2008.09.21
So long, Yankee Stadium
I'm not an MLB fan. But everyone is paying tribute to the House that Ruth built, and I felt we here at In the Flow should put in our two cents.
Have you ever been to Yankee Stadium? What are your memories? If you never had the opportunity to go there, do you have a favorite Yankee/Yankee Stadium story via catching a game on the tube?
About the closest I can come is standing in my living room SCREAMING with delight the night the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Yankees in the 2001 World Series. To understand why, read on:
GOD BLESS AMERICA - BUT CAN HE HOLD OFF ON THE YANKEES?
PULLING FOR THE UNDERDOG OVER THE SENTIMENTAL FAVORITE
Date: Monday, October 29, 2001
Byline: SHANNA FLOWERS EDITORIAL WRITER
Damn Yankees!
You know, the Bronx Bombers. The Boys in Pinstripes.
If baseball's New York Yankees weren't in the World Series this week, I wouldn't be in the position of defending my patriotism, trying to show that I, too, love America - even as I root against the Yankees.
Certainly, after the collapse of Manhattan's World Trade Center on Sept. 11, it's no surprise that the Yankees are the sentimental favorite to win the Fall Classic against those battling Arizona Diamondbacks.
Who?
Anyway, as I endure snipes from Yankees fans - and nonfans viewing the Series through a prism of pure emotionalism - I'm compelled as a sports fan to say: It's OK to pull for the citizens of New York but not for their baseball team.
Look, I'm no ogre. I feel human suffering. I wept in my living room as I watched the televised memorial service, at Yankee Stadium nonetheless, for nearly 5,000 of my compatriots killed several days earlier when two hijacked airliners crashed into the twin towers.
I can't shake the jarring image in USA Today of a young boy, clutching his stoic mother's side and crying uncontrollably at the funeral of his dad, a Port Authority police officer killed in the attacks.
Doomed airplane passengers mutinying against their fanatical captors, New York firefighters covered with dust and grime - collectively, they have become my lasting mental collage of a hero. What happened six weeks ago was not a rip at New York but at all Americans, and everything our nation stands for. So, yes, my heart is with New York.
But not its baseball team.
Rallying against sentiment, with a backdrop of national tragedy, is not a popular position to publicly embrace, I've learned. My colleague, feisty by nature, has reminded me on more than one occasion during the past week that "New York needs this."
Even my doctor's nurse, during my office visit last week, gave me good-natured guff about pulling for the Diamondbacks over the Yankees.
What people don't understand is that I don't necessarily dislike the Yankees. I'm just tired of them. They've won four of the last five World Series, the last three in a row. Enough already. How many rings does Derek Jeter need, at least at this point in his young career?
My sentiment, and that of those sports fans still in the closet on this thorny issue, is much the way it was with Michael Jordan in his glory days with the Chicago Bulls. At first, the team's ascension as a basketball dynasty was way cool. But after the Bulls' first few championships, sports fans grew weary of them and wanted to cheer a new champion.
Admittedly, the Yankees reflect the strengths of America: power, excellence, cool confidence, precision and skill.
As Americans, we relish the ideal of a level, competitive playing field, where anyone - with adequate preparation - has a shot at victory, a chance at success. Right now, though, the playing field seems tilted in favor of the Yankees.
But another side of the American psyche likes to pull for the underdog because it gives us hope that one day, we, too, can overcome the Goliaths in our lives. In the case of the World Series, the Arizona Diamondbacks are the underdogs, the upstarts, only four years in existence.
My colleague had never heard of them. "The Arizona who?" she queried. My friend, Gene, a baseball purist and a student of the game, only vaguely remembered that the Diamondbacks were in the National League. Arizona plays out West, in a different time zone, so Easterners don't follow them.
No, we don't know much about the D'backs. But they, too, represent what's good about America: Tenacity, scrappiness.
And hope.
In these uncertain times, those are pretty good traits to cheer for.
So for those who question my allegiance, I am buoyed by the humanitarian spirit shown New York. And I want God to smile on America.
But can he hold off on the Yankees until after the Series?
As the ink dries on A-Rod's Divorce settlement, Au revoir and Adieu to the Yankees Stadium for in it's place the ingenuity of it's people will build a new stadium like the Phoenix rising from the ash for the team to call home.....
And bring home the spirits of legends.
Comment by Terry B — September 21, 2008 @ 9:13 pm
I hate the Yankees and always have. Back in 2000, tho, being a "ballpark guy," I took advantage of the opportunity to see a couple games at Yankee Stadium. As I walked the first time through the narrow tunnel from the grimy concourse to our seats, the hair on the back of my neck shot up. Despite what I thought of the home team, I could appreciate the grand history of that place (its '70s renovations aside). Glad I had that chance. And now I guess I'll some day get to go pull against the Yanks in a new ballpark!
Comment by Frank K — September 22, 2008 @ 9:13 am
The Yankees are the best major league team in history..winning by far more Championships than any team..when I was a kid here in Roanoke there was a game every Saturday..usually the Yankees...the games were called by Dizzy Dean and Pee Wee Reese..great players themselves in days gone by..Dizzy(a pitcher).. was a 30 game winner..The great Yankee players at that time were Whitey Ford,Yogi Berra,Tony Kubek,Joe Pepitone,Roger Maris(the last 61 home run hitter who didnt use steroids) and of course the great Mickey Mantle who won the triple crown(most hr,rbi and batting average) a feat unheard of today!!To this day he is the fastest man ever down the 1st base line at 3.0..despite a bone marrow disease in his legs..These guys were true legends..along with Babe Ruth,Dimaggio,Gherig..and a host of others!! Yankee Stadium was known as the house that Ruth built..its a sad day indeed to see it go..
Comment by larry — September 22, 2008 @ 10:39 am
I've been a Yankee fan all my life except for one half season when this boy I liked let it be known he was a Pirates fan. I admit to publicly dropping my loyalty to my Yanks for the affections of a 5th-grade boy, but in my heart, I never let them go. I've since learned not to change my interests for any man. I went as a kid with my boy cousins and my uncle, tomboy me in my well worn Yankee cap. The sights, sounds and smells of the stadium brought me a rush of life energy. I adored the experience. I went as a teenager and had a blast with my sister and her friends...until an ambulance drove out onto the field to take care of fan in the stands.I went most recently, last summer, thanks to my sister and her "ticket guy," to witness my son's first Yankee game experience (and my daughter's too but she's not much of a fan.) and hopefully experience A-Rod's record breaking homerun. We didn't but the stadium lit up with camera flashes every time he got up to bat. We also watched a squirrel make his way down the back net and onto the field only to run along the homerun line at the back wall and out the service entrance. Sneaky little bugger. If only I could have followed him! That night I so wanted to hit the field, grab a handful of homeplate dirt to take home and see the view as Babe had seen it. But of course, I couldn't get down there. I did take home my final game at Yankee stadium in snapshots of my mind and digital camera, in the huge smile on my boy's face, and the satifaction of embracing the night and even waiting until the last out to leave (Traffic is always nuts and most fans leave during the 8th inning.). I'll never forget it. New stadium? It just won't be the same as that sense of living history.
Comment by Heather Froeschl — September 22, 2008 @ 1:00 pm
Hey, Larry: Guess you probably remember Tresh, Pepitone, Hector Lopez, Ralph Terry, Rollie Sheldon, Downing, Bouton, Whitey and Yogi, Casey, Hal Reniff, Phil "harmonica" Linz, Johnny Blanchard, Elston Howard, the GOOOOOOOOOSE, Ryan Duren, Jim Coates, Stan Williams and lots more. That was when baseball was baseball. I liked Diz and Pee Wee a lot better than the Joe and Tony show. Tony Kubek has left baseball for good, and that's probably a good thing. I'll never forget Yogi's one year stint as manager following Ralph Houk. Then Johnny Keane replaced him after defeating him in the series. Remember Richarson's grab in game 7 of the '62 series? sure you do. I have a baseball autographed by the '61 Reds series team. The old fellow who gave it to me had the yankee one too, and I'd have traded my left, uh, arm for it, but he died and it was probably thrown away with the rest of his stuff.
Comment by Mike — September 23, 2008 @ 1:17 am