It sure may not feel like it right now but summer is just around the corner. The city is only a few short months away from open-air concerts in Central Park, packed beaches on Brooklyn’s shore and the familiar scent of hot dogs and beer wafting from major league baseball parks. New York City is a baseball town. With two major league teams, two minor league teams and a public baseball field in about every city neighborhood New York is perhaps the greatest baseball town in all of America (sorry Boston).
For outsiders, there is no experience more quintessentially American than spending a lazy weekend afternoon watching a baseball game. Prices are relatively inexpensive compared to some New York activities and easy to obtain for most professional contests. New York Habitat has accommodations all over New York City for those in town just for a weekend series or the player needing an accommodation for the whole season.
New York’s two cathedrals of baseball are Shea Stadium (home of the Mets) in Flushing, Queens and Yankee Stadium in the heart of The Bronx. Both teams play 81 games in their home stadium from April to September (in to October if they make the playoffs), so if your in town from a week during the summer you’ll be able to catch at least one of the teams in their home digs. Plus, both teams are in the process of building new stadiums so this is your last chance to catch a glimpse of Yankee Stadium which is considered a baseball relic or Shea Stadium, no ones favorite baseball palace but still full of memories.
On the minor league, or semi-professional, level there are two New York teams: The Staten Island Yankees and The Brooklyn Cyclones (Mets affiliate).While the fanfare may be more subdued at these ballparks the setting is more intimate and the hotdogs much, much cheaper. The great thing about American baseball, like European football, is its universality–just about all of New York’s myriad parks have at least one baseball diamond open to public use. Summer weekends in New York Cities Parks’ are overrun with children and grown men alike playing catch and organizing games.
For the less adventurous there is always the neighborhood bar, where a pint of beer and baseball argument are never far.
Mets fans should consider Queens apartment rentals. For instance, you might want to stay in this 3-bedroom apartment in Jackson Heights, Queens (NY-11830), a stone’s throw from Shea Stadium. On the other side, Yankee fans should consider Uptown accommodations. Guests staying in this 1 bedroom rental in Harlem (NY-16215) will only be a few subway stops from Yankee Statdium, the house that Ruth built. Wannabe Brooklynites can catch a Cyclone’s game and play catch in Prospect Park Park while living in a Park Slope apartment, as for example this 2 bedroom rental in Park Slope (NY-14274), one of Brooklyn’s coolest neighborhoods. For visitors wanting to hunker down on central Manhattan island there is this sleek 2-bedroom rental apartment in Midtown West-Chelsea (NY-12179), just blocks from Central Park.
What kind of baseball fan are you? Yankees, Mets, Red Sox? Let the debate begin below!
I am definitely a Yankee fan, and I think every tourist in New York should visit the Yankee stadium at least once! If you are visiting NY for summer or spring vacations, I advise you to rent an apartment close to Central Park, there are a lot of playgrounds to play baseball and I love going there to train my kids.
yeah, growing up in New York means going to the games with your Dad… and my coworkers are all fervent fans, so it’s hard not to get caught up! It’s also fun to take my son and his friends to the park to play softball, it’s great that we have so many parks here!
Oh Yes, baseball is New Yorker’s favorite sport. From the youngest to the oldest we all enjoy Baseball. However it is a shame that we have not been able to win the championship in such long time. But let’s see how we do this year.
Go Mets!!!
Mets and Yankees America’s favorite teams!
Or not, the fact is that they both came up with idea of building new stadiums. I hope that the new stadiums give them more strength to play and win for God sakes.
You should see how fast that new Yankees Stadium is coming. I visited New York last month and I took tuor around that historical Bronx area which by the way is very well known around the world.
I had a chance to visit Yankee Stadium during last summer, the last that yankess were to occupy the historic Stadium. I am a Red Sox fan, and by nature a Yankee-hater, but I know that Yankee stadium is one of the best stadiums in MLB history. I was able to see the Red Sox beat the Yankess badly, but I know it was a down year for the team, and I still have respect for the fans because they did not even begin to leave the game early. Great time in NYC!
I had a chance to visit Yankee Stadium during last summer, the last that the Yankees were to occupy the historic Stadium. I am a Red Sox fan, and by nature a Yankee-hater, but I know that Yankee stadium is one of the best stadiums in MLB history. I was able to see the Red Sox beat the Yankess badly, but I know it was a down year for the team, and I still have respect for the fans because they did not even begin to leave the game early. Great time in NYC!
I just want to say that it is not New York’s favorite pastime, but America’s favorite pastime. Also, the Yankees probably made another 180 million dollar mistake with Texiera. The Mets should be ok and continue to challenge for their division…and maybe finally making the playoffs again after some big late-season collapses…
Go Red Sox!
I hope everybody was able to see the Yankees get crushed in their 2009 New York debut opening up the new Yankee Stadium! HAHAHAHA!
Well, I grew up on the West Coast, raised with the SF Giants and Oakland A’s. But being a lifetime baseball fan, this would be a real treat!! I really would appreciate “feeling” a baseball game in NYC!
Indeed baseball games generate lots of passion and enthusiasm in New York City. Going to a real game in the impressive stadium is a truly unique
experience 🙂