Beer: $6
Hot dog: $3
Baseball hat: $25
Speaking of history lessons, the House that Ruth Built got a 21st century take with the new Yankee Stadium, now in its third season and carrying every bit of colossal clout that the original impressed on fans through the generations.
Whether fans love the New York Yankees, hate the Yankees or despise the Yankees, there really is no getting around that this stadium is baseball's mecca.
The stadium's goods include the largest high-definition screen in sports in center field (103 feet by 58 feet), its timeless white lattice, and its own hall of fame which practically rivals the actual hall of fame. Do all these things merit spending $338 on a visit? Yep, that's the Yankee Stadium Fan Cost Index, or what you and your crew should expect to spend in order to experience all of this baseball glory while watching the most iconic team in American sports.
The average premium seat is priced to befit a palace, at $312.11.
You'd be excused if you expected the price to include a personal meet and greet with A-Rod or a Derek Jeter cameo on your city softball team. The inability to pen Jeter in at cleanup behind Uncle Joe hasn't seemed to stop the throngs of every baseball stripe from taking in that Americana experience of baseball at Yankee Stadium, no matter the cost.
More than 3.7 million fans made the trip last season, and if there's some financial solace for fans in 2011, it's that the average ticket price (excluding premium seats) of $51.83 is the same as last year.
Play-ball tip: Take public transportation. The average parking price is $35.