New ballpark is the pride of the Yankees

In these tough economic times, all of the above.

But spectacular? Absolutely.

While the Red Sox may not envy the Yankees anymore now that Boston has won two world championships in five years and the Yankees haven't won one this century, they should be envious of New York's new $1.5 billion ballpark. You may love Fenway Park, but trust me, you'd love a New Fenway Park even more, especially if it had been replicated as closely to the original as this one was.

The New Yankee Stadium, which drew a sellout crowd of 48,271 in its maiden voyage yesterday, possesses many of the features of the original Yankee Stadium, the one before the 1974-75 renovations.

Upon entering the bowl, you'd swear you were in the old place. Except for a bleacher area in center field that houses a concessions stand, there's nothing much different. One scribe suggested that if you took a power washer to the old place, you'd have something that resembles what you see here. True. Yet there is more to it than that.

The concourses are wider and offer more food and services. The amenities for players, fans, and media are state-of-the-art, off-the-charts tremendous. The Yankee clubhouse stretches from the start of the home dugout down the right-field line. The clubhouse is enormous, equipped with wide lockers and a personal laptop for each player. The clubhouse design is very similar to that of Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. There's an enormous player lounge beyond the clubhouse. The training room is massive, stocked with the latest medical equipment.

The Mets' new Citi Field and this park are really different. Citi Field has a real ballpark feel to it, a mixture of many of the modern ballparks such as Jacobs Field and The Ballpark at Arlington and Safeco Field. After all, you wouldn't want to replicate Shea Stadium, would you? Citi Field has quirky little configurations in the outfield where the ball could take some interesting bounces and create havoc for fielders. Yankee Stadium is simply unique. The dimensions are the same as the old ballpark's.

Commissioner Bud Selig marveled at how well the architects captured the characteristics of the pre-renovation Yankee Stadium that he first walked into as a 15-year-old with his mother. Selig said they sat in the third deck that day, and while he kidded that the view from his current seat was better, "I had the same feeling walking into this place today that I had 60 years ago," he said.

One such feature retained from the old ballpark is the main gate (Gate 4), where the stadium's name is etched in thin block letters surrounded by ornate eagle medallions 7 feet 4 inches in diameter.

There's a magnificent scoreboard in dead center, and two smaller, manual scoreboards in left-center and right-center that were featured in the 1923 ballpark and appear prominently in photos of Don Larsen's 1956 World Series perfect game. The Yankee bullpen is located in its original spot - right-center field - and Monument Park has been relocated to its original position in center field behind the fence.

Fans gathered early yesterday, some by 8 a.m. to get in line for the gates to open at 10. They crowded the areas outside the stadium just steps from the subway.

"There's an excitement here today," said Johnny Damon, whose first-inning single to center off Cy Young winner Cliff Lee was the first hit at the New Yankee Stadium. "I'm not sure words or descriptions give this place justice. We've never been in a facility like this. What it offers the players and the fans I would think would be very difficult to duplicate anywhere else. Everything was done top shelf."

True, there were probably no corners cut here even in this horrible recession. The Yankees have certainly taken their share of criticism for opening such an extravagant facility during hard economic times. They've had problems selling out the cushioned $2,500 seats behind home plate and haven't sold out all the elaborate luxury boxes after spending $432.5 million on free agent contracts.

They have also included $5 bleacher seats that are sold on the day of the game. You may have trouble seeing left or right field if you're sitting on either side of a concessions area in straightaway center that juts out so that folks sitting on either side have an obstructed view. But otherwise, the sight lines are spectacular.

I asked Selig whether he'd like to see a new Fenway Park and he said, "I've said this many times, but there's something about Fenway and Wrigley that I'd like to see preserved."

Didn't he feel that way about Yankee Stadium?

"I did, but it had been redone in '74," said Selig. "This is more like the old Yankee Stadium. I think Fenway and Wrigley, there's something that should be preserved. I give a lot of credit to John Henry and Tom Werner, and the new owners of the club feel the same way.

"Fenway and Wrigley - as long as they can make it work [economically], I encourage them."

As classy as last year's All-Star Game and the closing of Yankee Stadium last September were, the opening of the new place was also tastefully done. The Yankees introduced many of their prominent alumni. Yogi Berra threw out the first pitch. Greats such as Larsen, Rickey Henderson, Dave Winfield, Reggie Jackson, and Bernie Williams were on hand. Williams, a classical guitarist, strummed "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" in center field. As Derek Jeter was coming up to lead off the Yankee first after CC Sabathia mowed down the Indians in the top of the inning, a bat boy placed across the plate the bat Babe Ruth had used to hit the first Yankee Stadium homer - April 18, 1923 - against the Red Sox' Howard Ehmke.

The New Yankee Stadium opener was not so great as the Yankees took a 10-2 beating at the hands of the Indians on a pristine spring day. The Indians enjoyed the new ballpark immensely, especially Grady Sizemore, who stroked a grand slam off Damaso Marte in a nine-run seventh inning long after Sabathia and Lee, the last two American League Cy Young winners, had engaged in a decent pitchers' duel, Sabathia facing his former team.

With the game decided by the bottom of the seventh inning, more than half the fans left the building. Across the way, the old ballpark still stands. Little by little, it will likely be torn down.

We're sure there are bugs to be worked out, as there are in any new stadium, but once you've experienced the replica, with all its comforts and excesses, it would be hard to miss the old place.

Yes, Mr. Selig, Fenway and Wrigley are great, but their replicas would be even better.

Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com.