It's a place where the best seats are $2,625, where they have a Great Hall to pay homage to the past and where you can wine and dine in more spots than you ever thought possible in a ballpark.

But what a lemon everybody got served Thursday.

Locked in 1-1 game, the Yankees' beleaguered bullpen got pounded for nine runs in the seventh inning as the Cleveland Indians ruined the day by cruising to a 10-2 victory.

Jhonny Peralta's double off Jose Veras snapped the tie and Grady Sizemore's grand slam off Damaso Marte had many in the crowd of 48,271 stampeding for the exits before Victor Martinez capped the inning with a solo shot and Ronan Tynan sang "God Bless America."

"It's not what we hoped for today obviously," said Yanks manager Joe Girardi. "The pregame ceremonies were awesome and the game was a pretty good pitchers' duel until that inning. You give up nine and it's hard to watch."

Said Derek Jeter: "It was fun -- for about six innings."

The Yankees have plenty of worries, mainly the bullpen and the balky elbow of outfielder Xavier Nady, who was put on the disabled list and could be facing Tommy John surgery. But on this day, the game's newest palace was the star.

Just after 9 a.m., nearly four hours before the first pitch, a cigar-chomping Babe Ruth impersonator in full No. 3 uniform trolled the stadium plaza named after the Bambino. Celebrities were everywhere, with Bud Selig, Donald Trump and newly installed Archbishop Timothy Dolan among the guests in George Steinbrenner's suite. Former pitcher David Wells watched from the bleachers.

Folks in the press box resisted the urge to ask singer Paul Simon, who was sitting in a suite nearby, "Where have you gone, Yankees bullpen?"

The frail Steinbrenner, now 78 and rarely seen in public, got a big hand when he was put on the stadium's gargantuan center-field screen.

"I don't think Opening Day is the same without him here," Girardi said before the game. "This is really George's creation. . . . You say the Yankees , you say Mr. Steinbrenner. It think it's awesome that he's here."

The 83-year-old Berra threw the ceremonial first pitch. Asked what he thought of the new digs, Berra said he was amazed by the Yankees' palatial clubhouse, which features acres of therapy rooms and two swimming pools.

"To me, if you want to talk to a guy, you got to walk for a half-mile," cracked Berra as reporters howled.

In a tight pitching duel between former Cy Young winners Cliff Lee and CC Sabathia, the Indians turned this one into a laugher by seemingly running a half-mile in their decisive seventh against three relievers. It was a Bisons reunion as all nine runs were driven home by former Buffalo players. Following Peralta's double, Kelly Shoppach added an RBI single and Trevor Crowe had a bases-loaded walk before Sizemore and Martinez went deep.

"I wasn't thinking too much about what it meant because we were trying to break a game open," Sizemore said of his third career slam. "But I'll keep it with me. It's history here."

Former Buffalo batting champion Ben Francisco had the first hit by a visiting player (a double in the second that was the first extra-base hit by anyone). He scored the ballpark's first run on Shoppach's two-out double in the fourth.

Lee went six innings to improve to 1-2. Sabathia needed 122 pitches just to get through 52/3. Veras (0-1) took the loss. Jorge Posada had the first home run, a solo shot in the fifth that made it 1-1. All footnotes to history.

One of the neatest moments of the day came when Jeter stepped to the plate to lead off the Yankees first. Across home plate, as if to give some good karma, the team laid the bat Ruth used to belt a three-run homer in the old stadium's first game on April 18, 1923. Jeter picked it up, playfully tried to keep it and then handed it to a batboy so it could be placed in the stadium museum.

"It was a good idea," said a grinning Jeter, who flew out to center. "I would have liked to swing it."

Alas, not even the Babe himself might have saved the Yanks on this day.

e-mail: mharrington@buffnews.com