Goodnight, Aura
(Note: Cousin Dan will be in with a guest post later today so keep checking in for that.)
Barring a meeting in the World Series that has, to this early point in the season at least, appeared highly unlikely, and assuming I don't get tickets to some random Yankees-Red Sox game or to the make-up game from Friday's wash-out, chances are last night's game was my last visit to the original Yankee Stadium.
I hate the Yankees, I really do. But like most other baseball fans, I have a certain respect for Yankee Stadium.
It's not the 26 World Championships or the Pinstripes, it's the simple fact that so many giants of the game played there.
Glance at Carlos Beltran patrolling center field and that's where Mickey Mantle once stood; look at Ryan Church in the batter's box and it's the same spot that Babe Ruth used to dig in to. Sickeningly or otherwise, the list goes on and on.
* * * * *
Across the street from the House that Ruth Built rises a new Yankee Stadium. As me and the Hound walked past it yesterday, we both admired the look of it, and agreed that in spite of our distaste for the Yankees, we really didn't begrudge them their architecture.
It's a fine looking building; a bit totalitarian, but why shouldn't it be? I'm sure it will be a great place to watch a ball game next year and all the other years from now on.
But for all its architectural grace and for all the comfort the new seats will surely provide, it will never be the same place that Ruth or Mantle or Joltin' Joe once played. That's the choice the Yankees made.
As someone who hates the Yankees, my opinion doesn't matter much in the office marked "Steinbrenner".
But as someone who respects baseball history, there's a sense of loss. Center field will be where Melky Cabrera once stood. For all Jeter's greatness -- and say what you want about him but he's been a tremendously successful player -- thinking of him digging in to the batter's box evokes none of the same nostalgia as thinking of the Babe or any of those other folks. Some day, maybe, but not any time soon.
It'll just be a different experience.
* * * * *
If you've never been to Yankee Stadium, go. If you've never been to Fenway or Wrigley, go.
If you can swing a game in one of these places when the boys from Queens are there, gravy. And if you can swing a game in one of these places when they win 11-2, that's better, too.
But if you love baseball, you really owe it to yourself to get to these places no matter what. Old ballparks bleed the history of the game. It's not aura and it's not mystique, it's just history.
The Yankees will bring many elements of their history to the new building, but for me, the most important part will always remain rooted in the soil across the street.
And there's no changing that.
- A.F.O.M.G.
Barring a meeting in the World Series that has, to this early point in the season at least, appeared highly unlikely, and assuming I don't get tickets to some random Yankees-Red Sox game or to the make-up game from Friday's wash-out, chances are last night's game was my last visit to the original Yankee Stadium.
I hate the Yankees, I really do. But like most other baseball fans, I have a certain respect for Yankee Stadium.
It's not the 26 World Championships or the Pinstripes, it's the simple fact that so many giants of the game played there.
Glance at Carlos Beltran patrolling center field and that's where Mickey Mantle once stood; look at Ryan Church in the batter's box and it's the same spot that Babe Ruth used to dig in to. Sickeningly or otherwise, the list goes on and on.
* * * * *
Across the street from the House that Ruth Built rises a new Yankee Stadium. As me and the Hound walked past it yesterday, we both admired the look of it, and agreed that in spite of our distaste for the Yankees, we really didn't begrudge them their architecture.
It's a fine looking building; a bit totalitarian, but why shouldn't it be? I'm sure it will be a great place to watch a ball game next year and all the other years from now on.
But for all its architectural grace and for all the comfort the new seats will surely provide, it will never be the same place that Ruth or Mantle or Joltin' Joe once played. That's the choice the Yankees made.
As someone who hates the Yankees, my opinion doesn't matter much in the office marked "Steinbrenner".
But as someone who respects baseball history, there's a sense of loss. Center field will be where Melky Cabrera once stood. For all Jeter's greatness -- and say what you want about him but he's been a tremendously successful player -- thinking of him digging in to the batter's box evokes none of the same nostalgia as thinking of the Babe or any of those other folks. Some day, maybe, but not any time soon.
It'll just be a different experience.
* * * * *
If you've never been to Yankee Stadium, go. If you've never been to Fenway or Wrigley, go.
If you can swing a game in one of these places when the boys from Queens are there, gravy. And if you can swing a game in one of these places when they win 11-2, that's better, too.
But if you love baseball, you really owe it to yourself to get to these places no matter what. Old ballparks bleed the history of the game. It's not aura and it's not mystique, it's just history.
The Yankees will bring many elements of their history to the new building, but for me, the most important part will always remain rooted in the soil across the street.
And there's no changing that.
- A.F.O.M.G.
posted by A Friend of Mr. Glass' at 10:48 AM
1 Comments:
and that whole thing about moving across the street is why the Yankees have become subject to the reversed Curse of the Bambino(although the article I wrote about it seems to be down right now, figures when I want to link to it)
They knock down Ruth's house, he's not too happy. Figure it he was hanging around as a ghost watching baseball, he'd be pretty pissed that all he's going to be able to watch is some parking and making a couple of bums in a park.
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