“Who’s going to come up with that kind of cash here?”
Published 01:08, April the 14th, 2009
A new park is nice, but is it worth the cost?
The state-of-the-art Citi Field in Queens and the new Yankee Stadium in the Bronx cost a combined $2.3 billion. Several hundred million dollars were contributed in public financing, tax breaks and infrastructure improvements, but the teams are picking up the rest of the tab.
Who’s going to come up with that kind of cash here, and when? No one. And never.
The good fans of Boston will never enjoy the comforts of a new ballpark. But that’s OK. They’re hardy New Englanders. They chew steel and spit nails. They tell the warm, tan people of Southern and Western states that they love long, cold, snowy winters. Makes a man (or woman) out of you!
Welcome to Boston! Home of the cramped wooden seat that points in the wrong direction. Home of Fenway Park — the forever fixer-upper where things are much better than before, but won’t ever be nearly as good as they are where cities and governments have found a way to replace old with new.
The Red Sox ownership has received many deserved compliments for doing what the previous ownership couldn’t, or wouldn’t, do. This new ownership group has had tremendous vision and has made improvements to Fenway Park that others never imagined. In many ways, what they’ve done to make the Fenway experience more enjoyable is remarkable. But in nearly every way other than the passion of the fans, the Fenway experience will never be as good as it is in these newer ballparks.
From the smallest details like cup holders on the seats to the big and impressive high-definition scoreboards, these billion-dollar ballparks are bigger, better, cleaner, more comfortable, more everything.
But ticket prices at Yankee Stadium are up over 76 percent from a year ago. It’s a beautiful place, but who can afford to go? With Red Sox ticket prices already among the highest in baseball, what would happen if the owners had to pay for a new ballpark?
It’s probably better this way. Sure, that new house being built at the edge of the neighborhood is bigger, with a jacuzzi. But a little paint and maybe some new curtains and your place will be better than ever!
