End of an Era

[T_Bone0806]

Tonight is the final game ever at my beloved Yankee Stadium.

I am watching the "Farewell to the Stadium" special on the YES Network. The festivities haven't even begun and the lump is already gathering in my throat.

Don't care how wonderful the new place is, it won't be the same.

I remember the first time I saw the place in person. I was 7 going on 8. The feeling I got when walking through the tunnel and seeing the outfield grass. the infield, the scoreboard.......seeing Mickey Mantle in person..heck, even seeing Horace Clarke and Fritz Peterson in person.....

I still got that same feeling as a 50 year-old man on my last visit in May, this time ROLLING down the tunnel, seeing that outfield grass, the infield, the scoreboard, watching Jeter and Joba in person and being within shoutin' distance of Damon in left field, looking to my left and seeing Mo Rivera warming up for the ninth and then hearing "Enter Sandman" blasting over the loudspeakers (although that still doesn't hold a candle to the old days of Eddie Layton at the organ, and it DEFINITELY wasn't the same without the dignified tones of Bob Sheppard announcing the next batter or pitching change).

It is a special place.

I have a feeling that there may be a tear or two trickling down my face tonight.

[elwoodblues]

I was never a Yankee fan, but when you think about some of the players who called it home and some of the things that happened there, it really is a special place. I will be switching back and forth between that game and the Cowboys-Packers game.

My nominee for greatest Yankee Stadium moment: Lou Gehrig's "luckiest man on the face of the earth" speech.

[danielh41]

I've hated the Yankees for the past ten years now, with all their big free agent signings and playoff appearances. But nobody can deny their place in baseball history since the early 20's, and Yankee Stadium is a huge part of that. I worked for the Melrose Branch of the New York Public Library in 1992 and 1993, just a few blocks from the Stadium. I used to walk around the Stadium at lunch most days, and I would always marvel at the fact that Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, and Mickey Mantle used to work there.

And continuing with Elwood's suggestion, my nomination for Yankee Stadium's greatest moment would be Don Larson's perfect game on baseball's grandest stage, the World Series.

[etaoin22]

On the brighter side, Yanks are moving only next door and not to another borough or to New Jersey or five hundred miles to a different city.

[traininvain]

Well I just got back from the game tonight, and I have to say that it was tough to leave. I really thought that Jeter saying a few words from the pitcher's mound after the game was over was just right. Next year I move into the new Stadium and bring all my memories of the old one with me.

[Snaxx]

I was there too, just a quick post to echo TiV's thoughts before I head to work. The woman in the photo is not my mom, but the Yankee fan friend who's daughter could not go.

Snaxx

.

[nitrah55]

I was there when Mickey Mantle's number was retired in 1969.

I recall attending Old Timers games when the widows of Ruth and Gerhig were in attendance.

I have overpaid for restaurants, vacations, all manner of amusements. But everytime I go to a ball game, especially at Yankee Stadium, I always feel I get my money's worth.

I was at the game Saturday. Got there early, wandered up to the upper deck, took a seat, looked around and cried a bit for a couple of minutes. I was not the only person doing that.

Security was tight, but invisible. The Times reported 1,600 cops, guards, etc. many in plain clothes (usually more like 400) mostly to keep people from taking souveniers. One guy was arrested for trying to steal a toilet seat. Someone was asked how the security differed from the night President Bush threw out the ball during the 2001 World Series. "We don't have snipers this time."

Forget baseball for a second:
The first Papal mass in the Western Hemisphere.
The first NFL game to go into overtime.
The "win one for the Gipper " speech.
The Lewis-Schmeling fight.

Back to baseball:
21% of all the World Series games ever played.
Lou Gerhig's farewell.

I will not miss the narrow concourses, the mediocre food and the long lines at the restrooms.

Wait till next year. Yankees in 6.

[ne1410s]

I'm sure it's apockraf...aphocraful...

I'm sure it's not true but:

Yogi was in attendance at an Old Timer's Game when they listed former Yankees that had passed on.












Yogi: "Man, I sure hope I never see my name up there."

[TheConfessor]

Back to baseball:
21% of all the World Series games ever played.
Lou Gerhig's farewell.

I just happened to see an AP article that said 100 of 601 World Series games ever played were at Yankee Stadium. That would be 16.6%.

[secondchance]

Tonight is the final game ever at my beloved Yankee Stadium.

I am watching the "Farewell to the Stadium" special on the YES Network. The festivities haven't even begun and the lump is already gathering in my throat.

Don't care how wonderful the new place is, it won't be the same.

I remember the first time I saw the place in person. I was 7 going on 8. The feeling I got when walking through the tunnel and seeing the outfield grass. the infield, the scoreboard.......seeing Mickey Mantle in person..heck, even seeing Horace Clarke and Fritz Peterson in person.....

I still got that same feeling as a 50 year-old man on my last visit in May, this time ROLLING down the tunnel, seeing that outfield grass, the infield, the scoreboard, watching Jeter and Joba in person and being within shoutin' distance of Damon in left field, looking to my left and seeing Mo Rivera warming up for the ninth and then hearing "Enter Sandman" blasting over the loudspeakers (although that still doesn't hold a candle to the old days of Eddie Layton at the organ, and it DEFINITELY wasn't the same without the dignified tones of Bob Sheppard announcing the next batter or pitching change).

It is a special place.

I have a feeling that there may be a tear or two trickling down my face tonight.

Bless your heart, T-Bone. I am touched by your tribute, and thanks for sharing your special memories. Roll on!