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A different Yankee Stadium In a scary new world, Yankee Stadium carries on
Updated: Wednesday October 31, 2001 4:48 AM
NEW YORK -- This is the Fall Classic and this is New York. The city and the Series go together, like a hot dog and a bun, like a bleacher bum and a big mouth, like pinstripes on a white uniform. But this, already, is unlike any Series the city has ever seen. Outside venerable Yankee Stadium, the old Bronx ballpark, the scene is eerie. Seven weeks after terrorists blasted a hole in New York City, killing thousands and wounding an entire counrty, the nation's pastime is trying to get on with its biggest show. But there is no escaping the reality of what this city has been through. Federal police by the hundreds and more than 1,000 New York City police officers patrol the area outside the stadium. Everyone who enters Yankee Stadium for Tuesday night's Game 3 of the World Series between the Yankees and the Arizona Diamondbacks is going through extensive searches. Metal detectors, much like the ones at airports, are at every entrance, manned by federal officials. Everyone has to pass through one. Hand-held detectors are passed over just about everyone, too. No one gets through unchecked. Everyone must show identification.
About 4:15 p.m., well before the gates opened to the general public, Yankees outfielder David Justice walked up to the players' entrance, held his arms away from his sides and waited, patiently, as an official searched him with a metal-detecting wand. Nearby, Chris Berman, the ESPN announcer who is one of the most recognizable faces in the sports media, pulled his license out of his wallet to show another officer. At 5 p.m., a motorcoach with the Diamondbacks pulled up to the players' entrance. Curt Schilling, Randy Johnson ... all of the Diamondbacks went through the same routine. A line of journalists waited next to them. Every bag, every minicam, every laptop had to be hand-checked before they, and their owners, were allowed into the stadium. There are hundreds of journalists here for the Series. The wait stretched to more than an hour. Even the early arriving fans seemed more subdued as usual as they watched the Yankees take batting practice a couple hours before gametime. Everyone expects a raucous crowd once the game starts. But, early on, the extraordinary security procedures seem to have put a damper on much of the enthusiasm. "I think this will probably be the safest place in America, with all the security," Arizona first baseman Mark Grace, making his first trip to Yankee Stadium, told reporters before the game. The extra-heavy precautions are due in large part to the visit of President George W. Bush, a former major league owner who is expected to attend the game. But a recent federal alert to possible new terrorist threats has been noted, too. It is a different world in which we now live, and that makes it a different sports world, too. It is more dangerous. It is scarier. But the nation, and its sports, are carrying on. "I think a lesson we learned after the 11th -- we're not going to live our lives in fear. No way," Grace said. "I think all of us really got a good lesson from New Yorkers that, you know what, it's going to take more than that to bring us down." John Donovan is a senior writer for CNNSI.com. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer. Comments? To e-mail Donovan, click here.
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