Yankee Stadium Not Yanked Yet

No baseball farewell, perhaps no farewell in any walk of life, will ever be remembered as fondly as the one given by Lou Gehrig, July 4, 1939. Diagnosed with a fatal disease, Lou was saying "goodbye" to all of us, that day. Now, the Yankees are giving their loyal fans an extended opportunity through the end of the year to say “goodbye” to their old friend, “Yankee Stadium.” Mets fans have no such opportunity to do the same with Shea. As everyone knows, the Mets never ever did things to match the Yankees’ "class and tradition." In a hallowed place that’s given us so many wonderful memories, here’s a chance for Yankee fans, baseball fans and all New Yorker’s to have one last, intimate moment with the ballpark itself. Tickets will be $20 for adults and $15 for kids. Children 14 and under may enter free. For ticket information, call 718.293-4300.

Lou Gehrig’s Farewell Address, 7/4/39
Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.
I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans. Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn’t consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day?
Sure I’m lucky.
Who wouldn’t consider it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert? Also, the builder of baseball’s greatest empire, Ed Barrow? To have spent six years with that wonderful little fellow, Miller Huggins? Then to have spent the next nine years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology, the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy?
Sure I’m lucky.
When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift - that’s something. When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in white coats remember you with trophies -- that’s something.
When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter -- that’s something.
When you have a father and a mother who work all their lives so you can have an education and build your body -- it’s a blessing.
When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed -- that’s the finest I know.
So, I close in saying that I might have been given a bad break, but I've got an awful lot to live for.

Welcome Housewarmings Eight Months Away

Our neighbors are moving down their respective blocks. Both the Yankees and Mets move into new homes in 2009. The Yankees will welcome fans to their baseball home opener in the Bronx at the new Yankee Stadium on April 16th. The Mets start their season at Citi Field in Queens on April 14th. Let’s hope their new digs are as great a place to visit and cheer as the old!

Concrete Curse Reversed, Guaranteeing The Red Sox Will Be Worse

Several weeks ago, a destructive construction worker surreptitiously buried a David Ortiz, Red Sox baseball jersey two feet below a freshly poured foundation in the new Yankee Stadium. Well, we New Yorkers (and fortunately, the new Steinbrenner high command too) have a thing about "dumping garbage" on what will soon become hallowed Bronx ground. The stained shirt was quickly dug up and removed. Recognizing it’s collectible value though, Yankee ownership acted magnanimously. The jinxed jersey was auctioned on eBay with the total proceeds ($175,100) donated to The Jimmy Fund; a Boston based charity for children stricken with cancer. Rest assured Yank's fans that that kind of act buys mucho good baseball karma for sure. Now, as in the early 1900’s, the Yankees (then the Highlanders) have spotted the Red Sox a few World Series Championships. Big deal! History is known to repeat itself. Check back here in 92 years to see how many more World Series the Yankees have won as compared to their beantown buds. Even if the attempted “curse in concrete” had gone undetected, a buried Sox jersey wouldn’t have any detrimental effect on a “player in pinstripes.” It could only have been a precursor of things to come … for your team Sox fans. We're gonna bury you for another century!

Yankees & Mets Want To Buy Their Old Homes

In 2009, both local ball clubs will play in new stadiums. New York City is the current owner of Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium, both slated for demolition after the 2008 season. The Houses that Ruth and Kranepool built will be no more. Gone, but not forgotten … and maybe not totally gone either. Negotiations are taking place to let the Yankees and Mets buy their old ballparks. Their similar plan is to dismantle and peddle stadium memorabilia to fans and baseball collectors worldwide. Revenue from the sales of seats, lockers, bricks and even dirt are expected to bring in tens of millions of dollars for each team. Now, if these stadium deals go through (and they will), wouldn’t it be nice if the teams donated their collectible revenues to building and improving baseball fields around New York City? It’s fans, past and present, that contributed to the success of these teams. It’s the teams that should give more to our city's baseball youth and develop their fans of tomorrow. Each team is now looking to go out with cash in their pockets. Donating this cash to our kids let’s them go out as winners.

Local Baseball History For Sale … In The Future

The end of the 2008 major league baseball season brings a close to our two cherished baseball parks; Yankee Stadium and Shea … unless of course the teams make it to the Playoffs! Whether the dreams of Yankee or Mets fans end in September or October, new baseball dreams will begin soon after.

The Department of Parks and Recreation owns both facilities. Soon after the last out is made, you can own something from each MLB ball field too. The city plans to sell everything it possibly can to interested fans, collectors and investors who want to own a piece of nostalgia. Best of luck to all fans that plan to buy something. “Everything” is being sold so your chances of getting “something” are good. What’s not for sale are all of the great memories. No matter anyway. Real fans know they’re truly priceless and guaranteed to increase in value in the years to come.

The Mark Of Champions

Massive blocks of limestone and granite bearing the carved inscription “Yankee Stadium” were set atop a very special building in the Bronx last week. It’s fitting that this type of material was used. Legends are by cliché written in stone, aren’t they? Once again, both the name of baseball’s greatest team and the nation’s first stadium crown New York’s future premiere sports destination, scheduled to open in 2009. Unlike other sports facilities throughout the world, the naming rights to this world famous location in the Bronx were not for sale to a corporate advertiser. It wouldn’t be fitting. By changing the name alone, it would no longer have been a place where true legends should battle or for future championship moments to occur.