| 30 September 2009
Note: I'm on vacation until the end of the week, so I won't really have the time to do the regular blog postings. But to keep you all interested - and to continue to introduce any new readers to some of the Wezen-Ball archives (not to mention to re-introduce Google to the new URL of some of my more popular posts) - I've decided to fill the time by Archive Diving. I wish I could give you better, more up-to-the-minute content, but I just can't promise that. I'll try to check in. I hope you find something worth (re-)reading in the meantime.
Well, tonight the Yankees will host the final regular season game of their inaugural season in the new Yankee Stadium. It's been quite the year for the Stadium, with the shock of the price tag, the awe of the opulence, the ridicule of the prices, and the surprise of the launching pad (to name a few). If the Steinbrenners were hoping to cause a stir, they certainly achieved their goal.
When the Stadium opened up at the beginning of the season, I went along with everyone else and wrote a preview of it. Of course, I had to throw my own little spin on the piece, so, instead of writing about the $1.2 billion behemoth that opened its doors this year, I wrote about the $160 million renovation that was unveiled at the start of the 1976 season. Using contemporary Baseball Digest and Sports Illustrated issues, I was able to find exactly what people were thinking as the old was replaced by the new.
Please take a look: A Look at the "New" Yankee Stadium... circa 1976.
