I don’t care that much about baseball, but the unique character each stadium lends to the game is one of the two things I really like about the sport (the other is that it seems to be essentially self-regulating). Perhaps the field itself is the 19^th player in a baseball game. This is especially true with “classic” and unique stadia like as Fenway Park in Boston, Camden Yards in Baltimore, and Wrigley Field in Chicago formed by colliding scales of the field and the city. Their inconsistent geometry, features, and idiosyncrasies are exploited by hitters and loved by fans.

Much has been in the NY Times and elsewhere about the new Yankee Stadium and Citi Field, which replaced the aging homes of the New York Yankees and Mets, respectively (both designed by Populous, formerly HOK Sport). While reports initially focused on the increase of home runs, the width of the seats, and the rights to the new luxury boxes, recent reports have focused on how the new stadia are affecting the ancillary activities revolving around the game-event. An article in today’s NY Times explains (with a helpful graphic) how stadium planners have saved players from irritating unstructured encounters with autograph-seeking fans. Were as in the old Yankee Stadium, players were accosted by sharpie wielding maniacs as they tried to make a break for their Bugattsi across open pavement, the new Yankee Stadium features controlled, underground parking for players  (image above, reposted without permission, by Craig Robinson of  Bellingham, WA.  See the image here.   Craig, I’m in love with your diagrams!)

According to the Old Gray Lady:

…And it has brought an element of desperation to the post game autograph routine: with few other options, fans will sometimes wait for the players’ cars to emerge, then sprint through traffic hoping to catch the player at a red light.

“Basically, now you have to chase down a car,” said Donnell Smith, who works the hot dog stand across the street from the new stadium. He said he had watched the scene unfold repeatedly during the young season. “The players will usually keep going. Sometimes they roll down their windows and sign.”

Planners are loath to do anything which would seem to tinker with the playability of the park. Their concern ends there, as they seek to curate experience that is controllable and without conflict, bleaching the character derived from the ad hoc architecture of convenience.

A detailed study is required to chart every difference between the new and old Yankee Stadiums to map the intentions of the team’s management.   With so many great pains undertaken to recreate or reinvent the experience and the gameplay in the new stadium, why eliminate a ritual resulting from an oversight (or a ritual resulting from an exploitation of weakness) so cherished by fans?

Perhaps the Yankee’s architects were more concerned with protecting the Yankee’s memorabilia market share: A store within the stadium, Yankees-Steiner Collectibles, maintains a stock of autographed balls to remedy the “shrinking access that the stadium provides fans.”  Of course, it is alleged by sports writers and fans alike that this maneuver increases the air of elitist remove players have from fans.   I’m not sure Yankees fans should be surprised:  their team’s roster is incredibly expensive, must meet hygienic and grooming standards, and some are fond of the ‘roids.