Back in June I took a trip to the new Yankee Stadium. This place is a cathedral of baseball! One cannot help but be in utter awe of the place upon stepping foot inside the stadium. It is truly a sight to behold.

Anyway, as stated previously, I was in New York for work back in June and desperately wanted to take in new Yankee Stadium since I missed my chance to see the old stadium. Tickets to see the Yankees are notoriously difficult to come by, and even when found, cost an arm and a leg. I could not purchase any tickets directly through the Yankees website because they were sold out of all of the cheap sections.That's when I took my search to Stub Hub.

After looking around for a bit, I found a ticket for 1 seat along the first base line in the first rwo of the lower section of the upper deck for $23. Needless to say, I jumped on this rare find.

When game day arrived, I rode the NYC subway all the way to the stadium from the Upper West Side of New York. This was a quick and easy trip and only cost my $2.00 round trip. Once I arrived to the stadium with ticket in hand, I was taken aback by the shear size and splendor of the stadium. It was literally a religious experience. I had chills walking into the place because the old Yankee Stadium of historic fame stood in the shadows.

The game was a great one. Apart from some unavoidably expensive food ($25 for a Nathan's hot dog, fries, and a drink) it was a very affordable trip as well. Not counting food, the trip cost me $25. I consider this to be an enormous bargain for a Yankee's game. I challenge anyone else out there to do better and still have the same quality seats.

The best part of the evening was seeing the Yankee's home run barrage coupled with the absolutely explosive atmosphere of the stadium when Mariano Rivera stepped on the mound in the 9th inning to close the door on the Rays. It really was the quintessential Yankees experience, replete with Frank Sinatra crooning to New York, New York after a Yankees victory.

I used to despise the Yankees, but after my affordable and memorable trip up to the home of the Bronx Bombers, I have an entirely new outlook on the team.

- AJ Riley