By Joe Fagella
North Adams Transcript
The House That Ruth Built. The house that Steinbrenner built. Call it what you want, but with the Yankees all but eliminated from postseason contention, last night was the last hurrah for the famed ballpark — THE stadium — Yankee Stadium.
With the Red Sox winning earlier in the day to clinch at least a tie for a playoff berth, the Yankees needed to win to stay alive.
They did.
The Yanks closed out the 85-year-old baseball mecca the same way they opened it in 1923 — with a win. They topped the Orioles 7-3, before taking a final salutatory lap around the field.
Just to clarify, I am a lifelong Red Sox fan and I hate the Yankees. However, I am a baseball fan first and a Sox fan second. And as a baseball fan, and one who appreciates the history of the game, Yankee Stadium is as much a landmark to the game of baseball as the Grand Canyon is to the United States, or as the hairpin turn is to us here in North Adams. And I have to respect that.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have gone to the stadium three times since 2003. But my first visit is the one I’ll never forget, because it also happened to be my first — and only — Red Sox-Yankees game to date. The Sox didn’t make it much of a ballgame, as Andy Pettitte dominated in a 7-1 Yanks’ win, but the experience was nonetheless priceless.
It was hilarious because everyone was warning me not to wear any Boston logos — to keep a low profile at the game, in hopes I wouldn’t be harassed, or worse, beat up. But when I got there and saw bus loads of people going into the stadium proudly wearing Nomar and Pedro jerseys and Sox hats, I knew I’d be just fine. Even though I followed the advice and wore plain clothes, not showing allegiance to either team, I proudly cheered for the Sox, knowing I had plenty of backup if push came to shove (which by the way, it never did).
Walking up the ramp with my dad, aunt and uncle to see it all open up into a sea of green, perfectly-mowed grass and the golden brown dirt of the infield was truly breathtaking. It was the same feeling I had received when I saw Fenway Park for the first time as a young boy. Then, I looked out and saw the glowing whiteness of the famed arching facade above the bleacher billboards and scoreboard in the outfield. Lining the top of the facade all the way around, were dozens of poles stretching towards the sky, holding the flags of every MLB team’s city, which were gently blowing in the wind.
One of the other things I noticed when looking at the facade, was that some of the tall apartment buildings outside the stadium seemed to almost give the lucky people who lived in the top floor a chance to sneak a peak at the game. All I can say is that’s pure genius by the buildings’ architect(s).
My uncle John, who lives in the Bronx and is a die-hard Yankee fan, was not shy at all during the game to join in with the majority of the crowd, which constantly, and arrogantly, retorted any “Yankees suck!” chant by the Boston contingent of fans (which represented amazingly well on the road) with much more piercing chants of “Ninnneeteeen eighteen!” I’m so glad that they can’t use that one on us Sox fans anymore.
There was a group of about eight to 10 drunken Red Sox fans a few rows behind us and a group of five or six inebriated Yankee fans a couple rows in front of us. The back and forth chants, comments and conversations between the two feuding groups, with us right in the middle, made for quite an entertaining afternoon. The only thing that I would change about the game if I could, would be the end result — a Sox “W.” … Oh yeah, and I’d probably wear plenty of red.
In the last couple years, I’ve been back to the stadium to see the Yanks play the A’s and the White Sox. I gladly cheered for the visiting teams, which I’m happy to say went 2 for 2 in the win department.
With everyone knowing this was going to be the stadium’s final season, tickets were sold out right away. So I didn’t make it there this year, but I’m glad I at least got to make some memories in the ballpark before it ceases to exist.
So I urge you, if you’re a baseball fan, if you get the chance in the next couple months, before we get dumped on by the snow, or even worse, before they demolish the historic landmark, go and take a tour of the stadium. Because even though they’re building a similar replica of the park right next door, where the team will move into next year, it won’t be the same.
All the history is in the current Yankee Stadium, the true Yankee Stadium. Not even a billion U-Haul trucks could transplant all that history across the street.
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