and the next batter reached on an error, and the next on a single. Girardi pulled Ramirez, and brought in Phil Coke, who got out of it, with the score still 1-1.

But the seed of the Yankees' defeat had been sown. Instead of letting Coke come back out for the top of the 7th, Girardi brought in José Veras. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Veras gave up walk, double, double. Girardi got him out of there, and replaced him with Damaso Marte. He hit a batter, got a fielder's choice, allowed a single to load the bases, got a popup, then allowed walk, grand slam home run, groundout, solo home run, flyout.

And when the dust had settled, and the men saw what had occurred, the Yankees trailed 10-1, and I spoke "George Carlin words." (I was not at the game, but I was watching on television.)

Robinson Canó singled home a run in the bottom of the 7th, but the Yankees would get no closer. The Indians won, 10-2. The Yankees had won the 1st home game in franchise history in 1903, their 1st game at the old Stadium in 1923, and their 1st game at the renovated version of the old Stadium in 1976. But, as with their 1st game ever, they lost the opener of the new Stadium.

The Yankees rebounded the next game, winning 6-5. But on Saturday, they suffered one of their worst defeats ever, losing to the Indians, 22-4. The Indians scored 14 runs in the 2nd inning, chasing Chien-Ming Wang. This time, there was no position player coming in to pitch.

On Sunday, April 19, I made my 1st visit to the new Stadium. Outside Gate 6 in right field, I saw Freddy Schuman, the elderly Bronx native with the good-luck pan and the homemade signs starting with "FREDDY SEZ." He had lived long enough to see every Yankee from Babe Ruth onward, and now he had lived to see the new Stadium. I heard somebody tell him, "Freddy, you can't retire!" Having met him a couple of times before, I said, "Retire? At this rate, we may need him to pitch!" Fortunately, he laughed. (He died late the next season, having seen one more title.)

Fortunately, in this game, the Yankees came from 3-0 down in the 7th inning, including another Posada home run, and won that game, 7-3. In contrast, they lost my 1st game at the old Stadium, in 1978. They did win my last game at the old Stadium. And they went on to win the 2009 World Series, clinching over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 6, at the new Yankee Stadium.

Let me close with this: In every measurable way, the new Yankee Stadium is an improvement over the old one. But some things simply cannot be measured. I like the new Stadium, but I miss the old Stadium terribly.

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April 16, 2009 was a Thursday. These other Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Mets lost to the San Diego Padres, 6-5 at Citi Field.

* The Washington Nationals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-2 at Nationals Park in Washington.

* The Florida Marlins beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-2 at Turner Field in Atlanta.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 3-2 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

* The Houston Astros beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-3 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 7-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Minnesota Twins, 9-2 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, 7-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the Los Angeles Angels beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-1 at Safeco Field in Seattle. (It's now named T-Mobile Park.)

Football was out of season. The NBA regular season had ended the night before, and their Playoffs hadn't yet started. But the Stanley Cup Playoffs were underway. In opening games of opening-round series:

* The Boston Bruins beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-2 at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston. (It's now known as just the TD Garden.)

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-1 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Calgary Flames, 3-2 at the United Center in Chicago. Martin Havlat scored the winning goal, just 12 seconds into overtime.

* And the Anaheim Ducks beat the San Jose Sharks, 2-0 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. (It's now named the SAP Arena.)