Farewell to the Cathedral

Like any good, patriotic American, I was raised to hate the Yankees. Its natural. Its innate. The Yankees were the first team I ever hated for hate's sake, which is a big step in any sports fan's life.

In recent years my hatred for the Bombers has mostly mellowed into indifference. I even take a sort of perverse pride in rooting for A-Rod, since he's the best player on the planet and still the idiot Yankee fans hate him as much as any non-Red Sox player.

Whatever my feelings about the guys in Pinstripes, I have a special reverence for Yankee Stadium. The Cathedral. The House that Ruth Built.

I doubt many in my generation realize it, but Yankee Stadium is more than just hallowed ground for baseball fans. Sure, its the home of the sport's marquee franchise, stomping ground of dozens of Hall of Famers and host of 37 World Series. In the past 85 years it has hosted a ton of other huge events, both sporting and non-sport. These include:

3 different Popes saying mass.

30 World Championship Boxing Matches. Perhaps the most famous of these bouts was the 1938 Heavyweight rematch between Max Schmeling and Joe Fraizer. Other boxers who fought at the Cathedral include Max Baer, Sugar Ray Robinson, Jack Dempsey and Muhammad Ali. The very first televised boxing match was contested there in 1939.

Hundreds of College Football Games. Most were played by local schools such as NYU or Forham, but the stadium also hosted the Army-Notre Dame game from 1925-1947, and again in 1969. The famous "Win one for the Gipper" game was played at Yankee Stadium. Its hard to fathom just how big that game was back in those days: the two premier schools in the country dueling it out, more often than not with national title implications. I don't think there is an equivalent annual game these days. There was even a bowl game there once, the 1962 Gotham Bowl (sponsored by Batman perhaps?) in which Nebraska defeated Miami 36-24.

Professional football was also played at Yankee Stadium. Red Grange played there in the 20's, and it was the home of the New York Football Giants from 1956 to 1973. Included in that stretch was "The Greatest Game Ever Played", the 1958 NFL championship game between the then Baltimore Colts and the Giants. It was the first overtime game in NFL history and it helped propel professional football into the mainstream.

In addition, plenty of huge concerts, faith revivals and other big events have been held in the House that Ruth Built. There are few venues in the world which rival it in history and significance, and in this country I think only the Los Angeles Colosseum, host of 2 Olympics, comes close in terms of comparison.

Last Sunday night was the last sporting event ever held at Yankee Stadium. It was a big to-do, with all the old timers coming back, $200 bleacher tickets and pre and post game ceremonies. Normally I might be jaded by such efforts to commemorate something in an artificial way, but this was an exception.

Part of me thinks its silly to get so worked up over a building. Its just a place where sports are played, and its not like the sports are over. In truth, little of the current Yankee Stadium is "authentic". The grass dies every year, the dirt, chalk and bases are changed constantly. Their have been remodels and the huge renovations in the 30's and 70's. Besides, if it was really that important they wouldn't be moving and tearing it down.

On the other hand, I think its totally natural that we should fondly remember and cling to places which we consider "sacred", and I believe that Yankee Stadium, whatever its form, qualified as a sacred place in our culture. I don't think we should take it overboard with the reverence for special places. The everlasting conflict in the Middle East over Holy Places proves just how ingrained this kind of behavior is among our species, and how dangerous it can get if we let sentiment overwhelm reason. But within reason I think its valid and important to recognize certain places as significant, and Yankee Stadium certainly qualifies. Any place which charges $9.00 for a can of Bud Light had better damn well be special.

I was lucky enough to visit Yankee Stadium several times in the last two years, always for a Yankee game. My last visit was with some friends who were visiting from California. My buddy is a huge baseball fan and had planned this trip specifically for the purpose of taking in one last game at the old ballpark.

We got Friday night tickets but were disappointed by a rain out and some shitty buffalo wings at a local pub. The reschedule was set for the following night, which messed our plans a bit but turned out to be a blessing in some ways. Only half of the ticketed crowd was able to make it, so we were able to move from our original location, with this view:

To a much better section behind home plate, with this view:

It was the second half of a doubleheader so we missed a few stars who were taking game 2 off, but there were still 4 probable Hall of Famers there: Jeter, A-Rod, Pudge and Mariano. Its amazing to think about, and a fact which gets taken for granted by so many Yankee fans.

My camera has a video feature on it, but because I suck I was too incompetent to capture any really good moments as part of this last hurrah. I missed a grand slam, the YMCA, God Bless America, and a lot of other blog worthy things. Here's my best stuff:

1) Me attempting to tape an at-bat, and spazzing out over a foul ball headed my way. After that I realized that watching the game through the video screen was a dangerous idea.

2) A-Rod grounding out and getting the Business from idiot Yankee Fans:

3)Rivera making his signature entrance to save the game:

4) The final out.

5) Yankees win, and they play Sinatra on Repeat for 20 minutes.

So now its out with the old and in with the billion dollar new. March of progress and all that. I've hear that the new ballpark will be so advanced that they could charge up to $15 for bud light. What a time to be alive.