Goodbye Yankee Stadium

How terribly ironic it is that the House that Ruth built and made Lou Gehrig feel “like the luckiest man on the face of the earth” says its goodbye with Derek Jeter being the last Yankee at the plate. Jeter, one of the greatest winners of all time, giving the country’s most revered sports arena a warm goodbye on chill September night.
It was a night that will be remembered in the annals of baseball history. One that paid tribute to Yankees from the past and the memories that made the place so iconic. Ruth, Berra, Ford, Munson, and Maris; all were present or represented by family. Bernie Williams made his first return to 161st and River since being unceremoniously let go in 2006.
Like usual, no one was more prepared to describe all of the evening’s events so perfectly than the current Yankee captain.
"It was a perfect evening," Jeter said.
Jeter sent the stadium off right, standing on the mound and addressing the crowd before leading the team on one last victory lap. It was a moment that gave fans goosebumps and was reminiscent of the celebratory laps players would take after clinching one of the organizations record 26 titles.
The Stadium, of course, made its name in October. It has hosted 21 percent of all World Series games, seen 40 Fall Classics played on its lush green grass. Been there for the Yankees winning 26 of them. But the stadium was never one to share the spotlight, it created as many names as well. Too many to count.
Don Larsen went from fourth starter to October’s only perfect man on that afternoon in 1956 when he leaped into Yogi’s arms. Reggie Jackson, after swatting three homeruns on three straight pitches in 1977, became Mr. October. Derek Jeter made November his own when he went deep in Game 5 in 2001 after the clock turned midnight in the first baseball game ever played past Halloween.
Jose Molina was only the latest victim of the Stadium’s ability to make the most irrelevant players historic. He hit the last home run ever in Yankee Stadium’s 85 years, ironic that it came from a player who has only gone deep 19 times in nine seasons. But it should make fans remember other famous homeruns in years past.
Of course it was the player for whom the Stadium was built that hit the first one. Babe Ruth went deep on the very first opening day back in 1923, fulfilling a goal he was so desperate to reach that he told reporters he would give up a year of his life to put one in the seats that day.
38 seasons later, on October 1, Roger Maris hit his 61st homer of the season to break Ruth’s single season record. Mickey Mantle hit his 500th there on May 14, 1967. And Tino Martinez turned on a pitch from Mark Langston, that ended up in the right field upper deck, giving the home team the momentum it needed to finish off that magical 1998 season.
All these moments added up to shift the perception of the stadium from any other park to a secular temple. There were those that dared to fight the sometimes unworldly pull of the Stadium, but they all were proven wrong. During the 2001 World Series, Diamondbacks pitcher Curt Schilling famously said that mystique and aura were more likely to be found at your local gentlemen’s club than in the Bronx. Arizona lost all three games to the Yankees, with the last two coming in astonishing and historic fashion. It was as if the Stadium had a mind of its own.
So to see it fall short of the only baseball playing month that ever mattered in New York is a travesty.
But its last few days are still ones that fans will never forget. A highlight reel catch by brett gardner friday night brought back memories of when Joe D, Williams and the Mick used to roam center field. Jeter set the all-time hits record at the Stadium, taking away a record that Lou Gehrig had owned for almost 70 years.
When Mariano Rivera entered the game in the ninth inning, it was finally time to take one last look. As has been the case for the last 12 years, the opening chords of “Enter Sandman” meant that the night would soon end. The greatest closer of all time went through the Orioles’ lineup 1-2-3, as automatic as he as always been.
Then that familiar voice of Frank Sinatra once again started booming from the speakers. Usually reserved for wins, this time it was to serenade the biggest winner New York has ever seen.
And it was a night so grand, only baseball’s greatest witticist could wrap it all up.
"This time when it's over, it's over," Berra said.