Ariel Epstein

Robby Incmikoski: All right, Ariel Epstein, the Prop Queen. First of all, how’d you come up with the Prop Queen?

Ariel Epstein: I didn’t come up with it, actually. I was getting into the sports-gambling world on the media side in 2019, and everyone who was already involved in sports betting was in Vegas doing sides, totals, etc., and I knew I had to differentiate myself in order to stand out because who was I, at twenty-five years old, coming into a business that’s been around forever, that people have been doing forever? But the new thing about betting in 2019 was the East Coast—especially New Jersey—was really known for their props. They were the biggest menu of props in the history of any kind of sportsbook, FanDuel and DraftKings. So I was doing a FanDuel show. Well, my show ended up getting picked up by FanDuel because it was just a sports-betting show that was kind of generic to all books, but FanDuel ended up sponsoring it. I was like, “Okay, let’s do strikeout props—at least pitchers are going every five days.”

It’s the only tangible market I feel that you could have, because a pitcher usually is pretty . . . whatever, it’s a long story for why my mindset went there. But I started doing props to try to stand out from the rest of the Vegas crowd, so I would go onto different shows, and everyone was just like, “oh, the Prop Queen, oh, the Prop Queen” because it was the only way that I got onto these shows. For example, my friend Kelly Stewart—she’s known as Kelly in Vegas—she’s been gambling for twenty more years than I have, so she was getting on shows for the NFL, college football, doing spreads and totals and parlays, and I was getting called to do shows now for props. So everyone just called me Prop Queen, and I hated it because I thought it was so cheesy and corny—until my broadcast coach and my parents were like, “It’s a brand, just run with it.” And we’ve been, I’ve been doing that now ever since.

Robby Incmikoski: That’s great. That’s pretty cool. So I just want people, when they read about you, to know who you are and why we came to you. Obviously you have a very in-depth knowledge of the game of baseball, and if I’m not mistaken, your grandfather—I’m very sorry for the loss of your grandfather, pretty recently—but isn’t that where you got your love of the game of baseball? Can you just tell me how he instilled the love of baseball in you?

Ariel Epstein: So it dates back to probably 199…

Robby Incmikoski: Hold on a second. Give me your grandfather’s name.

Ariel Epstein: Martin Cohen.

Robby Incmikoski: Okay. Sorry.

Ariel Epstein: So my grandpa was born and raised in the Bronx. That’s actually, him and my grandma lived in the same building growing up, and they ended up getting married, and married for sixty-seven [sounded like seven to me, but could have been “something.” dn] years. So my grandfather, when I was about three years old, took me to meet Joe DiMaggio. It was him, my dad, and my grandpa, because my mom was working that day, so they had to drag me along. My grandpa’s a massive sports collector, so I have this picture of me and Joe DiMaggio. He was mean to everybody in the room, apparently, and DiMaggio was like, “Put her on the table, I’ll take a picture with her.” My grandpa said I was the only person he would take a picture with. So my grandpa’s like, “As soon as he touched you, you were destined to be something in baseball.” So then I, around five or six years old, I went to my first game. My grandpa had season tickets—Section 1 behind home plate at the old Yankee Stadium, which was all the way up at the top. But if you envision what every newspaper and every picture of old Yankee Stadium was—like the panorama from behind home plate in the upper deck—that was exactly, the photographer stood next to us to take the picture. That was our seat, so it was like the best seats in the house.

At five years old, he took me in a pink princess dress, then decided it was time to buy me a Derek Jeter jersey. And as soon as I saw who Derek Jeter was, I was hooked. Everyone loved *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys in the ’90s—I was obsessed with Derek Jeter. So I would say like 03–04 was really, well 01 kind of when they during, in 9/11 year in the World Series, that one was the first one that kinda hit me because I live. in New York.

Robby Incmikoski: Yeah.

Ariel Epstein: And then in ’03–04 was really when I became diehard. And my grandpa took me to—he had Sunday season tickets, so he took me from 2004 until, I mean, well, first of all, we didn’t miss an opening day since 2004. This was our last one together since he passed away in July, so 2004 until 2024, so twenty years, never missing an opening day together. And then Sunday season tickets—he took me to every Sunday home game. He made sure we were in the building for the old Yankee Stadium’s last game. He made sure we were there for Derek Jeter’s last game in Yankee Stadium. Just whatever the milestone was, he had to have me by his side, and I needed him by my side. So it really started with just my grandpa—he chose me, and he was like, “You love it, let’s go.” He could’ve taken my dad—it’s his son-in-law, not his actual blood son—but my dad could have gone, my uncles could have gone. Anyone in the world he could have taken. My grandpa’s like, “Nope, my nine-year-old granddaughter, she’s coming with me to every game.” And that’s where my love for baseball started. And that’s the person, my grandpa was the one that showed me Susan Waldman and Kim Jones and said, “You could be them. You might not be able to play, but you can talk about it.” And ever since then, I just knew what I wanted in life.

Robby Incmikoski: That’s a great story, and exactly the type of story we’re looking to tell for this. Quick logistics question: Do you have that picture of you and DiMaggio somewhere?

Ariel Epstein: Everywhere. It’s the only picture my grandpa . . . if every album in my grandpa’s whole basement—like, it’s stunning. Like, he is a collector. I think I’ve sent it to you—did I show you the video of my grandpa . . . ?

Robby Incmikoski: Yeah, but send to me . . . .

Ariel Epstein: Okay. My grandpa is a ginormous collector. Everything—he went to shows for sixty-five years, when that was a thing. So everything in his basement is legitimate, autographed. I’m pretty sure every corner of that basement has the picture of me and DiMaggio, but I have it on my phone.

Robby Incmikoski: So if you don’t mind, Kyle, maybe we can get that. I don’t know if that’s small enough. We’ll send it to Anna. I’d like to see if I can put that picture in the book to go with her story.

Ariel Epstein: Yeah, I’ll text it to you, right?

Robby Incmikoski: With you [?] of course. But yeah, definitely it’ll go on the site for sure. So my next question to you is this, and you’re actually the perfect person to ask, just given your life experiences and your career experiences in the game of baseball. There are people who don’t—thank you, I just got your text—there are people who may not get a chance to go to every ballpark, or there may be some fans out there who, you know, people want to go and for some reason they can’t, whether it’s health, travel, finances, family, kids, whatever the case is. Travel logistics, whatever it is, they can’t do it. What makes the baseball experience special the moment you step into a ballpark—not specifically Yankee Stadium, but any ballpark?

Ariel Epstein: The smell. I just think the smell of the stadium—you’re like, “Wow, I’m here.” And there are certain sports that are better live, and people say that about hockey, but people definitely say it about baseball. I’ve obviously had different experiences. In regards to my love for baseball, it started because I loved my grandpa, and it was our thing. And I think most—especially fathers—feel that way. Of course, my grandpa is my grandpa, but most fathers feel that way. My dad taking my brother to his first game was such a milestone for my dad. So I think overall, especially if you take a young one . . . I just think the experience of going to the ballpark—and my grandparents and I went to a different stadium every summer for about six years—so it wasn’t just about the Yankees for us, either. It was getting this new experience.

And the thing I think about baseball, and I think this is the main thing: Every baseball stadium is so different. I’ve gone to so many football stadiums, hockey arenas, basketball arenas—they all kind of look the same, especially on the inside. But every baseball stadium is different, from the inside out. There is nothing about any baseball stadium that’s the same. And I’m in New York, and we have two, and nothing about those two stadiums—Citi Field and Yankee Stadium—is the same. And that’s what I think makes baseball so important to travel to. It’s why my grandma enjoyed going to these games—my grandma loves baseball, but she came on the trips with us because she was like, “Oh, I’ll see new cities, and you guys will see the stadiums.” But she came to the stadiums, and she was like . . . we would watch the game, and my grandma would walk around. She just loved that aspect, and I think that’s what’s so cool about why seeing different baseball stadiums is more so than any other sport.

Robby Incmikoski: Which is obviously the impetus for this book, is the character and the features of each ballpark, which is why we’re trying to show off what we can. And this book appeals to the avid, to diehard baseball fan—not like the casual, “I’ll see what kind of food they have.” They’re not gonna be interested in this. But there are a lot of fans out there that want to see every ballpark. So let me ask you this: If you walked into Yankee Stadium—they’re at Globe Life Field in Texas right now, I understand that—but if you were to walk into Yankee Stadium for the next home game, how would you tell fans what that experience is like that have never been there?

Ariel Epstein: It’s big. It’s like a palace. The new stadium. You know, the new and the old stadium are just so different, because the old stadium was like Fenway—you couldn’t . . . the floor was shaking. It really was. That’s why they had to take it down. But new Yankee Stadium, they did a very good job of instilling that history from old Yankee Stadium when you walk in the Great Hall. So I always suggest going in through Gates 2 or 4, especially 4, because at Gate 4 you kind of go right, you’ll see the main, whatever, gates 2 or 4. Wait, sorry. 4 or 6, 4 or 6, not 2. Gates 4 and 6, when you walk right in, and you go to the Great Hall, I think that’s what people should really see, because it’s just this huge, grandiose—this is what I think you’d expect the Yankees to be, is just big, palace, grandiose like. And yeah, I think there’s just a buzz in there—the New York buzz. I think it’s super real in there.

Now, granted, everyone who lives there does say that Yankee Stadium feels like a rich-person stadium at this point; old Yankee Stadium was not like that at all. But yeah, I actually am very fortunate, because I did just take, a friend of mine took his kids from North Carolina to see Yankee Stadium for the first time. And I went and I took them around. I think seeing Monument Park and the Great Hall are the two coolest things, aside from the ice-cream sundaes, in the stadium.

Robby Incmikoski: Yeah. Now, how would you describe just the vibe and the experience of that ballpark?

Ariel Epstein: So the vibe and experience—especially if you go out to the Bleacher Creatures in right field. Oh my God. Like, I got to watch Game 5 of Yankees-Guardians ALDS a few years ago. That’s the best place, in my opinion, to watch a game as a fan. If you’re a diehard fan and you want to go really experience Yankees fans, you sit in the Bleacher Creatures because . . .

Robby Incmikoski: [? dn]

Ariel Epstein: What?

Robby Incmikoski: That reminds me, I want to see if I can get one of the Bleacher Creatures for this, Kyle.

Ariel Epstein: Oh yeah, the Bleacher Creatures are—and even Keith McPherson, too, he’s always sitting with the Bleacher Creatures. He’s a good person to probably talk to about them, or if he has people. But that . . . when you are especially there for like, I don’t know, for a playoff game, or like a huge game with big implications, it’s super loud, and the fans in the outfield—if there’s a home run hit, they’re spraying their beer cans around, they’re heckling all the players. Then when you hear the roll call when you get in, you’re like, “Wait, what?” Certain players—I remember Nick Swisher was so much fun with the Bleacher Creatures. He was going [?], interacting. It was like sitting in the outfield, the outfielders interact with you because they know that’s the heart and soul of Yankee Stadium.

Robby Incmikoski: That is so right. When you—tell me about Monument Park. I’m leaving it open-ended, because there are a lot of people who are very curious about that. I’ve been there; I have a lot of photos of it. But what is, you walk in there, just tell me about it. What’s the experience like? What’s in there, and what’s the experience like?

Ariel Epstein: It’s really cool to see the history of Yankee Stadium, because you’re just seeing how many legends were part of that stadium. And it doesn’t even just mean the players—like Bob Sheppard, the former announcer, he has a plaque in there. They have 9/11 stuff in there. I love going through and just seeing the numbers, because when I think of Yankee Stadium, I think of Monument Park, retired numbers . . . we only have double digits left at this point to wear. Like there’s no single digits left [? dn] uniforms. But I think it’s just cool to see—and you’re on the field level too, so you can kind of see the field from there. It’s really the only way you can be on field level without a field pass at Yankee Stadium, so I think that’s cool, too, for the fan.

But yeah, I mean, I would say the one thing: The Yankees close it too, I think you only, like if the game starts at 7:05, I think by, you have to literally get to Monument Park when the doors open, and I think by six o’clock, they stop. So that’s the one thing that, obviously we’re not gonna put this in, but that is the one thing fans should know if they want to go see Monument Park. But I just think, the one thing, aside from the facade around the stadium, which is obviously, like whatever, like the one thing that they kept the same from the old stadium was Monument Park. So for anyone that wants any feel for what old Yankee Stadium was, you go to Monument Park. I mean, they have a museum inside, which you can see, and they have some stuff too. But truthfully, if you felt like, “Oh, I missed out on seeing old Yankee Stadium,” go to Monument Park. That’s what it was built around.

Robby Incmikoski: Yeah, yeah, it’s a really special place. Is that accessible—can any fan get there?

Ariel Epstein: Yeah, any fan can go. You just have to be there like early.

Robby Incmikoski: Oh, so you don’t have to pay. I didn’t know if you had to pay.

Ariel Epstein: No, it’s free. If you have a ticket to get into the game, it’s free, and anyone can go to Monument Park. I think they just close it by five forty-five, six, and they open gates at five. so you have forty-five minutes to an hour to go in. But you can also take a tour of Yankee Stadium, and on the tour of Yankee Stadium, they will take you there too.

Robby Incmikoski: Go to Monument Park, yeah. How does Ariel, well, let me ask you this: Going with your grandfather—when you look back on it, how cool is that, how cool a life experience and life moment is that, to spend—opening opening day is special for all of us who are connected to the game, especially people that aren’t even connected but have kids. Opening day is arguably the best day of the year for me, for sure, and for most . . .

Ariel Epstein: My teachers used to always know—it was passed down. Like every, like by the time that we hit March, April, my teachers knew, because you get to school in September in New York, so that was key playoff time. So they already knew by October I was a lunatic. So when it came around to March, April, my teachers all were like, “We already have you absent for opening day. You’re good. Like, we know, you’re leaving, you’re out.” And then it would make it even more special because I’d say, “But it’s my thing to do with my grandpa.” Robby. I left—and Kyle, I left—so I was covering how important opening day was with my grandpa.”

I was at Syracuse University the year that Syracuse went to the Final Four in 2016. It was my senior year, they offered—I was one of seven students that they gave a media credential for the Final Four. All I had to do was pay my way to fly. They put me in a hotel—everything was paid for except the flight—and I was on the floor, in a suite, and on the floor, media-credentialed as a twenty-one-year-old covering the Final Four with Syracuse. That was the year that UNC lost on the buzzer-beater, I think, it was UNC that lost on the buzzer-beater.

Robby Incmikoski: Yep.

Ariel Epstein: To Villanova, right?

Robby Incmikoski: Kris Jenkins, yes. I have an autographed picture of that downstairs, yes.

Ariel Epstein: Okay, so that year, Syracuse gets blown out by UNC in the Final Four, and if Syracuse made it, it would’ve been the first Opening Day I missed with my grandpa. Because if Syracuse made it to the championship, I would’ve gone, ’cause when you’re credentialed for the Final Four, you’re also credentialed for the championship. Even if your team loses, you can stay. They put all of our students up in a suite, a broadcast suite that was not being used, to watch the championship game. And I was like, “Syracuse lost, I’m flying home,” and I booked my flight home, went to the Yankees’ opening day. No one could believe I missed that buzzer-beater, and I said, “I don’t care. I probably, to this day, would have regretted not going to that opening day with Grandpa.” And I don’t even know how good that game was—I don’t even remember the game itself at Yankee Stadium. I don’t remember, but I know I did not miss opening day with Grandpa.

Robby Incmikoski: How cool is that, to have those memories at Yankee Stadium with the person that instilled your love of baseball?

Ariel Epstein: It’s really amazing because now that he’s gone, there is, like everyone, like people like to say, “When someone’s gone, how are you going to keep them alive the rest of your life?” That’s something I think everyone has when they lose someone so close to them. And I’m always curious how everyone else in my family feels about what that is gonna be to keep him alive, and I go, “Mine’s easy. I have my job and the Yankees.” So whether they’re here or gone, when I’m there, I just know that’s me keeping him alive and what he, like that’s the part of me that lives, like him that lives in me. So to know that having all those memories of every game—I mean, we laughed up until the last game together, that he would say to me at ten years old, “You want a brewski?” or he’d be like, “You want to . . . ?” There were the free blankets that if you got a credit, we were so cold one year, it was snowing. It was a March 28 opening day, And it was snowing. I think it was a March 28, I forget if it was, maybe it was, I don’t remember. It was snowing though. And my grandpa went and got a new credit card so he could get a free blanket. And then he closed the credit card the next day. These are just little things that Yankees. And like, we were at the old Yankee Stadium’s last game, we were at Derek Jeter’s final Yankee Stadium game—those are things that you can’t, it’s not like a Broadway show where it’s going to be the same show again tomorrow. Like, it’s never the same show. It’s never the same memory. Every time you go to the ballpark, it’s a new something that happened. And I think that’s the most amazing thing about sports in general, and going to games.

Robby Incmikoski: Last question, and it’s gonna be dumb. Well, two more questions. It’s a dumb question, but I’m going to ask it anyway. Well, first of all, have you been to a game at Yankee Stadium since your grandfather passed?

Ariel Epstein: Um-hmm.

Robby Incmikoski: You have. When you walk through the gates there, do you think of him?

Ariel Epstein: Every day. I—so, I actually, the first game that I went to after he passed, I forget who I went with actually to the game. But I think I was actually taking that North Carolina friend and his family around.

Robby Incmikoski: Okay.

Ariel Epstein: But I got there early because with MLB Network, I’m have a media credential, so I can go whenever I want, which is my favorite perk of the job. And I said, “The first time I see the field, I want it to be with me on the field,” which sounds so bougie, but we are very lucky to have this job. And I didn’t want to just walk out and see the stadium, whatever—I wanted to be on the field and touch the dirt and stand there and think to myself, “He did this; he is the reason I could stand on this dirt today.” It’s not just ’cause he raised me. And like he is the reason, because if it wasn’t for him telling me at nine years old and taking me to games and telling me that this future is possible—and nonetheless as a female, he just, from the jump, there was never even a question in his mind. He was like, “You could do this. You could go to games as a job.” So every time I walk in that stadium—so I actually haven’t been with my family yet. I’ve gone a few times by myself, I’ve gone a few times with friends, but on September 25 is the first time the whole family’s going to go back. It’s because I think it’s Yankees-Orioles, and my dad’s from Baltimore, so it was always my thing that me, Grandpa, my brother, and my dad would go together, because it was me and my grandpa at the Yankees, and my dad and my brother were the Orioles. So we always went whenever the Orioles were in town. So that’s the Orioles series, so we have tickets, and this time we’re bringing my mom and my sister. But the requirement was that they have to balance it out and wear Yankees stuff. So sorry, Dad and brother.

That’ll be the first time, and I think that’s gonna be emotional for everyone. I think my mom’s gonna be very sad walking in there. My grandma hasn’t watched a game yet. But for them, that’s not their reality like my reality was, “You have to go on TV and talk about baseball.”

Robby Incmikoski: Right.

Ariel Epstein: “So you better sharpen up real quick and get the tears out of the way.” So yeah, I definitely cried the first time going back and seeing the field and standing there. Actually, the most special part—so one other memory is, and I have the picture. I can send it to you. I wanted to put my grandpa—I used to intern for the Yankees, so I know everybody in the production team. I know the cameramen, I know big-screen people, whatever. So I asked the camera guy, Eric, I said, “Eric, can you come and put my grandpa on the screen?” I forget how many years ago this was, but I was like, “I’m at the game, I’m sitting—” I texted Eric, I was like, “I just want my grandpa to get on the big screen, put him up.” It was just me and my grandpa there. So I took a picture of it—my grandpa’s like this, like on the big screen at new Yankee Stadium. He’s just like waving to the crowd, an ISO shot on him. And that’s the picture. And my grandma [? dn]

’Cause my grandpa died pretty suddenly. He died within two weeks. Like he was in the hospital and was gone in two weeks from an infection—healthy guy, we did not see it coming. So my grandma is absolutely devastated, obviously. In her crazy state as we’re planning the funeral (which, Jews go in the ground within forty-eight hours, so you gotta get this stuff done), she goes, “That picture of your grandfather at Yankee Stadium on the big screen . . . that’s the one I want next to the casket at the funeral.”

Robby Incmikoski: Wow. Wow.

Ariel Epstein: I was like , “Wow. How did you . . . ?” “You don’t even remember . . .” I mean, she’s like young. She’s just turning eighty. “But you don’t even remember seeing me three days ago. You remember that?” She goes, “Yeah, that was his favorite picture.”

Robby Incmikoski: That’s amazing.

Ariel Epstein: Who would’ve thought?

Robby Incmikoski: That’s amazing. That’s amazing.

Ariel Epstein: She’s like, “I wanted him to be remembered for the Yankees,” and that was the picture that she wanted—him on the big screen.

Robby Incmikoski: Now final thing. There are fans out there that may want to go to Yankee Stadium but haven’t had the chance to do it. What would you tell them me the experience is like if they asked you?

Ariel Epstein: I think it’s one of the few stadiums in the world that you’d regret not seeing in your lifetime, because it’s the Yankees. It is such a prestigious organization, and they make you feel that way when you come in. And I think the biggest difference—I mean, obviously, Legends they like separate you from—but in the old Yankee Stadium, the Bleacher Creatures were separated from the stadium. You couldn’t access old Yankee Stadium if you were in the bleachers. You were completely cut off. Now it’s like everyone can come in and enjoy the full stadium. I just think that if you really want to know what New York feels like, and things being New York and lavish, and like people look at Times Square and everything, like it’s so lavish. [Couldn’t understand. dn] What your idea of New York is in a movie is completely exemplified by Yankee Stadium. And I think the experience is catered to so many different generations. Like I went, going as a kid with my brother. He has one experience with the massive ice-cream sundaes that the kids love and so many food options. Then the chicken finger basket, and like it’s so big, and oh my God, she’s got young kids. Then there’s River Ave, and I think that’s what separates Yankee Stadium from Citi Field. River Ave is like going to a college town for a baseball game—it is just so much fun now that I’m older. My friends and I go to Billy’s. I mean, we live there. Just being able to have such a community . . . when the Yankees beat the Guardians in that Game 5 of the ALDS, River Avenue was flooded. I mean, it was like the most fun scene. I have so many videos. And Billy’s was like, I  mean, it was insanity. Like the whole, just to be able to party with all these Yankees fans all the time, I find it to be so fun and a like family. I just think there are few stadiums in the world that you’d be like, “I want to go see the Yankees.”

Robby Incmikoski: It’s amazing.

Ariel Epstein: Yeah, I think it’s even more so honestly for just the brand. Like, I think, there are some, obviously, we’re not going to put me saying this there. I’m just talking. [? dn] PNC, which I haven’t seen yet—but like Pittsburgh, San Francisco, aura. I’m like, the way that that, it’s beautiful, right? Like, obviously the scenery of it. It’s stunning. Yankee Stadium, you don’t have scenery—it’s the Bronx—but it makes you feel like, wow, like this is New York.

I just remember my North Carolina friends and their kids walking around, and they were like, “Wow.” It’s so hard when you’re so jaded because I’ve been going there since the opening of the stadium. But I got to see it through new people’s eyes, and I was like, all they kept saying was, “Wow. There’s so much stuff here!” You just really feel like New York is at your fingertips, which is weird—they don’t have pizza. But aside from that, everything else is like awesome.

Robby Incmikoski: That’s, that’s incredible. Kyle, I’m good. You got anything?

Kyle Fager: No, that was perfect.

Robby Incmikoski: This is great.

Kyle Fager: The relationship angle was pretty amazing. Thank you for that.

Robby Incmikoski: So something like that can tug at the heartstrings, you know, for fans, you know, and talk about how people get a love for a sport, a team, a stadium, a ballpark, an arena. The stories come from all over. They do.

Ariel Epstein: I think the way that people are like, “Oh, you’re so romantic about baseball,” right? Like I even was at a game once, where when people make fun of you for sitting in the upper deck with a glove, I’m like, “Why is this grown-ass man holding a glove here at the game?” It was the ALCS vs. the Astros. and I was like, so weird. And then I found out his dad passed away. It’s his dad’s mitt, and he brings it to every single game.

Robby Incmikoski: Yep.

Ariel Epstein: And I’m like, everyone who has so much love for it has a story. And I do think that for the person reading this book, I bet you anyone reading this book has a story behind why they are a fan of whoever they are a fan of.

Robby Incmikoski: Yep.

Ariel Epstein: And I do think that I’ve realized now that my grandpa’s gone, how much that sometimes—and like the guy with the mitt—sometimes that’s the one place you can go that you feel them. Like you know, it’s just, I think that is so important to me, and I always feel bad the rest of my family probably doesn’t have that every day like I do, because I get to work here and I get to go there, and I get to feel it every day. So it’s pretty cool.

Robby Incmikoski: That is very cool. All right, so we’re good. We can cut the recording, Kyle. That’s fantastic, Ariel, it really is . . . We’re looking at. . .

Robby Incmikoski: People may not get the chance to visit every ballpark. What makes the baseball experience special—any ballpark, not just Yankee Stadium?

Ariel Epstein: I think it’s the smell of the stadium. You walk in and think, Wow, I’m here. Some sports are just better live, and baseball is one of them.

For me, my love of baseball started because of my grandpa—it was our thing. Most fathers feel that way too, taking their kids to their first game. My grandparents and I visited a different stadium every summer for six years. What makes baseball unique is that no two stadiums are the same. Football and basketball arenas all kind of look the same, but baseball parks are different inside and out. That’s why traveling to see them is special.

Robby Incmikoski: What’s it like to walk into Yankee Stadium for the first time?

Ariel Epstein: It’s big—it feels like a palace. The old and new stadiums are so different. The old stadium was like Fenway, where the floor was shaking. The new one is more grandiose, but they kept the history. When you walk into the Great Hall, it just feels like the Yankees.

I always suggest entering through Gates 4 or 6. That way, you walk right into the Great Hall, and it’s this massive, breathtaking space. It just gives off that New York energy.

Robby Incmikoski: How do you feel going back to Yankee Stadium now that your grandfather has passed?

Ariel Epstein: Every time I walk in, I think of him. The first game I went to after he passed, I made sure my first view of the field was from on the field—I wanted to touch the dirt and think, He did this. He is the reason I’m here.

My family and I are going back together for the first time on September 25th, for a Yankees-Orioles game. My dad and brother are Orioles fans, but they have to balance it out and wear Yankees gear.

Robby Incmikoski: For fans who haven’t been to Yankee Stadium, what would you tell them about the experience?

Ariel Epstein: It’s one of the few stadiums in the world you’d regret not seeing. The Yankees make you feel the prestige of the organization when you walk in.

If you want to experience real Yankees fans, you sit with the Bleacher Creatures. They’re the heart and soul of Yankee Stadium. The energy is electric—heckling, beer showers when there’s a home run, the Roll Call chant for the players. It’s unforgettable.

Also, Monument Park. If you want a feel of old Yankee Stadium, that’s where you go. But you have to get there early—it closes before game time.

Yankee Stadium embodies New York. It’s grand, it’s loud, it’s history. If you want to understand baseball culture, it’s a must-see.

Robby Incmikoski: These stories hit home. They show why people love baseball—it’s about family, history, and emotion.

Ariel Epstein: Absolutely. Everyone has a story. For me, it was my grandpa. And now, when I step into Yankee Stadium, I still feel him there.