Goodbye Yankee Stadium

Let me start out this way... for the last decade I have been a Red Sox fan. I am not from Boston nor am I from New York. I embraced the rivalry like a family member or an additional appendage. I love my Boston Red Sox and I hate the New York Yankees but my hatred for that particular ball team does not reflect how I feel about the Stadium that has hosted the "evil empire" for the past 85 years. If anything the loss of Yankee Stadium is almost another reason to dislike the Yankees.

As a Boston Red Sox fan I hate, yes, Hate to see Yankee Stadium Go.

Yankee Stadium started it all. It redefined the ball park in every single way. From the design to the capacity and even the name. When the stadium was built in the early 20's many baseball teams played their home games in a ball park or a field, like Fenway Park or Wriggley Field. Yankee Stadium was the first to be recognized as a stadium. While parks and fields traditionally held 30,000 plus fans, Yankee Stadium was built with a capacity doubling any competing ball park. It was the first three-tiered sports facility in the country and one of the first to incorporate an electronic scoreboard.

Yankee Stadium was the first of it's kind. The United States may have little to claim when it comes to ingenuity and greatness in the field of architecture but for some Yankee Stadium might create as much awe and allure as the Roman Coliseum.

Yankee Stadium is the home to quite possibly the greatest sports franchise in the modern era. If you measure greatness by success and in America, most people often do then the Yankees are the cream of the crop. The Yankees have have won 37 of their 39 American league pennants in Yankee Stadium. They have hosted the World Series 37 times and at 26 have more titles than any other team, both numbers more than double their closest competition in Major League Baseball. Over thirty hall of fame baseball players have called Yankee Stadium their home and the pin-stripes their uniform. Some of the greatest if not the greatest ball players like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Whitey Ford and Mickey Mantle have worn the Yankee pin-stripes.

Outside of baseball, Yankee Stadium has been a host to boxing matches, soccer, professional and college football games, religious ceremonies and concerts.

the famous, "win one for the Gipper" speech was given in Yankee Stadium in 1928 during half time of the Army-Notre Dame football game. The "Greatest Game Ever Played" between the New York Giants and Baltimore Colts was held in Yankee Stadium. A game in which the Colts took home the championship and Johnny Unitas cemented his legacy and helped reinvent the quarterback position. During the 70's Yankee Stadium was home to the New York Cosmos which suited soccer's most memorable name and figure, Pele. Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, Rocky Marciano and Muhammad Ali have all fought inside the boxing ring in the center of Yankee Stadium. When the Brown Bomber Joe Louis fought Max Schmeling in 1938 more than boxing and championships were at battle but ideologies and social politics were at odds.

Three popes have held mass in Yankee Stadium. After his release from prison Nelson Mandela held a rally for New Yorkers, Americans and those in need of inspiration to overcome great odds. Musical acts ranging from the Isley Brothers to U2, Paul Simon to Pink Floyd have performed in the house that Ruth Built.

What happens next? Yankee Stadium will eventually be no more. The Yankees next year will have a new home, right next door to their existing one but it is impossible to suggest that any future stadium can replace or even compare to Yankee Stadium. Yankee Stadium was not made famous by Babe Ruth or by the Yankees. It was not made famous by Bono or Roger Waters. It was not made famous by Knute Rockne or Joe Louis. Yankee Stadium was made famous by the American People. Yankee Stadium holds a legacy like few people, few places and few things in United States of America. Baseball, America's past time has no greater venue than Yankee Stadium and we are at loss by its closing.

Nothing great lasts anymore and with the closing and eventual destruction of Yankee Stadium I worry that along with its legacy so goes the history held within its field, stands and concrete walls. The United States of America does not have castles or very many ancient ruins to celebrate. With a history less than 3 centuries old the U.S.A. has few buildings that capture the memories and imagination like Yankee Stadium. What does it say about our society today that we unlike many societies before us choose to tear down our history for something new, flashier, possibly better and more economically sound? I hate to see Yankee Stadium go. I hate that I will never be able to take my children or grandchildren to a game. Maybe I am simply selfish but when a huge part of American history is destroyed I think we should be upset and should contemplate how we are all missing out by Yankee Stadium's destruction. I suppose the only thing to hope for is that the next Stadium that houses the Yankees or whatever team or sport played within its boundaries can create such a legacy as notable as the one existing in Yankee Stadium.