Sunday afternoon was a monumental event in Yankee history. I watched in part sadness and pride as ESPN so graciously gave Yankee Stadium it's due after 85 years of history. The game was truly secondary as we saw Whitey Ford, Goose Gossage, Yogi Berra, Ron Guidry, David Cone, Don Larson, David Wells and many more don their uniforms and take their positions in the field one last time. We saw some of the children and wives of Legends who were no longer with us, like David Mantle who wore his Father's number 7 walked out onto the field, it was almost as if the Mick were there himself. The culmination of seeing all of these great players from almost every generation of Yankee lore was quite a sight to behold.
Andy Pettite took the mound and only gave up three runs in 7 innings. The quote of the day was from the man whose house this is after hitting the first home run in Yankee Stadium, in 1923, "God only knows who will be the last player to hit a home run." The answer---Jose Molina. It almost was Johnny Damon when he hit a three run homer early in the game. You might be saying, who is Jose Molina, but if you are a true Yankee watching him this season, it really shouldn't be a surprise at all. For a back up catcher he has been clutch behind and in front of plate all season. Thankfully Pettite got the win against Baltimore 7-3, otherwise it would have been, um, awkward.As I write this though I have learned the sad news that even with Mike Mussina's 19th win tonight, the Red Sox have eliminated my boys from the running and have clinched the Wild Card. So when the lights went dark late Sunday night, it would now seem, inevitable that it will be for the last time.
Yeah, I could leave it all depressing like that but I would prefer to give Yankee Stadium the send off it deserves from Yankee fans all over the country. So if you have a memory of Yankee Stadium in it's 85 years of glory feel free to tell us about it in our comments section below.
No comments:
Post a Comment