For some, this is a plus. Take, for example, the Yankees.  They like having a bigger dressing room, lockers with touchscreen computers, a chef.

Sound decadent?  Well, Brian Bruney said it best when he said, “We are not a regular team. We are the New York Yankees, and it has to be nicer.”

Ah, one only wonders why we’re a team universally despised.

Joba Chamberlain commented, “There’s so many places to go that I think you’re going to play hide and seek with yourself.”

Well, I guess whatever keeps you off the roads and out of trouble.

Among the other perks, the players will no longer have to deal with the burden of outdoor parking.  And I say, it’s about time.  I mean, all those pesky fans, yelling their names begging for autographs.  For the thirty seconds it takes to get from the locker room to the car that is. Lord knows what a nightmare that must be.  If only there was a way to eliminate the fans from the picture entirely.  You know, while still making that enormous paycheck and having a stadium full of people around to cheer for them when they make the big plays.

But those in the bunch who are somewhat more sentimental-I like to call them the real Yankees-couldn’t help but compare the new stadium to the place that for years they’d called their home. Posada remarked that the dimensions looked about the same.  Jeter felt a little too guilty to revel in the splendor of his new stomping ground while his old one still stood across the street awaiting demolition, saying, “It’s a new house, and it’s going to take you a while until you feel like you’re home.”

But Mo, on the other hand, feels that home is where the heart is, commenting, “It’s like a house-if you don’t have a family, it’s not a house.”  Love that guy.

Still, while the guys in the Yankees camp seem to be more or less embracing their new stadium, not everyone has given it such a glowing review. This morning, the New York Post ran a rather distressing, yet, not totally surprising, article written by Joel Sherman about his experience at the park.

He described it as charmless, lacking in proportion, and completely out of touch with the current economic reality of most of Americans. In short, he sees it as a $1.6 billion symbol of why it is that everyone just can’t seem to stand us.  It is, according to Sherman, just another way for the Yankees to set themselves apart from the baseball community, the people, the world.   To assert their better-than-you-ness.

Though, I suppose that’s the point, according to Brian Bruney.

Well, assuming that’s the point, then they sure as hell did a great job with their ticket pricing.  Even Hal Steinbrenner himself admitted that, as I suggested a couple weeks ago, yeah, maybe given the state of the global economy, they might have possibly slightly overpriced a few of their tickets by just a little tiny bit.

Their average ticket price is $72.97.  Last year it was $41.40.   In Boston, where we hate it, the average ticket price is $50.24.  The cheapest average ticket can be found in Arizona–$14.31.  Of course, in exchange for paying so little, you have to live in Phoenix, which is arguably even more of a pit than Boston.  So it’s probably not worth it.

Hal Steinbrenner did make an effort to show that he understood the struggles of the common man by making the following statement.  The bold parenthetical comments are courtesy of occasional guest blogger Chris Yamaoka:

“We understand that a lot of our fans are struggling. I mean, this is the worst recession in a most of our lifetimes,” he said. “But at the same time I think baseball has always been an escape for people, you know? [An escape that, regrettably, they will no longer be able to afford.] And I think what we’re going to provide here is an unbelievable experience for thousands and thousands of our [wealthier] fans that, despite the troubles they’re [reading that other people are] going through right now, maybe they’ll be able to get away for two or three hours, get [away from the commoners and] their minds off things. And we’re going to make that experience, you know, tremendous.”

The good news for poor Yankees fans is that they will still be able to buy partial-view bleacher seats for five dollars.  And before you get all up in arms about your obstructed vision, poor people, just remember this isn’t Hal’s fault.  After all, he wasn’t the one who made you poor.  Plus, to quote Chris, “Poor people don’t need to see the third base side of the diamond.”

The spring got off to a shaky start, for reasons primarily related to A-Roid, and I confess that I was feeling more than a little bit disappointed.  It seemed like the majority of the team fell into one of three categories-coming off a surgery and only questionably healthy, too new to be considered part of the family, or A-Roid.

Yes, A-Roid is a category unto himself.

But over the past few weeks, things have started coming together to allay my anxieties.  First of all, there was the A-Roid injury-perhaps the best of all things that could have happened.  With the three-ring circus that is A-Roid out of the clubhouse, it’s been easier to pay attention to the more substantive issues.  Like, you know, baseball-related issues.  Given the fact that all our communication with A-Roid has happened via Cashman via text, it’s not totally impossible that Cashman’s seen to it that A-Roid be locked in some sort of Yankee holding facility somewhere until things settle down.  But, whatever.  It’s getting the job done.  And I’m sure it’s fine with A-Weird-as long as there’s a mirror.

The injuries?  Two days ago, Jorge threw out 3 of 4 guys attempting to steal.  My feeling about that guy is that, when the time comes, we’re going to be dragging him into retirement with him cursing at us in Spanish all the way.  Jorge’s tough.  He refuses to quit.  And he loves to curse at people in Spanish.

Matsui is also on the mend-looking solid in his new role as DH.  If anything, the problem is that Matsui is feeling a little too recovered for his own good.  Girardi recently scolded him for shagging fly balls in the outfield and putting his knee at risk.  Matsui can’t not work harder than he’s supposed to though.  It goes against his entire system of values.  Love him.  And his system of values.

Mo hit the ground running.  He had a perfect frame on his first day back last week, including two strikes out.  But I was never worried about Mo.  He comes from that weird planet of perfect, adorable pitchers who preach the gospel.

As for the news guys, the longer they hang around, the more I like them.  Sure, I was familiar with all of the big name players before they came on board but I didn’t really know them-I certainly didn’t know what to expect from them in the clubhouse.

Teixeira’s was an immediately grounding presence.  Maybe I’m a chump, but I like the “Gee whiz, aw shucks” manner in which he discusses the unlikelihood that he would ever take a PED.  Given the state of baseball at the moment-of professional sports in general-I don’t take issue with a guy like Teixeira for being a family man and a little bit of a Pollyanna.

Then we have AJ, who I liked from moment go because he had the decency to go on the Mike Francesa Show and tell us he had signed with the Yanks because they offered him the most money.  I knew that, you knew that, and yet so many other players would have tried to convince us that money was a secondary concern.  I like when people don’t insult me. Burnett also has a Bruce Lee tattoo on his arm that he credits with protecting him from a line drive a few days ago.  Not quite sure how that works, but whatever is keeping him healthy, I’m not asking any questions. Seriously, if that guy stays healthy and keeps up the good work, hell, I’ll get a tattoo to match his.

Then, of course, there’s CC, rapidly emerging as the newest leader of the pack.  He plans cute group excursions to basketball games, gets the boys together for epic X-box game tournaments.  If there’s one thing that’s been sorely lacking in the Yankees clubhouse in recent years it’s any kind of cohesion.  Jeter is a great leader, but he leads by example-he inspires.  He doesn’t give speeches, bring people together.  So I’m hoping CC could be that guy for us.

So, that’s the synopsis, and I’m feeling good. (I’m sure it doesn’t hurt my mood that we beat the crapelbon out of the Chowdas yesterday. 7-1. In your Chowda faces.) That being said, notwithstanding the fact that he posts insane numbers, I would be just as happy if A-Roid were to just stay gone forever. It’s harder to feel good about the team when he’s around.  I want to feel good about my team.  And from I gather, it’s also harder for the team to come together and do their thing when he’s around. The way I see it, we’re not the Reds.  We have a lineup that can more than hold its own without him.  And sometimes the sacrifice on the field is worth the benefit to the clubhouse.

If I was A-Roid, I would fake an injury until the day I died to avoid walking into that clubhouse and facing everyone after the humiliation of the mirror porn.  True, to do so would defy the Principle of Try Your Hardest. However, I believe there is another principle that overrides this one in importance.  That would be the Principle of Don’t Ever Be Seen In Public Again Once You’ve Been Photographed Making Out With a Mirror.  For those of you who have read To Kill A Mockingbird, think about it: what do you think really happened to Boo Radley?

You never really know a man until you look in his mirror and make out with it.

But there’s another, quieter, though arguably more important, question to consider:  What’s to become of Jorge Posada?

I was listening to ESPN Radio today, and Colin Cowherd made the argument that of all of the factors contributing to the Yankees’ collapse last season, Posada’s absence was the most damaging.  Of course, he also made the argument that the economic situation isn’t nearly as bad as the state of affairs in the world of offensive catching.  So maybe we shouldn’t listen to everything Colin Cowherd has to say.

 But, still, the man has a point.

Here’s the thing about Jorge Posada.  He’s not A-Rod.  (Small miracles.) He’s not Jeter.  He doesn’t make Page Six off the field, and he doesn’t necessarily produce fireworks on the field.  But he produces.  He gets on base.  He gets the job done. We just don’t-for whatever reason-like to talk about him about quite as much as other people. 

Prior to last year, Posada has been nothing if not dependable. He caught 130+ games for eight consecutive years, delivering a minimum of 19 home runs per season-70 RBI’s in all but one of them.  And here’s the kicker-2007 was one of Posada’s best offensive seasons yet.  With a .338 batting average, 20 home runs, 90 RBIs and .426 OBP, he became the first Yankee catcher since Munson to make the list of top ten 10 AL batting leaders. As Cowherd pointed out, it’s no coincidence that the first time the Yanks failed to make the playoffs in over a decade happened to correspond with Posada’s protracted stint on the DL.

Jorge is determined to come back and be badder than ever, pshawing at the suggestion that he might only play a mere 110 games this season.  But I’d settle for that as long as he’s playing them healthy. The good news is that Girardi seems confident that Jorge’s recovery from shoulder surgery is going well.  He said he could tell by the “noise of the baseball in the air” during Posada’s throwing session. 

And that might totally instill confidence in me if I knew what it meant.