The New York Yankees have played at Yankee Stadium for more than 80 years. Next year, their home will still be called "Yankee Stadium," but it will be a brand new building. It will incorporate some of the old stadium to preserve the great sense of team history. But, it will also be a very modern, fan-friendly structure.
      The new stadium's field dimensions will be exactly the same as the old stadium's, including the famously short distances down the foul lines. Monument Park will be moved in its entirety to the new stadium. This is the section of Yankee Stadium where past team greats have been honored with plaques, memorials, and retired numbers. Finally, a replica of the copper frieze will be placed on the roof of the new stadium. This latticework design has been a part of Yankee Stadium history since the beginning, on the upper deck for the first fifty years and beyond the outfield wall since then.
      Of course, the reason the Yankees built a new stadium was to modernize a structure that was originally designed in a very different era. One of the most noticeable changes is a giant high definition video scoreboard that is more than six times as large as the one at the old stadium. The seats will be a lot more comfortable, with more space between the arms and an average of 20% more legroom. There will also be about 450 more suites at the new stadium, including almost three times as many luxury suites. The number of restrooms, concession stands, restaurants, and team shops has also been dramatically increased.
      It will be the best of the old and the best of the new when the Yankees play their first game at the new Yankee Stadium on April 16, 2009. Hopefully, it can provide enjoyment to the fans for the next 80 years.