The House That Ruth Built is about to fall. This is the saddest weekend in sports, to me. This Sunday night will be the last game in Yankee Stadium. Forever. They are going to tear it down.
The legendary stadium opened in April, 1923.
It is where Babe Ruth hit his 60th home run in 1927.
Roger Maris hit his 61st home run in 1961.
A-Rod hit his 500th in 2007.
Mickey Mantle hit the right-field facade in 1963, one hundred and ten feet above the field.
Reggie Jackson hit three home runs there in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series.
Don Larson pitched a perfect Game 5 of the 1956 World Series.
And it is where Lou Gehrig gave his "luckiest man" speech in 1939.
It is where Babe Ruth gave his farewell address.
Derek Jeter, on Tuesday, passed Gehrig for the most hits in Yankee stadium.
There have been 100 World Series games played there. Not this year.
It is so sad to me that it will be gone; it's such a piece of American legend! They are tearing it down and replacing it with a park with three baseball fields (will bricks show up on ebay?). Trees will outline the old ballpark. The new digs will be across the street.
I can't imagine the emotions that will flood the fans and players on Sunday. There will be a formal fan goodbye ceremony in November, but oh to be there the last night...
I was never a Yankees fan, but I liked a lot of the old players. Pat mentioned several of them, but to mention all the Yankee greats would take a long, long time. But one she should have mentioned was Yogi Berra, what a character!
ReplyDeleteI was raised a little over 100 miles north of Kansas City. Before the Royals came to town in 1969, the choices in baseball in little old Grand River,Iowa were the Minnesota Twins, Chicago Cubs (Go Cubbies), or the St. Louis Cardnial (which also has a rich baseball history).
I will divert for a moment and tell you being a Cubs fan isn't easy. I pray, like I've prayed for years, that this will be the year. But if they don't I will say what I've been saying for years, "There's alway next year." DAMN THAT GOAT!
On another side note. Pat and I had the tv on the other night, and there was game that was being played in Wrigley Field. I've been to Wrigley Field and saw a game between the Cubs and the San Francisco Giants. In that game I got to see the Giant's Bobby Mercer (who played a large portion of his career in Yankee Stadium, and is considered as one of the Yankee greats).
Now back to Wrigley. Pat saw a camera shot of the field and commented how beautiful it was. Late summer night and baseball in a old, beautiful facility.
Wrigley, and Fenway Park are the last of the old baseball parks. The day they put lights up in Wrigley, a piece of old-time baseball died. I'm glad I was at Wrigley before the lights went up. How sad it will be the day they decide to tear her down.
Back to the Yankees. In 1969 the K. C. Royals was established, and I started following them, although my heart was still in Wrigley Field. But I started following of the K.C. Royals and that helped solidified my dislike for the N.Y. Yankees.
During mid and late
1970's the Royals were the powerhouse of the American League West, and the Yankees were the powers in the east. This rivaly (which the Yankees won) made for some great baseball in the fall.
I did get to see the Yankees, at Royal Stadium, and it was with a not of sadness. It was a couple of weeks after Thurman Munson (one of the Yankees' greatest catchers) was killed in a plane crash.
I also have one other regret. I have delayed my visit to New York, and now won't be able to see The House That Ruth Built. What a shame.