There's a New Book About Old Yankee Stadium, and I Helped!
The first baseball game I ever attended was at Shea Stadium, mostly because I lived only three miles away from it. Shea wasn't the most aesthetically pleasing place in the world, but in the mid-1980's it was a perfect place to get a kid hooked on baseball. There was a palpable buzz in the crowded stadium at all times. As you shuffled through the dimly lit concourse the air was filled with a delightful smell concocted of hot dogs, popcorn, burnt pretzels and stale beer. The distinct aroma of baseball. Once you found your section number within the concourse, you literally saw a light at the end of a tunnel. As you ascended up a ramp towards that light, excitement built with every step until you found the diamond that you came for, under the brightest lights you've ever seen and surrounded by grass that was impossibly green. I remember thinking, "I never wanna leave this place." Millions of baseball fans across the country have likely had similar experiences in place