Assessing Yankee Stadium

There is no carousel like in Detroit, no Ballpark Pinball like in Philadelphia, no relic ballplayers pushing ribs. It's just baseball here. It'll be interesting to see if they move toward the "family friendly" thread when the new park opens in 20o9.

It'll also be interesting to see if Bob Shepard makes it across the street. He's the constant at the Stadium, from this night back to my first game here in 1962 and back 11 years before that. The same public address announcer who reads Robinson Cano's name these days once read Joe DiMaggio's. Reggie Jackson called it "the voice of God."

Because of the traditions of the place, you find yourself looking toward the Bronx County Courthouse and imagining that the old Ballantyne scoreboard is still in place, the facade still rings the top and the monuments are still on the field. No other stadium evokes that.

Yankee Stadium is still worth a B-plus.