Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard Compares New Yankee Stadium to a ‘Gaudy Shopping Mall’

Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard has spoken out against the new Yankee Stadium in New York, comparing the update of the House That Ruth Built to “a gaudy, Long Island shopping mall” in the latest Rolling Stone. The magazine asked a collection of rock stars to name their favorite Major League Baseball ballparks as part of its ongoing High and Tight series, which features rockers offering their opinions on all things baseball.

Gibbard says: “It might look like the old one from the outside, but inside it’s more like a gaudy, Long Island shopping mall than a ballpark. A classic example of what happens when people have too much money and very little taste. Plus, it tends to be full of Yankees fans.”

His favorite ballpark? The Washington native and Seattle Mariners fan prefers the recently new home of the woeful Pittsburgh Pirates. “PNC Park is by far the most beautiful park in all of baseball,” Gibbard says. “The place feels so intimate and old-fashioned in all the best ways. I love the design of their out-of-town scoreboard. The views of downtown Pittsburgh and the bridges across the Allegheny River at night are spectacular. You can also buy a gigantic bucket of hot wings there that will stop your heart.”

Other musicians to offer up their favorite parks are Joe Pernice of the Pernice Brothers (Boston’s Fenway Park), Afghan Whigs’ Greg Dulli (Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium), Joshua Epstein of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. (Chicago’s Wrigley Field) and Pete Yorn, who, ironically enough, actually prefers the new Yankee Stadium. “Watching the team I grew up with live in that house is perfect,” he says.