Flashback: Yankee Stadium, In Progress (Circa 2009)

In light of my recent tour of Rose Bowl Stadium, as well as of my upcoming tour of Dodger Stadium, I got to thinking about progress and preservation.

We are now on our third Yankee Stadium. How have its two historic predecessors not survived, when the Rose Bowl has (for 90 years), and Dodger Stadium (the oldest ballpark in the West) has?

You can talk about the hallowed ground of Yankee Stadium, but honestly, it's different ground now. The dirt is different.

It's been four years since the newest Yankee Stadium opened, completely rebuilt, reconfigured, and slightly relocated from the one it replaced. While it was still under construction, I took a hard hat tour of Yankee Stadium, but for some reason never posted about it.

Here now is a flashback to March 2009, showing the "progress" of Yankee Stadium, before the original 1923 stadium had been demolished (which occurred in 2010):


The Grand Hall, almost done


Excavation site of where a Boston-loving construction worker had planted a Red Sox jersey in the concrete


Back-lit panels of famous Yankee autographs (upstairs from the Hard Rock Cafe, in the NYY Steakhouse)


Lightboxes of old baseball card designs (VIP dining area, ceiling)


VIP dining area, featuring rare, blue marble, imported from Italy.


Custom-made blue glass featuring the NY logo.


Detail


"Legends" VIP seating area


The new stadium doesn't have as much netting as before, so foul balls (and bats!) are enough of a danger for every seat to carry this warning.


Not a bad seat in the house, they say.


Yankees dugout


The field


The board


Behind the board

I grew up in a Yankee town, amongst Yankee fans. But in a subway series face-off, I was never able to choose between the Yankees and the Mets. When I caught the Yankees playing at Dodger Stadium a year after this tour, knowing I'd be moving to LA soon, I rooted for them both.

In a way, it doesn't matter for me where they play. They're a good team. They play well, and have always played well. But they have no physical, architectural history. That's what LA - and especially Boston - has got over them.

Related Post:
Photo Essay: Rose Bowl Stadium, Renovated Again, and Open for Tours!