Wally, after one game, says Citi is a "tomb."

[Guest Edgy DC]

How about a "Yesterday sucked, but that's largely because the Yankees have set impossibly high standards" story?

Steinbrenner created a monster -- and a ballpark
Wallace Matthews
11:27 PM EDT, April 16, 2009

Thanks a lot, Boss.

Of all George Steinbrenner's accomplishments of the past 36 years, this is probably the most remarkable.

Despite his reputation as an impossible-to-please taskmaster, he has succeeded in transferring the enormous pressure of winning from his players to his sons and his son-in-law, who now inherit the unenviable chore of keeping it alive.

And they must do it not just every season, but every day.

The seeds of this were planted in 1975, with the signing of Catfish Hunter, his first major free agent, and a year later with Reggie Jackson. Now, with the yearly payroll having ballooned to more than $200 million dollars, the Boss' garden is overgrown.

The current Yankees roster is populated with the latest version of Reggie and Catfish, play-for-high-pay guys whose abundance on this team made such a ballpark not just possible, but necessary.

It is the Boss' very own Catch-22: You simply can't charge the kind of prices the Yankees do without fielding a high-end roster, and you can't afford a high-end roster unless you charge the kind of prices the Yankees do.

And then, they have to win.

Yesterday's 10-2 loss to the Cleveland Indians on Opening Day of the third, and by far most opulent, incarnation of Yankee Stadium did more than merely ruin what had begun as a gala occasion.

It also raised the specter of something much uglier, and more unthinkable: What if the Yankees revert to the team they were before Steinbrenner, a brash, unknown shipbuilder from Cleveland, stole them out from under the noses of Mike Burke and CBS in 1973 for the now puny sum of $8.7 million?

The year before Steinbrenner took over, the Yankees went 79-76 and drew 966,328 people. Now, they are expected to win more than 90 games and draw four million. In fact, they need to, just to remain profitable. If not, empty seats and empty coffers are sure to follow.

The seventh inning of yesterday's game, in which the Indians scored nine runs, including a grand slam by Grady Sizemore, gave a glimpse of that very prospect.

To that point, what had been a pitchers' duel turned into a total skulldragging.

And what had been a large, festive Opening Day crowd turned into an angry mob as disgusted fans headed for the exits.

The good news to report is that the wide concourses and many exits make for a smooth and swift exodus, and that the big ballpark is every bit as gorgeous empty as it is full.

But that is where the happy talk ends.

Simply put, the Yankees, and to a lesser extent, the Mets, can't afford to have too many more days like the ones they gave their fans at their openers this year.

This year, the Yankees have spent a league-high $200 million on players and $1.3 billion on the Stadium, the Mets a second-highest $149 million on the roster and $850 million on the crib. (Throw in the $500 million the Wilpons reportedly lost to Bernie Madoff and their number comes pretty close to the Yankees.)

That is why, while watching the game yesterday, I tried without success to come up with a sobriquet that would effectively capture this ballpark the way "The House That Ruth Built" defined the old one.

I toyed with The House That Jorge Built when Posada, like the Babe 86 years before, hit the first Yankees home run in the new park, but I didn't like the sound of it.

If the fill-in third baseman had emerged a hero, I would've gone with The House of Ransom, to symbolize when Steinbrenner held the city hostage in the '90s with his baseless threat to move across the river to Jersey.

Had the real third baseman been around, I might have christened the new park The House That Juice Built, but unfortunately, the return of Alex Rodriguez is still several weeks away.

And when the ticket prices were originally announced, I had already used my personal favorite, The House That Ruthless Built.

In truth, there's only one appropriate name for this ballpark -- The House That George Built.

He created it and nurtured it. Now, he leaves it to others to figure a way to keep it filled.

[Piggiestomatoes]

I thought the son-in-law was bounced from management once GSS's daughter filed for divorce???

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

"skulldragging"

What the hell is that?

[Frayed Knot]

="PiggiesTomatoes":1d5bb52o]I thought the son-in-law was bounced from management once GSS's daughter filed for divorce???[/quote:1d5bb52o] This is son-in-law #3. For years while the brothers were uninterested in having anything to do with the team, older sister's hubby (Joe Molloy) was the guy slated to run things ... then she divorced him. Then the other sister's spouse was anointed as heir-apparent (Steve Swindal) ... then they went splitsville right after he got caught DWI on Valentine's Day at about 4AM). So now this new guy in the mix (Lopez) is first daughter's second husband. Hope you got all that straight cuz there'll be a quiz later.

G-Fafif Apr 17 2009 06:22 PM

I hear the Yankees suck and Matthews is a tool.

OlerudOwned Apr 17 2009 06:53 PM

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/mr_met_having_trouble_sleeping_in

seawolf17 Apr 21 2009 11:07 AM

Look! Wally's picking on the Yankees now! http://www.topix.net/forum/source/newsday/T6ABCQABNDESHS3O8 Well, maybe not. He's picking on Jason Giambi, blaming him exclusively for the MFY's failure to win a WS. Never mind the 209 home runs he hit, or the .900 postseason OPS, or the fact that the REAL thing that all those 2001-2008 seasons have in common are Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, and Mike Mussina, all of whom escape Wally's clutches. (Ignore Jeet's .800 OPS in the postseason since 2001, or Mussina's 5-7 postseason record as a Yankee. It's all Giambi's fault.) Dickhead.

Vic Sage Apr 21 2009 11:44 AM

]In truth, there's only one appropriate name for this ballpark -- The House That George Built. In truth, when a German industrialist erects an architectural tribute to the greatness of his folk and the glory of its past, there's only one appropriate name for it -- Nuremberg.

G-Fafif Apr 21 2009 12:03 PM

I'm a little confused as to why Wally didn't use the occasion of Giambi's visit to blame the Mets for ruining the Yankees by being too cheap to sign him and thus preserve the integrity of the only dynasty New York had to rely on.

[G-Fafif]

I hear the Yankees suck and Matthews is a tool.

[Guest OlerudOwned]

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/mr_met_having_trouble_sleeping_in

[seawolf17]

Look! Wally's picking on the Yankees now!

http://www.topix.net/forum/source/newsday/T6ABCQABNDESHS3O8

Well, maybe not. He's picking on Jason Giambi, blaming him exclusively for the MFY's failure to win a WS. Never mind the 209 home runs he hit, or the .900 postseason OPS, or the fact that the REAL thing that all those 2001-2008 seasons have in common are Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, and Mike Mussina, all of whom escape Wally's clutches. (Ignore Jeet's .800 OPS in the postseason since 2001, or Mussina's 5-7 postseason record as a Yankee. It's all Giambi's fault.)

Dickhead.

[Vic Sage]

]In truth, there's only one appropriate name for this ballpark -- The House That George Built.

In truth, when a German industrialist erects an architectural tribute to the greatness of his folk and the glory of its past, there's only one appropriate name for it -- Nuremberg.

[G-Fafif]

I'm a little confused as to why Wally didn't use the occasion of Giambi's visit to blame the Mets for ruining the Yankees by being too cheap to sign him and thus preserve the integrity of the only dynasty New York had to rely on.