What does Yankee Stadium mean to you?
-
- September
- 21
Well, here we are. It’s Sept. 21 and they’ll play baseball at Yankee Stadium for the last time tonight.
Here’s your chance: What does this place mean to you? I’ll leave this post atop the blog for a while with the idea being that this is the place for your memories, best stories or just an opinion about the Stadium.
As for me, I first came here in 1986 when two friends and I blew off classes for a day at UMass and drove down for a game against Cleveland. But not until 1999, when I started working in New York, that the Stadium really meant something to me.
I was a backup baseball writer then, filling in to cover the Mets and Yankees when the regular beat writers were getting a day off. I had covered a lot of important events to that point in my career including the Final Four a bunch of times, the 1996 Olympics and a few NFL playoff games. But it wasn’t until I sat down in the press box at Yankee Stadium that I felt like I really had accomplished something.
This was New York. This was baseball. These were the Yankees and there spread out in front of me was Yankee Stadium. What could be better for somebody in my profession? To this day, I feel the same way every time I sit down in the press box.
I wrote my first story for a newspaper when I was 17, it was a high school soccer game between Westport High School and Diman Vocational High School and my father drove me to the game, which was played in a steady drizzle. I called my dad from the Yankee Stadium press box that morning and said, “Guess where I am?” and we both celebrated a little. To this day, I think he gets as big a kick out of this as I do.
I’ve covered games of all sorts in 39 states and eight countries since I was 16. The single best place I have ever come to work is Yankee Stadium. This is the big leagues in every way.
I’ve been inside the new Stadium and it’s amazing. Everything will be more comfortable and accommodating. But I’ll never sit there and feel the same way I do here.
UPDATE, 11:36 a.m.: We have some good writers in the crowd based on the responses so far. I’d encourage you to read them. Lots of emotion flowing through those words.
UPDATE, 2:21 p.m.: Thanks to everybody who is contributing to this post. This is really some great stuff. I’ll be back in a bit with the lineups. At the moment, lots of people walking the warning track here, some in tears. It’s very touching.
This entry was posted
on Sunday, September 21st, 2008 at 2:42 am by Peter Abraham.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Share and Enjoy: 
| 
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
Let’s be honest. It’s a pretty crappy stadium except for the field and what happens on that field.
Lovely win yesterday, by the way (but for the getting shut out by a 6.00 ERA pitcher through seven for the umpteenth time). Saw it from Row X. Can’t make it up there tomorrow, alas. Will watch from Row Y.
What Yankee Stadium means to me? Sitting in the left field upper deck – Tino homers off Kim in the 2001 WS.
...can’t wait to set foot in the new Stadium; but nothing will ever equal my feeling that night.
Pete,
To me Yankee Stadium has so many meanings. For one it is the only thing that virtually all of my family have a memory. Growing up in a Yankee family, I have visited the Stadium to watch games more then 25 times. For you as a beat writer that may not sound like a lot but it brings about many vivid memories from the past.
This Stadium allowed me to witness Game 2 of the 98’ World Series with El Deque on the mound. It has let me see the Subway Series during the regular season, Sox-Yanks games. Even when the game would end in a loss, it was always a gift to be able to come to the Bronx, home to where my parents were raised and catch a game.
The Stadium itself does not have all of the modern specs its replacement will provide but it has history, a history which was shared not only by world figures but also other sports greats like the Giants, NY Metro Soccer, Mohammad Ali, and the list goes on.
Like many others I will be sad to see Yankee Stadium close. Hopefully they will have a good send off ceremony later in the year. Memories can stay with me which will always be nice to have when it will be even harder to score a ticket in the smaller capacity Yankee Stadium.
Pete,
As a 21 year old trying to now break into the same business you’re in, I have alot of emotions.
I’m in college and writing about my “home” team, but I was at the Stadium today, and will be there tomorrow, and I see 100 places where, “This would be a great story…” but I don’t want to do anything but sit and take the surroundings in. I believe it’s to deep for me. How many playoff games have I been to in my life time? (2, both losses.)
But when I walk out tomorrow I feel I will lose a little bit of myself. Maybe not myself but those who have walked in, and walked out before me. I’m excited for the New Stadium, but tomorrow is the end of an era. It’s the end of more than I can understand.
All I can hope for is 4 more wins, the Sox losing 3 of 4 to Cleveland, and my Yankees go into Boston next weekend with a chance to tie with a sweep. And the playoff tickets go on sale and the games are agonized over again. This place can not close. It’s Yankee Stadium.
Favorite moment: Charlie Hayes catching the final out in ‘96.
My uncle and I got in on fake tickets we bought down the block, down the alley next to Stan’s (we didn’t know they were fake at the time).
Fortunately (for us) this was prior to Scan-a-tron technology. We got in, walked around for 2 hours – back and forth between the foul lines – at field level. Then, watched in awe as Luis Polonia (of all people; all 5’ 2” of him no less) fought off, pitch after pitch off of Wetteland.
Then, a high pop-up. In a moment, life took a very surreal turn. People hugging, Boggs riding the horse, The House That Ruth Built, shook like I have never seen it. And with a heavy heart, know I will never see it shake like that again.
Yankee stadium is the hands down mecca of sports venues. Amenities aside, easily the most hollowed ground one could visit. As a westerner and lifelong fan of the Yankees, a trip to the east coast was not cheap, but I was fortunate to be able to make the trek for 7 games (five regular season and 2 postseason).
The first game in 1995 is the best memory because it’s the first memory. Upper deck seats and coming up that ramp to see all that green grass on a perfect summer day will always be burned into my memory.
The playoff games… both game 2’s in the ALDS (2003 & 2004 versus the Twins), both victories. Big game Pettitte in 2003, Jeter scoring the winning run in the 12th in 2004.
Mix in a stadium tour where you and very few others are the only ones in the entire stadium for about an hour and I feel fortunate to have some awesome memories from the Stadium. My final visit just three weeks ago today versus the Blue Jays wasn’t the victory I had hoped for, but it’s a memory with my wife I will always treasure.
Thanks for the blog Pete. Your passion for the game and for covering the best franchise in sports history comes through on a daily basis and it’s great nightly reading for a guy living in Utah.
One question… do you think the final game would have been as special had it been a non series-ending game, where the Yankees take the road and don’t know if they will be returning for another game? I’d prefer the playoffs, but it makes me wonder if the true finality would be as attainable as it will be tonight. That said, how about if Jeter blasts a game winner in the bottom of the eighth and Mo closes it out in the 9th… that would be the perfect script. Hope everyone enjoys it.
I have 3 favorite memories from Yankee Stadium. The first is July 1, 2004. The Yankees beat the Red Sox in 13 innings. Derek Jeter goes flying into the stands. Greatest game I’ve ever seen. It was also my little sister’s 16th birthday, and she was excited because we put her name up on the tv screen. There is still a photo of her name on the board hanging in my parents house.
The second is August 15, 1994. It was the last game before the strike, and it was the only time I ever caught any sort of baseball during a game (caught a ball thrown up by a Blue Jay during batting practice in the bleachers). I remember standing in the bleachers, crying because for the first time in my life, the Yankees were in playoff contention, and suddenly baseball was canceled. That was the first and last time baseball broke my heart.
And then there was the first game I ever went to at Yankee Stadium.
I wrote this awhile back for an old blog, after I had found the boxscore for the first game I ever went to at Yankee Stadium.
My Dad had raised me to be a Yankee fan since birth, but the first game I had ever went to was at that sad excuse of a stadium in Queens (I hold no ill will towards the Mets, unless they are playing the Yanks of course, but that poor excuse of a Stadium is abysmal. Who’s the genius who decided to place a baseball stadium next to an airport?) Anyway, a guy my Dad works with had season tickets back then, and would always give my dad some. I don’t remember the game at all, all I remember is crying non-stop from the 7th inning on.
The next summer, my Dad decided it was time to take me to a Yankee game. It wasn’t a good time to be a Yankee fan. Good old Steinbrenner had decided it was time to attempt to run the Yankees into the ground. But I didn’t care. They had Don Mattingly. He could do no wrong.
So my Dad and I, along with his brother, and my two cousins, went to my first Yankee game. It was an late season game against the Oakland Athletics, who, in less than two months, would win the American League Championship, but lose to the Los Angeles Dodgers, in what would be a World Series for the ages. The Athletics had a great team, with a young Mark McGuire, along with future convict Jose Conseco, leading the team to Major League success.
Yankees manager Lou Pinella was sending veteran pitcher John Candaleria up against Dave Stewart. Candaleria only lasted an inning, as the Athletics took an early 2-0 lead. They made it 3-0 in the second, and held that lead until the the third inning, as Rickey Henderson, who as we all know, refuses to give up, and scores, making it 3-1 going into the 4th. The Athletics won’t score again until the 5th, making it 4-1 Athletics, and my Uncle was getting restless.
Y’see, my Uncle is one of those guys who always in a race with traffic. No matter where he is, he insists on beating traffic. He could have seats on the 50 yard line for the Super Bowl, and insist on leaving in the the 3rd quarter, just to beat the dreaded beast known as traffic.
So, my Uncle, who drove us to the game, decides that he’s seen enough, and tells us its time to go, we gotta beat that traffic. So we leave Yankee stadium behind, pile into his Nissan, and begin the trek home. But that evil traffic got the jump on us, as we hit it right outside the stadium. We sat in traffic, with the Stadium in sight, listening to the game continue. The Athletics went on to score 2 runs in the top of the 9th, and my Uncle was satisfied that we didn’t have to witness the Yanks making asses out of the themselves. With the game seemingly in the bag, Oakland manager Tony LaRussa sends Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersly to the mound, to do what he does best, get the last three outs, and send everybody home.
I vivdly remember what happened next. We sat in traffic, stadium still in sight, as Eck took the mound. Centerfielder Claudell Washington stepped up to the plate and singled on the 1-1 pitch. Mattingly was up next, and he came through, hitting a single that moved Washington to third. With men on the corners, nobody out, Ken Phelps walked up to the plate.
“Who’s Ken Phelps?”, you might ask.
Remember the episode of Seinfeld when George decides to go on vacation, and leaves his car in the Yankee stadium parking lot, thinking he can get one over on Steinbrenner, who would think George would be at work everyday, as long as Kramer remembers to clean the restaurant menus from the windshield wiper everyday? Of course Kramer fails, and Steinbrenner comes to the conclusion that George is dead. So he goes to tell Mr. and Mrs. Costanza the bad news, and all Mr. Costanza can say is:
“WHAT THE HELL DID YOU TRADE JAY BUHNER FOR?!? HE HAD 30 HOME RUNS, OVER 100 RBIS LAST YEAR, HE’S GOT A ROCKET FOR AN ARM, YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU’RE DOIN’!!”
and Steinbrenner responds:
“Well, Buhner was a good prospect, no question about it. But my baseball people love Ken Phelps’ bat. They kept saying ‘Ken Phelps , Ken Phelps’.”
That’s Ken Phelps.
In the end, Ken Phelps will most likely be remembered as a Seinfeld punchline.
But not to me.
Ken Phelps stepped up to the plate, and on the first pitch from Eck, he smacks that ball out of the park, bringing Washington and Mattingly home, scoring 3 runs, and brings the tying run to the plate. All with no one out.
My Uncles smirk of self-satisfaction disapeared, as I started to tear up.
And while all this was happening, our car had not moved. It was like time had stopped everwhere, except inside of our car, and on the field of Yankee Stadium.
My arch-enemy Dave Winfield was up next, and I just knew he was going to screw it all up, but suprisingly, he came through in the clutch, and singles. LaRussa pulls Eckersly out of the game, but the damage was done, and the tying run was on first.
And the car does not move.
Pinella sends in Gary Ward to pinch hit for third baseman Mike Pagliarulo, and he singles, again putting men on the corners with no outs. The Athletics make another pitching change, sending in Gene Nelson to replace Greg Cadaret.
And the car does not move.
Catcher Don Slaught gets into the batter’s box, takes a swing, and ground a ball to the second baseman for an easy double play.
But it was too late, Dave Winfield had scored. The Yankees had scored 4 runs in the bottom of the night to tie the game at 5.
And the car does not move.
And I began to cry like I never cried before.
My Uncle was sure they were going to blow it. They had 2 men out, nobody on base, and nobody left in the bullpen for the extra innings. Unless somehow, by some miracle, they score one run before the third out of the ninth inning.
Backup second baseman Luis Aguayo, who replaced Randy Valarde in the seventh, singles on the second pitch, putting the go ahead run on first, with two men out.
Shortstop Rafael Santana singles on the third pitch, putting men on the corners for the third time in the ninth inning.
With the go-ahead run in scoring position, Pinella sends future Hall Of Famer Rickey Henderson to the plate to get the job done. He watches the first pitch from Nelson go by for a 1-0 count. Henderson hits the next ball that comes at him out to left fielder Luis Polonia, who is unable to field it. As Henderson rounds first, Aguayo scores.
And the New York Yankees, who would finish the 1988 season with an 85-76 fourth place season, have scored 5 runs in the bottom of the ninth to come back and beat the 1988 AL Champs Oakland Athletics 6-5.
And I was sitting in a car, the House That Ruth Built behind me, and miles of traffic in front of me, crying like an cancer ridden orphan at Micheal Jackson’s house.
The car ride home would be silent the rest of the way. Well, silent, except for the non-stop crying emanating from my mouth. As we arrived home for dinner, I entered my house, stopped in the first corner I found, and just stood there and cried. My Mom and my Aunt were confused. Didn’t I watch what might have been the best game of the entire 1988 Yankees season? My Dad broke them the news, and I continued to cry. My Dad promised to make it up to me. I took his word for it, and stopped.
The next day, my dad drove me out to a baseball card store up in Rye, New York, and bought me the 1985 Topps Don Mattingly baseball card.
To this day, no matter what happens, I do not leave a baseball game until a winner has officially been declared.
And I never talk to my Dad’s side of the family.
***I just want to add that the Mr. Costanza/George Steinbrenner conversation (which is from the Sue Ellen Mishke bra episode) is followed by what might be the funniest line from Seinfeld ever:
“Jerry, it’s Frank Costanza, Mr. Steinbrenner is here, George is dead, call me back!”
-Steve!
Pete,
That’s a great story about you and your dad. I’m sure he’s very proud of you.
I haven’t been to the stadium, so the only images I have are from the tv and what people have shared here.
A lot of complaints, but I can also gather snippets of history, trivia, and real connections. But mostly I can feel the love. For the players, for the team, and for the stadium.
When I look at pictures or video of the empty stadium, it’s just a ballpark. It could be a AA or AAA ballpark from the looks of it. All of that ugly signage and thousands of empty seats.
But fill it up with 56,000 people, most of whom are wearing the interlocking NY insignia and, boy, does she come alive. When the camera pans the crowds, you see that Yankee fans come in all shapes and sizes. The most beautiful sight is when they show the kids.
When I think of Yankee Stadium, I think mostly of the old Yankee heroes and the magical moments they gave us. They can knock down the building, but they can’t bury the memories.
Looking forward to the new stadium filled with tens of thousands of fans wearing the interlocking NY. For generations of young fans. For the new memories. And most of all, Yankee magic.
Best moment considering I’m just 21 and wasn’t to too many games was Posada’s 2 run walk-off HR that elevate the Yankees from a 13-12 loss to a 14-13 win and also the game that we scored 6 runs in the 9th inning including a Walk-off HR by A-Rod off Ex-Indians Closer Joe Borowski.
pretty simple. the place where I grew up, and it gave me some of the best moments of ‘pure joy’ in my life.
Wo steve thats one great story of yours,
I started playing softball in 1990 when I was 10. My Mom went to every game, and it was about this time she started watching the Yankees on MSG so she could understand all the rules of the game better. After the first season she was hooked (even though they were awful!) and would watch every game with my brothers and I. Every year she and Dad would also make sure to take us to a couple games at the stadium. We saw a lot of great games there. Win or lose, those were very happy days.
My mom got cancer in 2002. Despite aggressive treatment, it was caught too late and she got sicker and sicker. In August of 2003 she went to her last game. I have a picture of her and my Dad with their friends sitting in the box seats on the first base side. She looks extremely happy, though I remember she was so sick that morning they almost decided not to go (she wouldn’t hear of it). She was a loyal fan until the end, and it makes me feel close to her in some ways now to follow the team every game, in good times and in bad. And every time I go to a game I think of her and imagine her there, somehow, taking in the view and rooting for her team.
My first game there- Blue Jays vs. Yankees, June 1986. I remember how amazing it was to actually be there rather than seeing it on Channel 11. I was 8 years old at the time. We lost that game against the Blue Jays but there were several more games as a kid and a couple as an adult. But it was a nice sunny day with my father.
I moved to California during middle school and lived here since then. So, there are so many games at the Stadium that I missed and could only see on ESPN. But in the few times I’ve gone back, I smell the pretzels on River Ave. and when I actually see the stands and the field, I get goosebumps. I was able to take the tour and walk on the field and sit in the dugout. I was overcome with joy. The monuments. The players. The retired numbers. Remembering when Mattingly, Guidry, and Billy Martin. The frieze. It’s a religious experience being in that ballpark.
I like to tell people that in my 30 years of life, the Yankees are among the few things that make me genuinely happy.
I refuse to get all weepy about the fact that the Yankees are gonna put up a new place and charge everybody $600 to go see a ballgame. Think about it, people. It kinda takes the sentimentality right out of it.
I’ve only been to the Stadium twice but the first time will always be memorable.
I went with 3 friends, one of which had seat tickets along with tickets to the Stadium Club. Once we entered the Club, we went straight to the bar. Seeing those bartenders wearing black vests with the interlocking NY embroidered on the front was really cool.
In the stands, we sat near 3rd base. In front of us, there was a older guy who was with his son, the son’s girlfriend, and the son’s friend, who was quite inebriated. He kept saying that if Mattingly hit a home run, he was going to go out and shake his hand. Sure enough, Mattingly hits one out of the park and this kook jumps up, tears off his t-shirt, and goes over the dugout roof. He didn’t get much further than there, being tackled by two cops.
My father taking me at the age of six in 1968 to hopefully see the Mick play. Mick had hit 2 HR (the last 2 HR game of his career) the day before. It was getaway day, and Mick didn’t play. The next day Mick hit #532 out on the west coast. But during the game, my dad took me to the top row in RF’s upper deck and had me look up to the facade then down to home plate while telling me how close Mickey came to hitting one completely out. To this day I look at that spot every time I go to the Stadium and remember my dad, who was there for Larsen’s perfect game and the 1958 NFL Championship Game.
Being there the next year, on July 20, 1969, and seeing the game stopped and the place go crazy when Bob Sheppard announced that the Eagle has landed on the moon.
Being there for the “Who’s Your Daddy” Game 2 of the 2004 ALCS.
Being there in 1993 when someone else pulled a “Jeffrey Maier” with a Don Mattingly HR in a game the Yanks won 1-0…and yes, that too was against Baltimore. Seeing Morganna run out to pitcher’s mound during that game (ha ha).
There are many more memories I share with friends, and hearing the stories of these friends…some friends who were at Wells’ perfect game and others who were at Cone’s. Hearing a friend describe Chad Curtis’ walkoff World Series HR in 1999 because he was there then.
Father, friends, special times, sharing and the memories of a place that made it all happen.
I will remember Yankee Stadium as the meeting place. Since declaring a day off starting in the mid-80’s meeting friends at the bat, Stan’s, Billy’s, Yankee Tavern, or otherwise. Before cell phones and blackberries, wasting many an hour circling the bat looking for our friend or ticketholder, only to find them a foot away, doing the same looking for us along with a sea of people.
Staying up late in 4th grade, watching Reggie’s home runs. Most incredible moments at the stadium from probably 400 visits over the years include Brosius’ bottom of the 9th HR in the ‘01 WS (picture 50,000 believers still raw after 9/11, tears in the eyes believing in this city and this country, literally jumping up and down wildly yelling holy s in disbelief…got chills again just writing that)...well, I don’t think anything will ever top that.
Other unforgettables include Wells’ perfect game accompanied by my 18 month daughter—her 1st game and just wanted that ridiculous beanie baby—; Game 2 of the subway series—sorry, Roger was a clear embarassment even that night—; Jeffrey Maier game—sat in the upper deck of right field, never left my seat, ticked at Jeter’s routine fly; Beating world beaters Seattle and chanting “Sayonara” as Ichiro struck out; Leyritz HR—wife made me leave early for that one—; many, many others.
Thanks for making me think about this. The new Stadium is progress and will be great, but it will never be the cathedral.
It’s home to an era of winning that will never be duplicated. The new place may look nice and shiny but it has no chance to be as interesting.
I was definitely sad as I was leaving the Stadium for the last time on Wednesday night, and I am very sad as I read through these posts.
Yankee Stadium holds so many memories near and dear to my heart. Not to mention all of the amazing games and amazing (and not so amazing) players. But my favorite memories have little to do with the game actually being played at the time. First, is the day it rained Reggie bars. I was a 10 year Yankee Fan and the Yankees were opening up after winning the World Series. Opening Day – they hand our these (disgusting, as I look back now) orange wrapped chocolate bars to the adults as they walk into the Stadium. (Not to the kids!). First at bat, Reggie Jackson hits a home run and NY fans being who they are immediately begin throwing their Reggie bars on to the field. Now, I know that everyone involved in the game was pretty upset, but to a 10 year, that was just the funniest thing ever!
But, more significantly, Yankee Stadium was the place where me and Dad went. Every year for opening day after they re-opened the Stadium, until we moved out of NY when I was 13, we went to the Stadium. I got out of school, and Dad found a nice person who was willing to part with his tickets, and we watched the game. Things have often been rough with my dad, but this is a memory I have that always brings smiles to my face.
My husband and I have a season plan now, so we have seats to call “ours.” I think of that as a small measure of “success.” And we’ll have similar seats in the new place. But, I suspect, it will not have the same sense of accomplishment for me as these do.
This last homestand has been great to watch, seemingly seeped in tradition. Aura and mystique have returned for the final homestand. I will be watching from home tonight (unfortunately). And I’m letting my kids stay up to watch too.
Thanks for letting me share, Pete.
– Lori
I saw more games in this version than in the first. I a not living in NYC now and when I come back I feel as if I am home. Sitting on the right field side and seeing the hugh expanse in front of me is just a great feeling. I went to a game against Seattle in August 03 and it felt like a playoff game when all the fans rose after Mo’s second strike on a hitter in the 9th. Mo finished the strike out and the Yanks won the game.
One last thing – thanks Peter for giving us this space.
I don’t have the words to express how I feel about Yankeee Stadium. Yes, it is not the true original Stadium, but the history of that site is remarkable. There will never be another baseball site that was home to so many Hall of Famers and hosted so many World Series games. I’ve been to Wrigley Field and its a remarkable place to see a game, but Wrigley Field and Fenway Park will never have the history behind it that this Stadium has.
I’m going to the game today (from PA) and I don’t know what to expect. I haven’t been up since early July (due to illness) and knew there was no way I was going to miss this game. Today isn’t about the game, its a celebration of 85 years (well truly 83 years) of joy and sadness due to the events taking place on the southside of 161st Street and River Ave. I’ve never been to the original Yankeee Stadium, this is the location where I saw my first game back in 1983. I remember going once a year back then and each year it being my highlight of the summer. As the years passed, I remember all the playoff games – Tino’s Grand Slam, Bernie’s game winning home run in the 1999 playoffs off of Rod Beck, Chad Curtis’ game in 1999 World Series, the 2000 World Series, Mr Novmember in the 2001 World Series. I also remember sitting through losses, whether heartbreakers or blow outs.
There may be another event in November, but this is the true good bye to our friend and host, the Yankee Stadium on the southside of 161st Street and River Ave. The Stadium on the northside of 161st and River will be incredible, but no Martini Bars or Luxury Boxes will be able to match the 85 years of joy and sadness and players who called this Yankee Stadium home.
My short memory of Yankee Stadium spans back to my first game July 10, 1997. Yanks beat the Tigers, and Tino sent everyone home happy with a homerun. However, the BEST game I’ve ever seen in person has to be the May 16, 2006 game against the Rangers. This is the game that the Yanks were down 10-1 by the middle of the 3rd. Chacone got rocked for 1.1 innings of 8 run ball, followed by 4.1 innings of Aaron Small.
This was the week of Sheff and Matsui both goin on the DL. All hopes were lost. To add insult to injury, what seemed like a Posada in his decline was batting cleanup. While this was the last game I ever saw with Bernie playing the outfield, Posada was the story of the game. In the middle innings with Teixeira on 2nd a ball was smacked to the outfield. A strong relay throw by Melky in left to Jeter to Posada resulted in the hardest collision at home plate I’ve ever seen. Teixeira leveled Posada, who just sat there for about 2 minutes in a daze. It saved one run from scoring. In a game that was 10-1 by the 3rd, this didnt seem like a lot at the time, but the Yankees started to chip. Following a 6-run 6th innings, led by Jeter’s HR, they were back in the game! They actually tied it 12-12 in the 7th. I’ve never see the stadium shake so much—-THIS WAS HAPPENING. But leave it to Mo in a tie game to make it interesting. He let up a run in the top of the 9th. All seemed to be lost.
Enter Jorge Posada. With Damon on base, 2 outs bottom of the 9th, Posada showed exactly why he was batting cleanup that day. He sent one over the rightfielders head to the bleachers. Walk off home run. I can still remember just laying across rows of seats basking in what I had just seen.
Sure, it wasnt boston. Sure, it wasnt the playoffs. However, it was Jeter going 4-5 with a HR, and Posada becoming the hero. Hip-Hip-JORGE!
Yankee Stadium to me is the place where me and my father had our first outing and meaningful connection.
This was back in 1995 and the day before the game we were sitting at home watching a game on TV, one where Rubén Sierra blasted an upper deck homerun. He just turned to me and said ” Want to go to a game?”
The next day we headed over to The Stadium and it was amazing. I don’t remember the score or who the Yankees even played, but I remember sitting with my father in the bleachers, having him explain the ins-and-outs of the game.
I’m a little older, so to me the real Stadium was torn down in 1973. I wish YES would broadcast some classic games from the old stadium, so I could see the old auxilliary scoreboards in front of the bleacher walls, the old bullpens in right and left center, the ‘real’ Death Valley in left center where 440 ft. clouts were many times caught, and the monuments were actually on the field. Having said that, I do have great memories of the current stadium too. Chambliss’s pennant winning homer in 76, Reggie’s 3 homer night in game 6 in 77. I was at the Pine Tar game in 83, and also at the game in 85 when Bobby Meacham and Dale berra were tagged out at home by carlton Fisk on Rickey Henderson’s booming double. Who could ever forget Bobby Murcer’s memorable night in 79 after Munson’s funeral, and of course all the World Championship teams of the late 90s.
Thanks for all the memories Yankee Stadium, and I look forward to a great new era in the new ballpark.
I might have been sentimental about it, but the Yankees organization doesn’t seem to care now that they are going to be minting money with their new stadium. The city doesn’t care, they are going to rip it down, Take it from someone who has seen the collosium in Rome, they should have had a plan to keep the stadium open for people to visit for years. The building was once hallowed ground in my mind, but now it is just a victim of business. Everything is for sale…...
What I will always remember is being with my Dad who worked a short time as a youth selling Hotdogs in the 50’s and remembering his stories He took the time to take me and my brother and sisters to a game atleast once a year.
Seing The Mick in 1967 (at Age
get a Standing Ovation for pinch hiting in the ninth and then the booing when the Orioles gave him an intentional walk. Then another standing O when they took him out for a pinch hitter. Things you dont see in a boxscore.
But most of all I will remember the bond of the Yankee Fans and that when you see that field of green at 161st and River Ave… Dreams become Reality.
ARO,
Some historians say that the Collosium in Rome that they found was actually the New Collosium, and not they original Collosium which was actually 63% smaller than the original.
They tore down the original because they wanted to make room for the Elephants and Tigers as well as to install luxury boxes for the new Ceasar and his paid off Senators.
Every thing has always been forsale.
I grew up in the Bronx, just 10 subway stops from the Stadium. So I spent a lot of afternoons as a teenager (some of which should have been spent in school) at the ballpark. I was there on Mickey Mantle Day, and on the last day before the ballpark was renovated.
But my best memory was Game 5 of the 2001 WS. I was with my wife and a friend in the upper deck on the third base side. Two outs, ninth inning, Jorge Posada on base, Scott Brosius at the plate. I had my jacket on, standing up, ready to leave. I looked at my friend and said “this can’t possibly happen two nights in a row.” And then, Brosius launches one to deep left. From our vantage point, we never saw the ball reach the stands, but the reaction of the crowd was electric. I have NEVER felt the Stadium rock like that. The most unbelievable feeling. And then when Alfonso Soriano drove in Chuck Knoblauch with the winning run in the twelfth inning, the feeling of euphoria among the fans was incredible. It’s a moment I’ll never forget.
lots of fun. memories of course. my first game was Bat Day in 1967; though that was a much different Stadium, the new one actually looks more like it.
I like buildings, first of all—I like old buildings that I have never even been inside. Old urban architecture a special interest. And I live in a very old house—well over a century and a half old. So I know all the disadvantages, as well as the charms, of old structures, and I’m still in mine. So you’d think I’d be a sucker for all the sentimentality over the Stadium.
But you know what? I’ve realized that the whole thing is about people for me. I wouldn’t care a thing about the Stadium without the team in it, and when the team moves across the street, all my feelings about Yankee Stadium will move in with them. The continuity comes down through the hands of people.
That’s why I can’t get into this ‘enemies’ thing about Joe Torre. You know what—the continuity comes down from him to Girardi, who once served as his bench coach and who spoke movingly of him as ‘my coach’ when he left. Who are we to invent a false choice between the two, when continuity says both are part of the history of our team, and when their respect and friendship has been plain?
Human continuity will make the new building ‘The Stadium’, and Aura and Mystique will move in along with the present incumbents of our team.
Every time was like the first time when at the Stadium.
The first glance of the field after passing through the turnstiles can swallow any fan up.
Even those with ice in their blood will get consumed with how much history has taken place on the hallowed ground.
I have always loved going to Yankee Stadium. There’s a certain feeling that goes through you as you enter this “cathedral of baseball”.
Memories are flooding back to me of attending many games with family and friends, but especially memories of going to games with my father,who passed away last year.
Well I don’t remember the exact date of my first game, I do know it was in the early 80’s with Winfield in right, Nettles at 3rd and Guidry and Goose on the mound.
My favorite moment at the Stadium has to be the 95’ ALDS, sitting in the leftfield bleachers for to home games, the first time I had the opportunity to see playoff baseball.
I will remember Mattingly hitting that homer to right, his first playoff homer and thinking that the place was going to explode.
I remember heckling Vince Colmen for his firework antics “Firecracker..Firecracker..Vince Colmen Sucks!” trying to heckle Junior but he would have none of that, but recall when hit his homer later in the game as he rounded second looking at us and smirking as if to say “I’m Junior Griffey…the best player on the field”.
But what I remember most of that game is Leyrtiz hitting the homer in the light rain in extra innings and me running around the Stadium with my shirt off like some lunatic yelling “Sweep!...Sweep!”
I have so many other memories and can’t right them all down, but what I will always remember will be Sunday afternoons at my Grandfather’s house and listening/watching Bill White and Scooter call a game…those memories will be with me for ever. Also, being able to take my four-year to a game at the Stadium will be special too…I hope he will think so too.
So in closing, no matter where the Yankees play, our memories will always be with us.
I would also hope to think, that the fans would have something to do with making the new Yankee Stadium as good of a place as the old Yankee Stadium.
When I was 6, I watched Roger Maris hit his 61st HR on a little black and white TV with my Dad.
When I was 9, the Mick, my idol still hit that World Series walk off against the Cards.
When I was 16, in I’d took the F and D trains for a doubleheader, when Bobby Mercer hit four consecutive HR’s and Thurman was throwing guys out from his knees.
When I was 21, I took my 11 year old godson to the opening of the New stadium. That October, Chris Chambliss ended a 12 year drought and we ran on the field, like kids.
October 18,1977, three days after I got married, my wife and I watch Reggie’s three homers from section 10, row 5 upper deck. We cheered!
The night of Thurman’s funeral- we had to be there- Bobby drives in 5 to bear the Orioles. We cried.
In, 89, I sat behind the first base dugout the night Donnie Baseball broke the record for grand slams in a season.
In 95, I moved to Miami. Been to a few games with my kids over the years. I’ve definetely rubbed off on them, except we’ve had to share most of their big moments on the tube.
Tonight, one last time in the big ballpark in the Bronx, we’ll do it again. My guess is, it’ll be fun but it won’t be easy.
I’m reading all of these through tears. I feel like I’m living through every one of them. No time to bore you with mine as I’m heading to the Bronx, but maybe Pete will have a “last day at the Stadium feelings” blog later.
God bless us all on this amazingly historic day. I’m there with everyone in spirit.
GO YANKEES!
I was there with my Dad the night Doc Gooden pitched a no-hitter. There was only about 35,000 people there, but when that game ended it sounded like double that many. The place went absolutely bonkers and I’ll never forget it.
Stick a fork in it!!! On to the new place with some better younger players.
Did anyone else get tears in their eyes after yesterday’s game when YES went to highlights and they played Frank Sinatra’s “There Used To Be A Ballpark”? Thats when it really hit me that the Stadium is really gonna be no more after tonight.
While this version of the Stadium is far from being the one that is in my heart and mind, it still is a sad day seeing the magestic stadium hosting its last game.
I am glad I got to go to the Stadium in the 50’s and 60’s. Pre-rebuild. Yes, it had a lot of bad sight lines. The upper deck made you feel as though you were going to fall over it was so steep. Yet, it was the place where I first held hands with a girl. The first place I got to sing in front of a large group of people, singing the Star Spangled Banner.
My favorite player, the one who won my heart and made me a life- long Yankee fan, Mickey Mantle.
Watching tremendous home runs flying off his bat. My heart breaking as I watched him in his decline and could hardly run.
It just serves to remind us that life goes on, things will change, yet the memories will remain, the stories can be passed on. Be proud of being a fan of such a club as this. Be fortunate that you got to witness some of todays great players playing in that great Stadium.
Remember, while the Stadium was the venue, and a grand one at that, it was more the players that built the myths and magic. The batton is passed, and its up to the future HOF Yankee players to make the new Stadium every bit as meaningful as the old one was.
As I am from Vienna, Austria, Europe, I have only been to Yankee Stadium one time. It was Tuesday, September 7th, 2004. A blowout win against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Jon Lieber was pitching, Bernie (and maybe a few others) homered.
At the time, I knew nothing except some basic rules about baseball. But since that day I have been hooked. When I returned home, I immediately got MLB.TV and I have watched almost every Yankee game ever since.
So since I started watching and rooting for the Yankees, they are on a steady decline. I started watching at the 2004 postseason. OUCH.
I have been to many other baseball games since then, all on the west coast though. Giants, Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Padres. But that one night at Yankee Stadium will always be my favorite memory.
I was supposed to see the Yankees one other time, opening day 2007 in Oakland. I already had great tickets, but STUPID AIR FRANCE (never fly with those mofos, always troubles) made me miss my flight to San Francisco and I missed the game…
I came close to being married on the pitchers mound at the Stadium. It was cleared through the PR Department but then got a return phone call saying the day we had planned was scheduled for the then annual football game of Grambling vs. Morgan State.
The date had to be firm so disappointment followed.
The first game I went to was a double-header against the Orioles in 1977. I was 7 years old, sitting second deck on the first base line. Chambliss, Randolph, Bucky, and Nettles in the infield, Roy White, Mickey Rivers, and Reggie in the outfield. Catfish pitched one game, Thurman caught both. Eddie Murray, Belanger, and YES’s own Ken Singleton among the Orioles. Yanks split the DH, but at least Catfish won his game.
The last game I went to was 1999, David Cone’s next start after his perfect game. It was against the Indians. Cone predictably had a tough outing. Jeter had a miserable game—0 for 4 or 5, but came to bat in extra innings with the winning run on base. Of course, he hit a walk off double, I thought surely the Stadium would come down as we were leaving, it was rocking so hard.
It means alot, way too many memories. Now I like to crunch numbers and here is a vague not exact way to look at the salaries for this year and next. With an outline to make the most feared team in the league. Well the most feared lineup anyway. And all doing it without trading away youth.
2008 Total Team Salary: 207,108,489
Jason Giambi 23,428,571 – Don’t resign
Andy Pettitte 16,000,000 – Don’t resign
Bobby Abreu 16,000,000 – Don’t resign
Hideki Matsui 13,000,000 – Trade for anything, salary dump.
Mike Mussina 11,071,029 – resign
Carl Pavano 11,000,000 – don’t resign
Total Team Salary: 116,088,889
CC Sabathia 22,000,000 for 6 years -132,000,000
Mark Teixeira 20,000,000 for 10 years – 200,000,000
Manny Ramirez 20,000,000 for 3 years with Team Option for 4th – 60,000,000
Mike Mussina 12,000,000 for 1 year with Option for 2nd – 12,000,000
Total Team Salary: 190,008,889
Lineup
LF – Damon
SS – Jeter
DH – Manny
1B – Teixeira
3B – Arod
RF – Nady
2B – Cano
C – Posada
CF – Gardiner
Rotation
1. Sabathia
2. Wang
3. Joba
4. Mussina
5. Hughes or Aceves or Coke
Bullpen
CL – Rivera
RHP – Bruney
LHP – Marte
Any Combo of:
Jose Veras, Edwar Ramirez, Humberto Sanchez, Rasner(Long Man), Acevas or Coke (If not in rotation)
Great question, Pete. Two for me …
The first is July 22, 2007, 3 days after my son’s 7th birthday my wife and I took him to his first Yankees game. He was lucky enough to see 2 games worth of offense in one day as the Yanks beat Tampa Bay 21-4 on the strength of 6 HRs, 2 by my son’s buddy Shelley Duncan.
Of all my other trips to the Stadium over the past 30 some years the other that sticks in my mind is a routine Sunday afternoon game on September 11, 1988. Al Leiter took the hill against Doyle Alexander and the Tigers. Some 6 hours later Matt Nokes scores on a Torey Lovullo single to CF in the top of the 18th inning, the first run scored in the game since the 7th inning. After Rickey Henderson leads off the bottom of the 18th with a walk, Claudell Washington crushes a Willie Hernandez pitch deep into the RCF bleachers sending me and the few thousand remaining fans home happy. Yea, I looked back for some of the details but can see Claudell hitting that home run to this day.
My earliest memories are of half-full Yankee stadium in the early 50’s. In those days, Mickey was hitting very long home runs and very long outs to dead center field – 461 feet to monuments that were on the field at the time. I got to meet him once – and was struck by his size – he was not some superhuman monster – actually a rather average size man, albeit with broad shoulders. In the 60’s I took my sibs to once game a year- long subway rides; seats in the upper grandstand and one hotdog a piece – all for ~$10! Then there were bat days – the place really shook – as all the kids pounded their bats. Those bats were used in our local little league – no (money for) metal bats back then. And I remember my brother hitting a home run with one of those bats. I think he slept with that bat for weeks to come!
I was at October 19, 2003. Every part of that game just puts together why Yankee Stadium is the greatest sporting venue on Earth. In case you don’t know, that is Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS against the Boston Red Sox.
I drove tractor trailer all over this country for nearly twenty years, litterally been in around or through every part of this country. I moved the over 50ft class of boats in and out of the Newyork boat show for 6 or 7 years. I’ve seen the stadium but never inside for any reason. I’m a home grown florida boy and frankly the city there scared me to death. For me its too big to many people and people living on top of each other. Oh! but how I love those Yankees. I’ve been known on more than one occasion to call in healthy when a game was to be televised.
1956 was the first year I played organized baseball and the first game I ever saw on t.v. was Larsens gem. I’m sort of retired now and for the last years thanks to the puter I haven’t missed many games. I was drafted in 1965 and was declard 4F by military standards, I didn’t go to the VietNam war. Happy, I think about that. But I know I missed a life altering or ending experience. I often think what life for me would have been or not if I had gone. I honestly don’t know why I never went to a game at the(I certainly had the means I do go to the games here) stadium but like Nam I sometimes feel I missed a life altering experience. My hat goes off to yous guys and gals who for ever it seems have allowed me to enjoy the yankees and their history vicariously. We have no choice but to usher in new times and millions of new memories thanks to the yankees and their new home. May the next 80 something years be every bit as historic as those in the old house. Who will get the credit for building this house in 2100. I wonder!
My first game was in 1953. Allie Reynolds pitching. I’ve seen a lot of great teams and players and a lot of up and down (mostly up) years.
The year was 1966, it was bat day. Back then they gave you real bats. I got a CLete Boyer bat. I can remember that day as if it was yesterday. I loved that bat.
Fast foward to this year ,I was part of the sound crew that did the opening for the Home Run Derby. I got to drive on the field on a mobile stage in front of a packed house. Unbeleivable! My son now has Yankee Stadium shortstop dirt on his bookcase. Just a couple of very cool memories I have of Yankee Stadium.
Much like everyone else I could write for ever about what the stadium means to me but I will narrow it down to two events… the first is my bachelor party, my last stand as a free man was spent on a May afternoon in 2006 watching the Yankees rout the Royals. Growing up in a baseball family with season tickets it is just one of the hundreds of games I have been too but being able to sit there with my closest friends was something I will never forget, i won’t forget about a $1000 worth of 8 dollar beers either!
My second memory was earlier this year during the heat wave that struck the city, once again the Yankees were playing the Royals and I was able to come to stadium with my wife. Sitting in the stadium watching the team I love with the woman I love is about as good as things get. (It was even better when Mo ran out of the bullpen and got the save)
Zach, I remember that day. It was my then Girlfriends birth day. It was the most nervous I had ever been, for two reasons—the yankee game and the fact that I was going to ask her to marry me that night.
We went out to a nice place to eat and the whole time she was ticked at me because I was distracted. She thought I was preoccupied thinking about the game. When I droped down to one knee asked her to marry me she said yes.
Having missed most of the game—dinner and all, we got back to my place I turned on the TV and like magic it was Boone’s at bat. Greatest Day of my life.
The 3 most memorable games I was at were 1)the final game of the 1999 world series as the Yankees won it all, 2) the Paul O’Neil game in game 5 of the 2001 world series and 3)last year when A Rod hit number 500 and I got in the scrum for the ball. Good thing I’ll always have my memories, they can’t knock those down with a wrecking ball.
The first game I saw there was the night Ron Guidry struck out 18 Angels and have been hooked ever since. Later in life, I used to live in Dallas but had one of those Sunday game ticket plans and would fly up early most Sunday mornings to watch games and then fly back that evening. I made it a point to bring my 5 year old daughter to a game this spring so that a fourth generation of my family could experience an afternoon to the Stadium.
Yankee Stadium means so much to me. So many of the best moments of my life have come at that very building.
When I was a young kid, around 9, I was sitting in the front row behind the White Sox dugout. My favorite player was Derek Jeter, well, he hit a foul ball that Willie Randolph picked up. He looked at me and saw the smile on my face and threw me the ball. It was a ball that was hit by my hero and given to me by my favorite coach. Something I will never forget.
Then there was the best day of my life to date. I was 13 and it was a gift for my Bar Mitzvah from a great family friend. He had some how gotten me to go into the dugout and then go into the tunnel and hang around outside the clubhouse, where any player that walked by was fair game. When I sat in the dugout, I was literally sitting next to Joe Torre. He was one of the nicest men I have ever met. Then I went into the tunnel and I met half of the the 2005 Yankee team. Cano, Girardi, Posada, Matsui, Mo, you name ‘em, I probably met him. Out of nowhere Derek Jeter walks by along with A-Rod and Sheff. A swarm of media came by so I knew I had no chance of getting to him to get an autograph and shake his hand. So I decided to talk to him. “Oh my god, it’s Derek Jeter!,” I screamed. Derek turned, looked at me and said, “Hey, what’s up buddy?” That was the coolest moment of my life, and nothing can top that.
Then are the memories from games, like the first game of the 2000 World Series, the time where I sat in George’s box and got to meet Reggie and Cashman, and see the actual check that sent Babe Ruth to the Yankees.
So many things have happened for me at this park that I can never forget, when I imagine it not being there, I get a little teary-eyed. But there is something that no construction worker can ever take away from me, the memories.
Yankee Stadium will always hold many memories for me but as for most memorable, I’d have to say its the events of June 18, 2005.
I was 13 at the time and it was my first game (yeah I know, I’m young and 13 is kinda late to being to your first game). Before I go on I have to tell you I am a fiend when it comes to Derek Jeter. Every wall of my room is plastered with posters and banners and frames of the cap’n. I just love him, how he plays the game and what he exemplifies. I could go all day but I won’t be saying anything new as I know many of, if not all, loooove Jetes and feel the exact same way I do.
Anywho,
One of my uncles was able to get 4 tickets to the game. He called my house at 8 in the morning to tell us about it. I could believe the seats; fourth row behind first base. I went with my mom, my cousin and him. We went for batting practice (1 ‘o clock game).
It was my first game. I had on my home Jeter Jersey, my ‘05 Jeter sneakers (you know, the sneaker kind of the cleats he wears on the field), two yankee rubberbands on each hand (a Jeter one and a Yankee one). Yeah, pretty much a mini Jeter.
So yeah, I remember I sat next to this annoying, immature Cubs fan that kept yelling things at Tino. Probably the reason he didn’t throw a ball to the seat in between innings and instead flung them towards the Yankee dugout. I know he was the reason I didn’t walk out the stadium with a souviner.
I remember sucking in everything I could. I marveled at every aspect of the ballpark. I took pictures of every hitter as he dug in for his first at bat of the game. I remember taking pictures of the Wanger as he wound up. Of every Yankees position player as they looked on at every pitch. Of the infield and the bleachers. Of everything basically. I remember how I jumped up for every fly ball thinking it was a homer instead of a weak fly ball. But, above all, I remember Jeter a little bit better.
I remember watching him jog back and forth from right behind second base to the foul line right in front of me. I remember yelling every time he jogged his way from the dugout to short and I swear he waved back a few times.
His first at bat, struck out (looking I believe, as good as my recollection of this day is I can’t seem to be certain). Second at bat, groundball to second. I remember shouting at him as he turn around 1st and headed back the dugout. Third at bat, pop fly to short right. Fourth at bat, with Robbie, Jorge and Bernie filling up the bases (forget who was on what base), BANG…granny. Left center. I remember watching Jetes running around the bases and getting congrats from his teammates as he touched home. I remember the crowd going crazy, asking for a curtain call to which the cap’n obliged to. I remember feeling….great.
I remember his hustle. And I also remember reading in his book something along the lines of ‘you never know who’s watching you for the fisrt time, or who’s at the game for their first time…you always have to hustle and play the game right ‘cause you never know who’s watching you.’ I was watching him and he was and still is my idol. He made my first game great and unforgettable and that’s why that’s my fave memory of TOYS (the old yankee stadium).
Oh, and I almost forgot. He hit another homer in his next ab, this one to right center, finishing the day of 2-5, 2HR, 5RBI.
One of my earliest memories is going to a Bat Day doubleheader at Yankee Stadium with my father and younger brother. It must have been 1966 or -67. There was trouble with gnats even then, and they had to spray the Stadium the day before. I remember my father smoking cigars to keep the gnats away from us. I remember holding onto my Mickey Mantle Little League Louisville Slugger; my borhter got a Joe Pepitone model. I think they were playing the Athletics, but the details are foggy. We left about the 7th inning of the second game to beat traffic back to Brooklyn.
I’ve been to many games at the refurbished Stadium, saw some great baseball. My wife and I saw Alex hit No. 500. I will always remember the playing of “Enter Sandman” when Mariano came in.
I can’t really put into words what that old structure means to me.
I still have my Mickey Mantle model bat in my closet at home.
Let’s Go Yankees and win today. For the ghosts of all our memories.
My father came from Italy at a young age. In the 1950’s, he worked hard 51 weeks of the year, but for one week, he closed the grocery store and took the family, via train, from Burlington, VT to New York city. He always picked a week when the Yanks were home, so we went to a game nearly every day. He taught me how to keep score and I still have all those programs as well as the souvenirs (autographed balls, etc) in storage. When my son was a teenager, I used to bring him with me on business trips to the city. We’d go to a game at the Stadium and stay overnight in Ft. lee, NJ. This past summer, I was thrilled to attend a game not only with my son but also with his two sons, 7 and 4. I couldn’t help flash back to those days when I used to go to the Stadium with my father. Hopefully, my grandsons will remember that day, and someday will bring their children to the new Stadium and say, “My Dad and Pop-pop (that’s what they call me) brought me to the stadium when I was a little boy”.
The tradition continues…...Amen
I agree with Travis I grew up at this Ballpark. So many fond memories, from my 1st game Tom Seavers 300th win and Scotter getting ran over by a cow, to Boone’s hr. There are just so many memories. I will there tonight. The new stadium will be great very expenisive but as a Yankee fan who grew up here the memories will not move over there so tonight is just one more game to soak it all in. Enjoy. Pete as always I look forward to your updates during the game.
At the stadium as a boy watching Harmon Killebrew hit a frozen rope over Mickey Mantle’s head in dead center bouncing maybe one time before getting landing behind the monuments which at that time were on the playing field in center, by the Mickey retrieved the ball and got it in Killebrew had scored.
Or taking 4 tickets no one else wanted for a Sunday afternoon game against Montreal and then to watch David Cone’s perfect game.
All the great games I saw in the 60s, 70s, Mickey, Roger, Yogi and Thurman. I’m down with the need for the new stadium, but it will be really tough to watch tonight’s game.
To Pat Kelly… I TOTALLY AGREE… This the team I emailed to my brother the other day…. Lets do it… Lets start the BringMannyHome fund right now !
I grew up here in the 80’s and witnessed many spectacular games in person in the 90’s and 00’s including David Cone’s perfect game, game 5 of the 2001 World Series and Roger Clemens 300th win. Today I’m on my way to see the final game with one request. I’m not asking for anything spectacular, just don’t get eliminated today. That’s all.
Thanks for the memories and here’s to one last one.
What The Stadium means to me is my Dad. You see I am only 40 years old but my father was 57 when I was born. He saw all the greats play. He was at Opening Day against the Red Sox in 1923. He told me he was about 10 feet from where Ruth hit his HR against the Red Sox that landed in the RF bleachers. He passed away in September of 1997 at the age of 86. I am grateful he got to see one more Championship before he passed. His favorite player was The Iron Horse. Whenever the movie Pride Of The Yankees came on and when the end of the film would was on the tube he would leave the room. He brought me to my first Yankee Stadium game that I could remember (my first game was at Shea a year earlier in May of ‘75 against the Orioles) at the new renovated Stadium in April or May of 1976. Catfish Hunter was pitching and we lost on a cold rainy day 6-2. Catfish did not look good that day. I wonder what my father is thinking right now about this being the last Yankee game at this Cathedral?
Some others moments that are fond are going to doubleheader games in ‘77 and ‘78 and seeing Guidry pitch at least 5 times live during that memorable 1978 season he had.
Last, I fondly remember a game on May 13, 1985 against the Twins when I was sitting in the first row behind the tarp on the first base side and Ed Whitson dug us a huge whole and we were down 8-0 after 2 innings. We kept chipping away and Donnie came to bat with two on and two out in the bottom of the ninth and the score was 8-6. He drove a Ron Davis fastball into the RF seats for a walk off HR. That was the first time I actually heard the way the ball sounded against a bat and new it was gone from the get go. Sweet sound.
Oct 26, 1996
Sec 616
Row B
Seat 7
3-2, Yanks over Braves
Johnny W’s high wire act in the 9th. Still gives me goosebumps. Nuttin like being there
I’ll keep this as short as possible. Yankee Stadium is a place unlike any other I have visited. The Stadium brings people together like no other, fans and casuals alike to be able to enjoy the game on a level like no other. The atmosphere is just one to behold and being surrounded by a bunch of fans poking fun at the one guy wearing another team jersey is flat out fun. Just being there to see the players in real life may sound like a regular tidbit, but it really is that much better and knowing you’re there for it all makes it all the more special. Great memories, good food, and here’s to a future unlike any other!
I went to my first baseball game in Yankee Stadium in 1970. The Yankees lost and no memorable HR’s were hit but I still knew it was a great day. My mom told us that day that she used to take her vacation from work when she was young to coincide with Yankee homestands because a day at Yankee Stadium was better than a day at the beach. I think it was that same year that I went to my first Giant football game at Yankee Stadium.
My uncle had Yankee season tickets in the 70’s and 80’s and I went to the games often. I even had a chance to meet and speak with George Steinbrenner a few times and he was always very nice to me. My husband and I had season tickets in ‘95-’97 and getting to see the 1996 WS somehow made sitting through so many losing games in the 80’s worth it.
Life, children and lack of disposable income don’t allow me to get to the Stadium as often as I would like now. In a strange way, this blog has become a virtual Yankee Stadium for me. It’s a place that I can go to watch the games with other people who love the Yankees.
I’ve had the privilege of covering a handful of Yankee games when I was a sportswriter in CT. Walking into the Stadium, you really can feel the greats who walked there before you. It’s all the little things, like standing on the field during BP and listening to the sound of the ball hitting the bat and how the accoustics of the empty stands make it sound like an explosion. I got the opportunity on several occasions to watch Joe Torre hold court in the dugout pre-game, and the way he so deftly handled the media with grace. I got to do some of the things I’ve always wondered about (Is the padding on the dugout bench comfortable? Not really. What’s the Yankee clubhouse like? Impressive. clean. I got to look at Thurman Munson’s locker. Thurman was my favorite player as a kid. He played hurt and quietly did his job amid the chaos of the 77 and 78 champs. Seeing his locker was an honor.
It’s true as a sportswriter that when you are working, you don’t really care who wins (even with me being a Yankee fan). Essentially, you root for the story and a deadline that doesn’t cause your pancreas too much pain. But I’ve worked two major sports stadiums on a semi-regular basis: Yankee Stadium and the Rose Bowl, and I tried to remind myself every time that I walked in those places of what an honor it was to do so. I always took a moment to soak in where I was.
I will miss Yankee Stadium. The new place will be clean, comfortable and fun, but Yankee Stadium it will not be. Enjoy today and keep it in your heart, as I will.
Pete, can you sneak me in?
Tragically, my first baseball game was at Shea in 1976, Mets against the Big Red Machine.
I don’t remember a lot from the game(6 yrs old), but I distinctly remember a voice from the Reds dugout, and exactly what he was saying:
“Well, at first Perez over Gehrig is a no-brainer.
At second, well there is me over anybody the Yankees have ever put out there
At short, Concepcion is better than Rizzuto
Third base, Rose hands down.
Outfield of Foster, Gerinomo, Griffey no question beats Mantle, DiMaggio, and the fat man with little girl legs.
Our pitchers, well, nobody has ever heard of them, but in a big game, I’ll take them over anybody I can think of on the Yankees. So I would take our team in a sweep over an all time Yankee team”
I never could place that voice until ESPN started doing baseball!
Today as I sit reading the Sunday papers with the soundtrack of Field of Dreams in the background,I was thinking of my Dad.He,along with the Stadium,was born in 1923 & would often take me to the Stadium during my childhood in the 1960’s. We’d sit in the bleachers for a doubleheader against the Tigers or watch Mickey hit 2 HRs against the Twins & Jim Merritt or go to Opening Day or Bat Day (my Tom Tresh model).
But,as I think of my Dad,my real hero,I remember how he understood how a 15 year old boy could idolize Mickey Mantle and how he made sure that his son could be at Mickey Mantle Day in 1969. I was just thinking this morning how hard it must have been to get tickets and yet we were in the lower tier down the right field line watching Mickey drive all along the Stadium,waving at the fans. I was beaming & so was my Dad,just happy that he could make his son see his idol’s farewell.
My Dad wasn’t a huge baseball fan but he knew I was so it was important to him. Every night when he would come home from work,2 gloves & a ball were sitting on the porch waiting his arrival. And,in his shirt & tie,as soon as he came home,we would have a game of catch. My Dad passed on in 2003 but today a flood of memories of the Stadium & my Dad have overwhelmed me today. Mickey will always be my favorite baseball player but when I think of the Stadium,I’ll always think of my Dad & how he brought the black & white images on our TV to life,taking his son to his Field of Dreams,Yankee Stadium! I love you Dad!
Bat Day!!!!
1966, 1967 and 1968!!!
Blazing hot days..Newark NJ…Firemen…Policeman with their sons including some young Tony Soprano’s to be…queing onto the bus in front of the neighborhood bar, pumping out exhaust…while barrell chested men…lifted huge kegs into the magic coach parked at curbside looking down at the sidewalk below…the adrenalin…beer and soda…massive blocks of ice to keep em cool…the bench seat in the back of the bus…waiving at the cars behind as we cruise over the GWB…and pressing against the window to see “The Stadium!” Yes! There it is…Yankee Stadium…the H&B bseball bat…the incredible green grass…the Monuments in the field of play!!!
Elston Howard, Mel Stottlemyer, Joe Pepitone, Horace Clark, Gene Michael, Jerry Kenny, Jake Gibbs, Roy White, Bill Robinson, Tom Tresh, Al Downing, Stan Bahnsen, Lindy McDaniel, Steve Hamilton, Dooley Womack, Ralph Houk…Thurman Munson, Bobby Murcer and MICKEY MANTLE!!!
The Bat Day Salute 60,000 fans on there feet raising bats on high…Mickey!!! Mickey !!! Mickey!!!
And The Mick bangs a screaming liner of the auxilary scoreboard in right field!!!
I remember my Dad taking be to bat day for my birthday every year. My brothers and sister couldn’t come and I got a yearbook, pennant, box seats and a brand new bat. Once I even got a Mickey Mantle bat, but usually it was Roy White, Horace Clarke or Tom Tresh.
I also remember asking my Dad why they buried three people in center field.
I was at the Mick’s last game, a nondescript loss to Cleveland on a September afternoon in 1968, and they let us ron on the field afterwards. I almost got Whitey Ford’s autograph and filled my pockets with dirt from the infield and grass from the outfield.
I got to go to Mickey Mantle day the next year. That was me in the RCF bleachers and The Mick waved right at me (I swear!).
I saw Ron Guidry whiff 15 and Reggie hit # 400 and Graig Nettles’ amazing plays in the first two games of the ‘81 World Series. That was the first time I took my wife to the city and she’s been hooked on NYC ever since.
But perhaps the greatest thing of all has been bringing my daughters to the Stadium just about every summer. Eventually they became big time Yankees fans and one day I’ll take their sons to the new place and tell them stories about the “real” Yankee Stadium.
I’ll be watching from 1,000 miles away as they close the old place tonight. I understand the need to have a more modern facility, but it’s still sad that one of my two favorite places on earth will soon be no more.
They aren’t going to build a new Central Park are they?
A lifetime of memories and many that I have already forgotten. Growing up in the Mid-Hudson Valley about 2 hours north of The Stadium, I played organized baseball from little league through high school. Each summer, my father and I took the bus to NYC for a weekend series in the Bronx. We stayed at the Manhattan Hotel, long since gone and ate at the auto mat.
My first weekend series was in 1958 with my favorites: Bobby Richardson, Ryan Duran (always threw one into the screen warming up), Whitey Ford and Bobby Shantz. The 61 team was my most memorable with Mickey, Roger, Elston, Yogi and still favorites Richardson and Boyer.
Though my short term memories are not as recoverable today nearing 60, listening to the radio broadcast of the 60 World Series Game 7 and a weak-hitting Bill Mazorowski hitting the winning HR over Yogi’s head in LF will stay with me forever. I still remember crying walking home from the school bus stop.
My last Stadium memory was of being in the nosebleed section of the upper deck behind home for the finale of the 1976 playoffs, when Chambliss hit his walk off HR against KC and the fans swarming the field.
I’ve since moved to SoCal but saw the Yankees lose 2 games last summer in SF beautiful new park. Amazing to watch fans arrive at the game by ferry from Oakland and the view of the SF Bay from the upper deck.
Hopefully, I’ll get a chance to go back to NY to catch a game at the “new” Yankee Stadium.
SoCalYankeeFan
In July of 1976, two friends and I jumped on a train in Toledo and headed for the Big Apple and two games in Yankee Stadium against the Red Sox. In the Friday night game, Doyle Alexander took a no-hitter into the ninth. Boston got three hits in the ninth, but the Yanks won 9 – 1.
The hitting stars for the Yanks were Graig Nettles, Fred Stanley, and Mickey Rivers. Ed Figueroa was the winner the next day, a Saturday day game.
Also attended the 1977 All Star Game, and Reggie threw a ball up our way which bounced off my brother’s hand….d’oh!
We played baseball every day, after school, all day on weekends, and always in the empty lot behind the auto dealership. We lived and breathed baseball and only knew about professional baseball as some distant fantasy of our fathers. Players were their gods, but soon to be ours. For boys then, a trip to Yankee stadium was more than exciting-
it was, quite simply awe-inspiring! I distinctly remember my father telling me we were going to a game. My first concern was how my sandlot team would manage without me. But when we arrived at Yankee stadium, the sheer magnitutde of the place was overwhelming. The smell of peanuts, hot dogs, and beer will stay with me forever, reminding me of that first experience. But the most incredible memory I have was walking through the tunnel and opening up before me was a huge expanse of greenbright and beautiful. I tucked my glove firmly under my arm and followed my father to our seats. I watched the entire game as if in a trance. To this day, I have no idea who won the game, I barely remember the players, but the stadium was absolutely glorious! As parents go, my father was ok. But that one memory of Yankee stadium was so over-powering, I appreciate his efforts more and more as the years go by-and only hope that somewhere along the way, somehow, I’ve given my children a similar experience.On July 1st, 2004 (a year that would be remembered for so many other things than what I’m about to describe) my sister, my godfather, his son, and an 18 year old version of myself sat in Tier 2, Row M, Seats 9-13, anxiously awaiting the first pitch of the game from Brad Halsey. We had no idea of what was about to transpire, but when Pedro Martinez drilled Gary Sheffield in the bottom of the first, causing him to point his bat at the long despised pitcher in frustration and disgust, we knew it would be something special…
Jeter’s Dive…Miguel Cairo’s triple leading off the 12th in a tie game (only to be squandered there)…Manny’s top of the 13th home run, that seemed to take the air out of the place…the comeback, down 4-3, all with 2 outs…Sierra, Cairo, and…Flaherty…
I’ll remember that day for the rollercoaster that it took my heart on, the complete disregard for safety that Derek Jeter (my favorite) showed for his body. Alex at SS. The unlikely heroes in the bottom of the 13th, pure beauty. The last time I ever got to chant “19-18†at the top of my lungs and have it mean something….
…But mostly, I’ll remember it as the last time, since that year, that I saw the famed “ghosts of the stadium†show up, and help our boys win one, and I’m thankful that I was there to see it.
What does Yankee Stadium mean to me? Its simple: pure joy, exhilaration, escape, and in the words of Johnny Drama….VICTORY.
God bless the Yankees. : – )
I just want to thank you all for sharing your stories with all of us. Some have been poignantly amusing (“still the car didn’t move”) and others simply very touching. What strikes me so much is how all your memories are intertwined with the people in your lives. And how those memories will always transcend time and place.
I have only been to the Stadium once. It was a weird time in my life, so I was not “into” it, sadly. I have a vague recollection of Paul O’Neill in right field, as we sat in right field. I don’t remember who won or lost. It was a beautiful, sunshiny, blue-sky day. I myself am anxious to get tickets to the new Stadium.
My husband was fortunate to go to a game in the playoff with Boston in 2004. He called me from the stadium to tell me how much the place was shaking and how incredible it was to be there. I was so happy that he got that opportunity, and very happy that he called me while he was there. Is it strange to say that I felt that even though I was at home watching and he was at the Stadium, that the phone call made it seem like we were together in both places?
Enjoy today everyone! May the baseball gods smile on the Yankees and their fans today.
I don’t have any spectacular game memories, but every moment at the Stadium was spectacular. Walking out of that tunnel to see the field in all it’s glory always took my breath away – the emerald green of the grass, the snowy whiteness of the bases and baselines. Does it get any more perfect than that? As a kid, I loved the Bat – it was the place that everyone met and it was a true landmark. I still love that Bat. To me, YS is a cathedral- and today is a very sentimental occasion for me. It’s the only stadium I’ve grown up with, so I’m very attached. I’m glad that the field will remain and be converted to parkland. I’m also glad that YS is not going to be demolished; that would break my heart.
Gamewise, for some reason, I will always remember my father catching a foul ball off the bat of O’s catcher, Doug DeCinces.
All this being said, I think the new YS will be wonderful and it will make its own memories. I hope fans give it a chance.
I also remember just watching on tv and listening to the antics of Scooter, Bill White and Frank Messer. Listening to them was the greatest memory I have of being a Yankee fan, that and listening to the Yankees theme on ch 11.I hope Bill White shows up today.
What could Yankee Stadium possibly mean to a 22 year old woman?
In 2001 I watched October. I watched October and November.
And I saw that, in the end, all that mattered wasn’t whether or not the Yankees won the game, but that they played at all. And I realized how spoiled I was, that I could call a team like the Yankees, my own.
Yankee Stadium has lots of meanings to me, and hopefully, this will be the home of the 2008 World Series Champions. There is still of a chance of the yankees making the playoffs, if they just keep winning and boston loses, we can actually beat them in the final series of the year
I have been a season ticket holder for 7 years now and have been going to the stadium for 25 years. I have many memories. I was there for Doc Goodens no hitter, Clemens 300th win and Tinos return the same game. Arods 3 HRS, world series game 2 in 03,playoff games. I was there when no one else was in the 80s and they were terrible but still loved it. I was there when Bobby Meacham and Dale berra got thrown out at home plate on the same play. My favorite player is Don Mattingly and all the great memories from him. I wasn’t there but just seeing him make the playoffs in 1995 was unreal. I can go on and on, i still get goosebumps evertime i step into the stadium which i did for the last time on Tuesday night and as great as the new stadium will be i dont think you can recreate those feelings. Lets just hope in 25 yrs we will have a lot more great memories. Goodbye Yankee Stadium you will be missed.
Pete,
Two BEST games I ever saw at the Stadium live: Game 2, 1995 ALDS against the Mariners. I was about 8 rows away from where Mattingly’s last home run of his career landed. I’ve never, ever, ever, ever felt the stadium that loud in my life, and never again. It was pure, raw emotion. The whole place shook: David Cone’s perfect game. What can I say, I actually feel priviledged to have been there. I saw something happen that has only happened what, 16 or 17 other times? That’s pretty darn special.
My favorite memory, however, is pretty obscure. I don’t remember the date exactly, but it was 1993, it was a day/night double header against the Tigers, and at that time it wasn’t exactly hard to get Yankee tickets:) Yanks won the first game easily, and my friends and I stayed for the second game, moving down to the “good seats” to watch that game. Mattingly was out, nursing a hand injury, and come the ninth inning, the Yanks were down by a run. By that time, there were maybe about 10,000 people in the stands, if that, and the Tigers (might have been Bolton) got one quick out. I don’t remember who the second batter of the inning was, but all I remember is that, while he stepped to the plate, out from the dugout, with a bat in his hand, came Don Mattingly to pinch hit. The whole place erupted. Everyone went CRAZY. 10,000 people easily sounded like 50,000. People were stomping, clapping wildly and chanting “Donnie Baseball.” The batter at the plate drew a walk, and as Bob Shepard announced Mattingly’s name to pinch hit, the place went even crazier. The first pitch was wild, runner now on second. The second pitch was (from what I could tell) a fastball down the middle, which Donnie LINED down the right field line for a single, scoring the tieing run. The place went bonkers and, as a kid who idolized Mattingly, it was a one of the greatest experiences of my life. The Yanks ended up going to extra innings and Wade Boggs hit a homer to win it in the 10th I believe, but I’ll always remember that moment, and it is my favorite Yankee Stadium memory.
My first memory of being at the stadium was at age 6, game 162 of the 1961 season. Of course at the time, I had no idea of the significance. My last memory, this year…. the final game against the Red Sox at The Stadium.
1. Wade Boggs riding on the horse
2. Jeffery Maier game – started our dynasty.
Hey everyone, yankees.com….they are showing some of the classic World Series games from Yankee Stadium for free. Airing right now is Game 4 2001 World Series (Mr. November Game). The game is in the 7th inning right now. No commercials! Just thought a few of you might want to check them out today.
I guess my favorite memory was my first game there. June 22, 1989 against the White Sox. I still have the ticket stub. My Dad and Grandfather picked me up from my last day of kindergarten. They had bought me a Yankees Jacket, the type they wear in the dugout and surprised me when they told me where we were going. When we got there I was just so thrilled and so completely blown away by how big it was. My Dad and Grandfather pointed out different things in the Stadium like the facade and the monuments. Mattingly hit a couple of homeruns and the Yanks won the game. Apparently I didn’t stop talking about the game for a couple of days. Since then I’ve probably seen more than 100 games there. But I’ll always remember that 1st one.
I still haven’t come to grips with the fact that YS is gone after tonight. All the memories, aura, ghosts, magic etc. are done with. The Yankees are not the Yankees without YS.
The emotion in that place will be surreal tonight, even though the game is meaningless in the standings, I have a feeling we will recreate some of the magic for the very last time this evening.
I did about three entries on my memories.
http://www.soxandpinstripes.com/
Feel free to read them I should be live blogging too.
In short, if you choose not to share them with me over there, Dwight Gooden’s no-hitter and a Jeter walk off in ‘96 over the Red Sox (overcoming 7-1 and 11-7 deficits)
http://www.nypost.com/seven/09212008/news/columnists/gazing_back_on_the_glory_days_130116.htm?&page=1
Not sure if George physically typed that article this morning or if it was Rubinstein, but a very nice recollection of the glory days from the Boss himself.
Donny Baseball homers in the playofs in 1995- been there for many of our big games since then, there was nothing quite like that-
Something else that came to mind:
For so many fans, baseball was simply a way to bond with a parent—a father, especially.
There’s some truth in that for me, but not in the sense that it is for most people.
See, Dad (and Mom) are not into sports. Okay, Mom will watch the Olympics, but that’s about it. It’s not that they have any intense hatred of spots, it’s just something that doesn’t interest them, like say Desperate Housewives doesn’t interest me.
Still, before Dan and I were old enough to take the train to New York by ourselves, Dad would get us tickets and go with us. Not because he wanted to, but because he knew that we wanted to go.
And every time I’m a little upset at Dad, I think of that.
I think of how he never complained, only rarely made us leave early (if it was a night game and we had school the next day), was willing to sit through two hours of traffic each way, how he even took us to Monument Park even though Dan, my brother, was still a little too young to understand what it meant.
The first game I remember was the Mattingly-Winfield batting title race. It was one of the last games of the year and the entire crowd was chanting MVP for Donnie Baseball every time he stepped to the plate.
I remember going to 100s of games as a kid with my dad, they seemingly always lost in the mid to late 80s and then into the 90s.
I remember the excitement of the 1994 season and then its sudden halt.
I remember my first playoff game in 1996, after waiting for what seemed like a lifetime for them to get back into the playoffs, which they finally did in 1995. My friend and I sat in the upper deck in the very top row. As the game winded down and went into the late innings, we moved down to the box seats and watched Dean Palmer throw the ball away for a Yankee win. I remember standing on top of our seats singing New York, New York at the top of our lungs and then walking out of the stadium chanting “Let’s Go Yankees.”
I always remember the stadium as