Wabberjocky wrote:
Is there some great grass-roots veneration for Yankee Stadium? I've never heard much of that. Certainly not like the Boston fans and their misty water-colored memories of the way Fenway were.
You mean veneration aside from Yankee Stadium's being the most famous venue in professional sports? No, I guess not.
Less flippantly, I don't know of any complaints that fans make about the Stadium. It is beloved by most Yankee fans, as far as I know, and maybe even by most baseball fans, for all I know.
Since the remodeling that took place from 1974 to 1976, there are no bad (obstructed-view) seats, even in the highest reaches of the upper deck. The seats are wide, and spaces between rows are generally large enough to accommodate modern humans. Bathrooms are about as plentiful as you would expect them to be in a stadium and are modern enough.
From what I understand, the Yanks' clubhouse is first class in terms of amenities and decor. Not much is written (that I've seen) about the visitors' clubhouse, but again, one doesn't read about teams complaining about it as they do about Fenway's cramped visitors' clubhouse.
There was an incident a few years ago now when a chunk of concrete fell from the upper deck of the Stadium onto a lower deck while the Stadium was empty. It was either well before game time or while the team was on the road; I forget which. That led to a chorus of calls to replace the stadium, but there haven't been any such incidents since. (Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I recall reading about a few such incidents of falling concrete at Wrigley recently--to the extent that the team strung mesh netting over the upper-deck seats to catch any wayward edifice material. I'm pretty sure it was Wrigley; anyone else recall reading about this?)
So, no, there's not a great hue and cry to replace the Stadium. I don't think it's necessary, and I do think a great big chunk of the romance of the game will be lost when the current park is closed. There is something very cool about knowing that today's players roam the same outfield Ruth, DiMaggio, Mantle, Maris and Jackson once roamed. Most of today's players express variations on that sentiment when asked what it's like to play at the Stadium. (Notable exception: Curt Schilling, who noted in 2001 that Aura and Mystique, which the media kept invoking as Yankee Stadium's intangible assets on the Yanks' march to a 27th championship, were "dancers in a nightclub." They sure were in the house in Games 4 and 5 that year, though, weren't they, Curt?)