The Royals have been major players in the free agent market, making a big run at Andruw Jones while signing Jose Guillen, but they did lose David Riske to the Brewers.
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How do you put into words something that is much bigger than not only a single person, but even the world’s most storied franchise?
Sports have changed drastically in recent years, often transforming on a year-by-year basis. It no longer takes decades to usher in new eras, especially in America’s oldest pastime.
In the last twenty years baseball has changed at the drop of a hat on numerous occasions.
In the mid-1990s a sudden rise in power captivated the game, but all the fame and honor surrounding a number of home run records came crashing down just a few years later when a number of unscrupulous characters appeared in front of Congress.
Commissioner Bud Selig, who has indirectly helped create controversy more than once while at the helm, took “action” on a number of issues. While some of those changes – like the adding the Wild Card to the postseason and putting home field advantage on the line in mid-July – were met with criticism, the sheer occurrence of such change has had a profound effect on baseball as we know it.
Even the New York Yankees, undoubtedly baseball’s foremost franchise, thanks to their 26 World Championships, haven’t been immune to the recent ebb-and-flow of the game.
After going some fifteen years without even a division title, the Yankees began a supreme reign of domination in 1996 that “ended” in 2000 with four World Series titles in a five-year span.
That 1996 team had a league-leading payroll of $53 million, just $4 million more than the Orioles and $5 million above the Braves. This season the Yankees have spent well over $200 million on their roster, roughly $70 million more than the Tigers, Mets, and Red Sox.
Not much has remained constant for the Yankees over the last twenty years, let alone the last eighty.
Well, expect for the monumental structure that resides at E. 161st Street and River Avenue in the Bronx.
Yankee Stadium opened on April 23, 1923 for the then-astronomical cost of approximately $2.5 million. To put things in perspective, New York has paid pitcher Carl Pavano more than four times that amount to make just six starts this season.
The history and lore of the Stadium is famous, more so than some of the legendary ballplayers that have called it home over the last 85 years.
Do the walls talk? Do the ghosts of former players have a role in big games? Is the building truly bigger than baseball itself? Can the Stadium make or break the careers of elite players?
Everyone has a story, or two, involving Yankee Stadium – from players to managers to writers to fans to attendants. No other place in the country has meant so much to so many people. In the truest sense of the phrase, it is ‘The Cathedral of Baseball’.
When I decided that not writing something about the Stadium would be a huge injustice, I spoke with RealGM editor Christopher Reina about adding his own personal story to the column knowing how much Yankee Stadium means to him, but, surprisingly, he hesitated. He wasn't sure if he could write something that could properly convey the importance of the Stadium to him personally without crossing the line into self-indulgence.
That’s when it hit me. Can anyone, let anyone myself, properly honor Yankee Stadium with a thousand or so words? The thought entered my mind that this column could be the most important, and most scrutinized of my three-plus years of writing. How can I recount my own personal Stadium stories without sounding like my memories are more important than others?
The reality is that everyone’s story is the same.
No baseball life would be the same without the Stadium. It doesn’t matter if you like the Yankees, despise them, or fall somewhere in-between – so many teams, players, and fans have had memories from the Bronx etched in their brains.
Like so many others, my first memory of ‘The House That Ruth Built’ took place during my childhood.
At that time, basketball was far-and-away my sport of choice, but sitting on the first base line when the Yankees took on the Royals planted an early seed in my impressionable mind. I don’t remember everything from that Saturday afternoon, but I will never forget that New York won, and the pinstripes looked so much cooler in person.
As I grew up, baseball became a larger part of my life. The Yankees’ teams of the mid-1990s reigned supreme with a touch of style and class but always a blue-collar attitude. The Bombers may not personify all of those same qualities now, but it’s still how I most fondly remember the team.
This summer I visited the Stadium for the final time – first as a fan in June when the cross-town Mets came to play, and then professionally to cover the 2008 All-Star Game.
It’s hard to imagine a more proper sendoff personally, getting the chance to walk the same hallways as Ruth, Mantle, and Jeter and walk out onto the field through the same narrow tunnel as Gehrig, Munson, and Jackson.
Only Fenway Park and Wrigley Field have been open longer than the Stadium while much younger teams like the Houston Astros have already called three different ballparks home.
The Boston Celtics, the NBA’s most storied franchise, have had four different arenas since 1946, some 23 yards after the Yankees began playing at the Stadium. The NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles, established a decade after the Stadium opened, have played their home games on six different fields.
A lot has changed around the country since Yankee Stadium opened its doors.
In 1923, gasoline was considered extremely high at average of 22 cents per gallon. This summer the national average hovered over $4, more than a 1,700% increase. The hot dogs at the Stadium were probably a lot cheaper, as well.
It might sound twisted, or perhaps even sacrilegious considering all the postseason magic that has taken place at Yankee Stadium, but it’s almost fitting that the final game ever played there was an otherwise meaningless regular season battle with the Orioles.
The Yankees won’t say goodbye to the Stadium by bringing home their 27th World Series title, or even hosting a playoff game, but in a way it all worked out.
The insignificance of Sunday’s game allowed the building itself to be the center of attention as the public said goodbye to the 85-year-old ‘Big Ballpark in the Bronx’.
RealGM Stadium Anecdote
by Jason M. Williams, Senior Writer
Yankee Stadium always had a different sound. It always had a different smell. It always had a different feel. The Stadium was alive and breathing, and to see its final out recorded was one of the saddest experiences in a lifetime spent following the team with religious dedication. Yankee Stadium will forever have a place in my heart and will always bring up memories of happiness, sadness, excitement and sorrow. One of my favorite lighthearted memories will forever be the time I attended an interleague game on July 18, 1999.
Originally, my father and I purchased tickets to the game because we had never seen the Montreal Expos (now Washington Nationals), but as it turned out my father couldn’t attend because he promised my sister he would take her to a concert. This forced my mother to drive me into the city from New Jersey to attend the seemingly normal game. On the hill was David Cone, a longtime favorite of mine. As Cone and the game began rolling along, the sun beat down with no sign of letting up. As the temperature rose, so did my mother's impatience. Looking up from her book in the sixth inning, she muttered, “Are you ready to go home yet?”
Puzzled, I looked down at the scorecard in my lap and noticed that Cone had retired the first 18 batters without a hiccup. I turned to her and pleaded for her to understand the importance of what was at stake. She relented. Two innings later, with everyone standing and cheering Cone in the top of the eighth, my mom asked why everyone was on their feet. I simply said, “Look at all those zeroes.”
She suddenly became interested. An inning later, the 27th man stepped to the plate and delivered a harmless popup to the infield.
The Stadium roared and everyone went delirious. The upper deck was shaking. My mom and I shared an experience that at that time had only happened 16 times in over 130 years of baseball – a perfect game. That day, Yankee Stadium became alive and allowed the magic to happen. It brought my mom and I closer together over a seemingly meaningless game. It was a day of excitement, and a day neither of us will ever forget.
What did Yankee Stadium mean to you? E-mail Andrew with a story, or two, and perhaps it’ll get posted in a future anecdote mailbag – Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com
