4/17/09 11:30 am

Friday 4/17/09 11:30 AM

Yesterday the new Yankee stadium opened in front of a sell out crowd of 48,271 fan. The pregame ceremony brought back many former Yankees, a great tribute to former Yankee teams. I was surprised at how the crowd came off on TV.. as in not that loud. Why was this?


For one, the last game of the old Yankee Stadium held 54,610, a difference of 6,339 fans. In addition, the upper deck and bleachers have been pushed back, and are much less audible then in the old Stadium. Joel Sherman of the New York Post wrote an article in which he called the new Stadium "The Stadium that Mute built", It describes how the New Yankee Stadium will lose some of the home field edge they used to carry. Not a good sign of things to come.

The Yankees bi-polar bull pen got the best of this game. The game had been tied up after 6, 1-1, when Veras took the mound. C.C. had lasted 5 2/3, but had reached 122 pitches, his most before reaching June ever, and needed to be pulled. Veras failed to get an out after giving up a walk and 2 hits, including a 2 rbi double that left Marte with a runner on 2nd and no one out. A walk, 3 hits, a grand slam and solo HR later, the Yankees trailed 10-1. Chants of "We want Swisher!" could be heard throughout the end of the inning, in reference to Swisher's 1 inning of shutout ball he pitched on Monday. In that game, Nick Swisher was the only pitcher not to give up a run. Considering he is a position player, that was pathetic.

The Yankees bullpen has either been hot or terrible this season. After a rough opening day against Baltimore, the Yankees pen went 9 innings without giving up a hit! Then Veras and Coke blew the game on Sunday against the Royals, and the next night, Swisher became their go to guy. The pen was only used one inning the next day, with Bruney striking out the side when he came in, and the following game, on Wednesday, Rivera picked up the save in a 4-3 game after Bruney relieved Pettite with no problem.

Today's game against the Indians starts at 1pm, with Joba (0-0) going up against Reyes (1-0). Unless the Yankees can get on top of Reyes quick and put a lot of runs on the board, I think their success will depend on how far Joba can go and if the pen can be limited to Bruney and Rivera. We shall see.

In other New York sports news, the Rangers took a 1-0 lead in their first round playoff series against the Capitals on Wednesday night. The game was exciting to watch, especially the 3rd period captivating with Dubinsky's go game winner at 11:43. Game 2 takes place tomorrow afternoon at 1. The Rangers have a long road ahead of them to make it to Lord Stanley's finals, but if they take it one game at a time, you never know.