Indianszone.com | Cleveland Indians News, indians Scores, Game Recaps & Commentary - <div>NEW YORK -- It's been a crazy 2 1/2 hours since the gates opened and the pregame media functions began for today's Yankee Stadium inaugural against the Cleveland Indians. They've just trotted out John Fogarty to sing "Center Field" and the crowd roared when shots of the late Bobby Murcer and Bernie Williams were put on the massive jumbotron in center field. And I mean massive. </div>And now the place is going wild as Bernie himself comes out with his guitar to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" a few innings early. Joe Girardi, Derek Jeter and Yogi Berra all addressed the media in the team's basement-level conference room and Eric Wedge held court in the Indians dugout. Everything about the place is HUGE. The clubhouse is a monster, with back-lit blue lighting and the replica of the famous frieze above each locker -- as well as an in-laid laptop for each player. There's a huge circular NY logo in the middle too. Cracked Berra: "If you want to talk to a guy, you gotta walk a half a mile. Follow this thread alll day as I'll have notes and impressions about the park and the game. Early impressions: A quick jaunt on Jet Blue got me to JFK Airport. A quick trip on the Long Island Railroad got me to Penn Station. Where to next? Just follow the guys in the Gehrig jerseys and I figured I couldn't go wrong. Up to Columbus Circle, on to the D train and I was here quick (although I lost the normal above-ground view of the place on the No. 4 from Manhattan). Said the dude in the Gehrig shirt: "Gates open at 10 a.m. I'll be drunk by 10:15." Must be a Bills fan. More sights: Guy in a Babe Ruth jersey complete with cigar walking around outside the Babe Ruth Plaza (right). The old stadium still sits. You can see the foul poles inside. Weird. A Hard Rock? Yep, a Hard Rock. 12:35 p.m.: They're starting to introduce old Yankees . Yogi gets a huge roar. The field mic is not very good. Can't hear much of what's being said by John Sterling and Michael Kay. Goose Gossage, Rickey Henderson, Reggie Jackson, Paul O'Neill and Williams get the biggest cheers. Girardi's pregame comments: "I'm sure when they announce our names and we run on the field, it will be an unbelieveable feeling. ...It's a day that everyone has looked forward to and will try to relive in their own mind as time passes." 12:45 p.m.: The Indians are getting introduced on the third-base line and Carl Pavano just got crushed with boos, drawing howls of laughter from his teammates. Reporters here wrote today about Yankees OF Xavier Nady going into the "Carl Pavano Memorial MRI tube" to have his elbow examined. 12:49 p.m.: Kay begins to introduce the "26-time World Champion Yankees " and out they come on the first-base line. That number has been stuck on 26 for a while, hasn't it Yankee fans? 12:58 p.m.: The teams are on the foul lines and 75 West Point cadets are unfurling the flag in center field as Kelly Clarkson sings the national anthem. The 174th Fighter Wing from Syracuse is about to do its flyover. Quite a scene. 1:03 p.m.: Yogi Berra is walking to the mound and catcher Jose Molina moves the managers/umpires meeting out of the way. Yogi bounces one in and this stadium can now open. 1:09 p.m.: Grady Sizemore takes the first pitch for a ball. The temperature is 56 degrees. Even in the sunshine, you saw tons of flashes around the park. The first at-bat ends with a grounder to first by Sizemore as the Bleacher Creatures are finishing their daily "roll call" to say hello to each Yankee . 1:18 p.m: After CC Sabathia tosses a 1-2-3 first, Jeter leads off for the Yankees . Prior to the at-bat, a bat is placed over the plate and it's the one used by Babe Ruth for the first Yankee Stadium home run on April 18, 1923. Jeter picks it up and it's off to the new Yankees Museum here. Cool. Way cool. On a 1-0 pitch, Jeter flies out to center. 1:20 p.m: Johnny Damon loops Cliff Lee's 86-mph delivery into CF for a single, the first hit in the new ballpark. 1:29 p.m/End of the 1st: We're seeing 2007 Cliff Lee, not 2008. After the Damon single, he drilled Mark Teixeira, then went full on Nick Swisher before he flied out to center. Jorge Posada then grounded to first as Lee escaped without a run. We're zip-zip through one. 1:35 p.m.: The place looks so much like old Yankee Stadium that it's eerie. It's 318 to left, 399 to left-center, 408 to center, 385 to right-center and 314 to right. The manual scoreboards on the fences in the alley take you back to those famous photos of Don Larsen's perfect game at the old Old Stadium (pre-70s renovation). There is a lot less foul territory it seems, especially behind the plate. So that mitigate some of the pitchers' advantages of the big outfield. 1:36 p.m.: Old friend Ben Francisco doubles to left for the first hit here by a visitor. Neat for him. Great guy. It was a 97-mph fastball from Sabathia (just noticed the speed of the pitches at the top of the video board. Too small. They have to work on that). 1:57 p.m./Top 3rd: Still no score. David Wells is sitting in the bleachers to watch this game. What a screwball he is. Love that he's doing that. Imagine you're a fan and you show up and Boomer is there. Noticed a shot of Paul Simon in a suite near us. Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? Across the street. 2 pm./Mid-3rd: This is why the Indians are 2-7. With runners at first and second, Victor Martinez hit a little pop-up behind short that Jeter corraled. The runners were moving and Mark DeRosa was easily nailed off first by Jeter. Some kind of divine intervention for a bizarre play, perhaps? Newly installed Archbishop Timothy Dolan, a guest of George Steinbrenner, was in the radio booth with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman for that inning. 2:10 p.m. Red-hot Nick Swisher doubled Damon to third but the Yankees left men on second and third as Posada's bat was shattered on a grounder to second. Zip-zip through three. 2:17 p.m: Who needs A-Rod? Cody Ransom just cut off the stadium's first run with a great backhanded stop and strong throw home to Jorge Posada to nail Jhonny Peralta. Robbed Francisco of an RBI double that would have gone down in history and leaves him with a measly fielder's choice. 2:20 p.m.: A pair of old Bisons open the scoring in the new stadium. On a 1-2 pitch, Kelly Shoppach drives a Sabathia fastball over Damon's head in left for a double to score Francisco. 1-0, Tribe. 2:22 p.m: Mid-4th and Cleveland leads it 1-0. I'm gonna walk around for a couple innings to check things out. Back later!!! 4:05: p.m. OK, this place is so HUGE that it takes a long time to walk around and see things and I spent a good deal of time in The Great Hall (left -- be sure to click for a closer look). It instantly becomes one of the best gathering spots for any ballpark in America. As for your game updates, if you're not sneaking a peak at home or wherever, the crowd was ecstatic when Jorge Posada homered in the fifth to tie the game at 1-1 and score the first Yankee run here. But we just finished the top of the seventh and the Yankees bullpen has imploded. The Indians exploded for nine -- count 'em, nine -- runs to take a 10-1 lead. Jhonny Peralta's two-run double broke the tie and the inning was highlighted by Grady Sizemore's grand slam to right and Victor Martinez's titanic solo shot to left. By that time, the folks in the bleachers were chanting, "We want Swisher". Classic! (OF Nick Swisher was the only good bullpen pitcher in Monday's 15-5 blowout at Tampa Bay). Quite a way for the Yanks to ruin Ronan Tynan's performance. 4:20 p.m: The walk around this place was pretty interesting. The Great Hall and Yankees Museum are as good as advertised. You have to love the open concourses. But holy cow, did they mess up the bleachers here. Huge numbers of obstructed views on either side of the enclosed sports bar in center field. Can't believe for $1.5 billion they couldn't have figured out another way! 5:04 p.m.: Sinatra is playing post game for the first time as the Indians win it, 10-2.

NEW YORK -- It's been a crazy 2 1/2 hours since the gates opened and the pregame media functions began for today's Yankee Stadium inaugural against the Cleveland Indians. They've just trotted out John Fogarty to sing "Center Field" and the crowd roared when shots of the late Bobby Murcer and Bernie Williams were put on the massive jumbotron in center field. And I mean massive.

And now the place is going wild as Bernie himself comes out with his guitar to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" a few innings early.

Joe Girardi, Derek Jeter and Yogi Berra all addressed the media in the team's basement-level conference room and Eric Wedge held court in the Indians dugout.

Everything about the place is HUGE. The clubhouse is a monster, with back-lit blue lighting and the replica of the famous frieze above each locker -- as well as an in-laid laptop for each player. There's a huge circular NY logo in the middle too. Cracked Berra: "If you want to talk to a guy, you gotta walk a half a mile.

Follow this thread alll day as I'll have notes and impressions about the park and the game.

Early impressions: A quick jaunt on Jet Blue got me to JFK Airport. A quick trip on the Long Island Railroad got me to Penn Station. Where to next? Just follow the guys in the Gehrig jerseys and I figured I couldn't go wrong. Up to Columbus Circle, on to the D train and I was here quick (although I lost the normal above-ground view of the place on the No. 4 from Manhattan). Said the dude in the Gehrig shirt: "Gates open at 10 a.m. I'll be drunk by 10:15." Must be a Bills fan.

More sights: Guy in a Babe Ruth jersey complete with cigar walking around outside the Babe Ruth Plaza (right). The old stadium still sits. You can see the foul poles inside. Weird. A Hard Rock? Yep, a Hard Rock.

12:35 p.m.: They're starting to introduce old Yankees . Yogi gets a huge roar. The field mic is not very good. Can't hear much of what's being said by John Sterling and Michael Kay. Goose Gossage, Rickey Henderson, Reggie Jackson, Paul O'Neill and Williams get the biggest cheers.

Girardi's pregame comments: "I'm sure when they announce our names and we run on the field, it will be an unbelieveable feeling. ...It's a day that everyone has looked forward to and will try to relive in their own mind as time passes."

12:45 p.m.: The Indians are getting introduced on the third-base line and Carl Pavano just got crushed with boos, drawing howls of laughter from his teammates. Reporters here wrote today about Yankees OF Xavier Nady going into the "Carl Pavano Memorial MRI tube" to have his elbow examined.

12:49 p.m.: Kay begins to introduce the "26-time World Champion Yankees " and out they come on the first-base line. That number has been stuck on 26 for a while, hasn't it Yankee fans?

12:58 p.m.: The teams are on the foul lines and 75 West Point cadets are unfurling the flag in center field as Kelly Clarkson sings the national anthem. The 174th Fighter Wing from Syracuse is about to do its flyover. Quite a scene.

1:03 p.m.: Yogi Berra is walking to the mound and catcher Jose Molina moves the managers/umpires meeting out of the way. Yogi bounces one in and this stadium can now open.

1:09 p.m.: Grady Sizemore takes the first pitch for a ball. The temperature is 56 degrees. Even in the sunshine, you saw tons of flashes around the park. The first at-bat ends with a grounder to first by Sizemore as the Bleacher Creatures are finishing their daily "roll call" to say hello to each Yankee .

1:18 p.m: After CC Sabathia tosses a 1-2-3 first, Jeter leads off for the Yankees . Prior to the at-bat, a bat is placed over the plate and it's the one used by Babe Ruth for the first Yankee Stadium home run on April 18, 1923. Jeter picks it up and it's off to the new Yankees Museum here. Cool. Way cool. On a 1-0 pitch, Jeter flies out to center.

1:20 p.m: Johnny Damon loops Cliff Lee's 86-mph delivery into CF for a single, the first hit in the new ballpark.

1:29 p.m/End of the 1st: We're seeing 2007 Cliff Lee, not 2008. After the Damon single, he drilled Mark Teixeira, then went full on Nick Swisher before he flied out to center. Jorge Posada then grounded to first as Lee escaped without a run. We're zip-zip through one.

1:35 p.m.: The place looks so much like old Yankee Stadium that it's eerie. It's 318 to left, 399 to left-center, 408 to center, 385 to right-center and 314 to right. The manual scoreboards on the fences in the alley take you back to those famous photos of Don Larsen's perfect game at the old Old Stadium (pre-70s renovation). There is a lot less foul territory it seems, especially behind the plate. So that mitigate some of the pitchers' advantages of the big outfield.

1:36 p.m.: Old friend Ben Francisco doubles to left for the first hit here by a visitor. Neat for him. Great guy. It was a 97-mph fastball from Sabathia (just noticed the speed of the pitches at the top of the video board. Too small. They have to work on that).

1:57 p.m./Top 3rd: Still no score. David Wells is sitting in the bleachers to watch this game. What a screwball he is. Love that he's doing that. Imagine you're a fan and you show up and Boomer is there. Noticed a shot of Paul Simon in a suite near us. Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? Across the street.

2 pm./Mid-3rd: This is why the Indians are 2-7. With runners at first and second, Victor Martinez hit a little pop-up behind short that Jeter corraled. The runners were moving and Mark DeRosa was easily nailed off first by Jeter. Some kind of divine intervention for a bizarre play, perhaps? Newly installed Archbishop Timothy Dolan, a guest of George Steinbrenner, was in the radio booth with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman for that inning.

2:10 p.m. Red-hot Nick Swisher doubled Damon to third but the Yankees left men on second and third as Posada's bat was shattered on a grounder to second. Zip-zip through three.

2:17 p.m: Who needs A-Rod? Cody Ransom just cut off the stadium's first run with a great backhanded stop and strong throw home to Jorge Posada to nail Jhonny Peralta. Robbed Francisco of an RBI double that would have gone down in history and leaves him with a measly fielder's choice.

2:20 p.m.: A pair of old Bisons open the scoring in the new stadium. On a 1-2 pitch, Kelly Shoppach drives a Sabathia fastball over Damon's head in left for a double to score Francisco. 1-0, Tribe.

2:22 p.m: Mid-4th and Cleveland leads it 1-0. I'm gonna walk around for a couple innings to check things out. Back later!!!

4:05: p.m. OK, this place is so HUGE that it takes a long time to walk around and see things and I spent a good deal of time in The Great Hall (left -- be sure to click for a closer look). It instantly becomes one of the best gathering spots for any ballpark in America. As for your game updates, if you're not sneaking a peak at home or wherever, the crowd was ecstatic when Jorge Posada homered in the fifth to tie the game at 1-1 and score the first Yankee run here. But we just finished the top of the seventh and the Yankees bullpen has imploded.

The Indians exploded for nine -- count 'em, nine -- runs to take a 10-1 lead. Jhonny Peralta's two-run double broke the tie and the inning was highlighted by Grady Sizemore's grand slam to right and Victor Martinez's titanic solo shot to left. By that time, the folks in the bleachers were chanting, "We want Swisher". Classic! (OF Nick Swisher was the only good bullpen pitcher in Monday's 15-5 blowout at Tampa Bay). Quite a way for the Yanks to ruin Ronan Tynan's performance.

4:20 p.m: The walk around this place was pretty interesting. The Great Hall and Yankees Museum are as good as advertised. You have to love the open concourses. But holy cow, did they mess up the bleachers here. Huge numbers of obstructed views on either side of the enclosed sports bar in center field. Can't believe for $1.5 billion they couldn't have figured out another way!

5:04 p.m.: Sinatra is playing post game for the first time as the Indians win it, 10-2.