State of the park

By Topher Bordeau Sports Central Columnist

Let's step back for a second. When Baltimore launched this whole fever with Camden Yards in 1991, they replaced the entirely unremarkable Memorial Stadium. Built in 1950 for football and minor league baseball, the most interesting thing about Memorial might have been the fact that it was the first to be constructed entirely of reinforced concrete.

The odd angles, wrought iron, and modern comfort of Camden Yards reminded fans of the history of baseball in Baltimore and made a trip to the park more enjoyable. Unfortunately, Camden Yards inspired copycats that misunderstood the importance of the venue in relation to what goes on there. Now, we have a dozen new fields that all look roughly the same; fans enjoy faux-antique touches as they sip their microbrews, peck at their sushi, entertain their clients, and occasionally try to get on the centerfield Jumbotron. What happens between the lines during the game and what might have happened there in years past has become irrelevant.

If New York follows the other lemmings, New York City and all of baseball will have lost something significant in Yankee Stadium and Shea. The first time Paul O'Neill stood in the Stadium's right field, he said that the only thing he thought was "Ruth." It's impossible to visit the blue behemoth in the Bronx without admiring Monument Park, the old outfield wall, and the mystique of a place that housed so many of baseball's greats.

From that batter's box, Reggie jacked three homers in three swings. Just over there, Joe DiMaggio brushed off Robert Kennedy at Mickey Mantle day, angry until the day he died over the Kennedys' relationship with Marilyn Monroe. On that mound, George W. Bush looked out at us, threw a strike, and America exhaled. Mookie Wilson, Bill Buckner, and Shea Stadium ended my childhood. Thousands of kids from an earlier generation learned about futility from the expansion Mets before experiencing real exhilaration in 1969. We could go on.

Sure, a little more leg room and a beer that isn't half water might be nice, but are we willing to ditch the home of 28 World Series champions for retractable roofs? What does it say about a culture values comfort over history? Why watch something based on the real thing when you can have the genuine article? And why do we have to be so comfortable and "entertained" all the time, anyway? We're spending three hours at the game, not three years. If the action between the lines can't hold our attention, maybe we shouldn't be there.

The Yankees and Mets will argue that all of this is true, but if fans want to enjoy winning teams in the future, they'll tell us that they need new revenue (read: luxury boxes) in order to remain financially competitive. Ignore the fact that the teams are from the biggest media market and one of the most baseball-rabid towns in America. Forget that the claim is patently absurd and pretend that they do need that luxury box revenue.

For most of the '80s and early '90s, the Boston Celtics told the city of Boston that the team needed a new arena. They won 16 world championships in the Garden, but needed to get with the times. The Fleet Center debuted in 1995 to rave reviews and standing room only crowds. And we're still waiting for the first playoff game to be played there. Once gleaming and new, the stadium is now just another vanilla facility housing a team that struggles to fill its plethora of luxury boxes, even now as they lead the East. Isn't it better to have all of 35 boxes sold than 40 of 80?

The moral here? The Boston Garden had history and that attracted fans when the team didn't. It's the same way with Fenway Park; Bostonians have filled the place when the team smelled worse than the urinals. In New York, fans have both history and winning teams. When the Yanks and Mets hit the skids again, we'll still have Shea and the Stadium, and that will make the games worth going to. They'll be just like everyone else with once-new mallparks when their teams come back to earth -- bored.

Article courtesy of Sports Central.