So, a mere 3 days after the Mets new stadium plans were unveiled, the Yankees' intentions regarding a new stadium were announced.
Leave aside for the moment the folly of any public money going into building sports stadiums and lets focus on Yankee Stadium as it exists today. (This is the part that pains me.) It's fantastic. Sure there are probably bits of it that need a little renovation, but the Stadium is baseball's cathedral. There is no reason that makes sense to me that it should be replaced.
And, I don't care that they're going to do their damndest to recreate the 1923 feel of Yankee Stadium in the new one across the street. You and I both know that what they'll really do is try to make it seem like the old one all the while the very heart of the stadium will go and we'll have a shopping mall and luxury boxes and all that other nonsense that provide the rationale for this decision. The new stadium will have everything other than authenticity or soul. It will not be "the house the Ruth built". {I know this is essentially a new building since the mid 70s, but still the monuments and field are where baseball was saved by Ruth after the '19 scandals, where the greats played, where baseball was high art.}
Major League Baseball needs to step in and ask George Steinbrenner to come to his senses. They should offer to move the Hall of Fame from where it is now in Cooperstown, NY (lovely town, but so out of the way) and move it to the location for the proposed new stadium.
You want razzmatazz? You want money? The whole area could be developed as a baseball themed amusement-park/visitor-center. With all the traveling people do today and with baseball's continued growth internationally I have no doubt that this would be a huge hit. Yankee Stadium doesn't need to be torn down to make George richer.
