The Mickey Mantle Memorial
Brings You New York Yankee Stadium Information

Yankee Stadium Comparisons I Baseball's Most Decorated Franchise Opens New Home I New Stadium With Same Old Tradition
New Stadium Scoreboard Is A Marvel I Mystique, Aura On Display In Bronx As Yanks Open At Home I Dining Part Of Attraction At New Stadium
Collection Of Firsts At New Yankee Stadium I New Yankee Stadium A Model Of Accessibility I Famed Ruth Bat Part Of Festivities
Older Fans Excited About New Stadium I Yanks Sod Available For Public To Buy I Yanks Prevail As Stadium Goes Dark I Yankee Stadium Career Leaders
Jeter Delivers Final Address At Stadium I Stadium Leaves Night To Remember I Yogi Enjoys Final Night At Cathedral I Yanks Alumni Consumed By Nostalgia
85 Years Of Yankee Stadium I Ruth Stevens Opens Final Game At House Her Father Built I From Cathedral, New Stadium In Sight I Monument Park Inhabitants
Boss Stays Home From Cathedral I One Last Sunday At The Ballpark I Stars Soak In Stadium's Festivities I From Two-Cent Stamps To MLB.TV
Longtime Fan Bears Witness To Finale I Yankees Old Guard Says Goodbye I Final Stadium Events Will Stand Forever I Girardi Is Moved By Final Moments
Reality Of Finale Sets In For Yankees I Bernie Returns To The Cathedral I Cathedral Holds Many Memories I More To Stadium Closing Than Goodbye

New York Yankee Stadium New & Old Comparisons

Stadium Comparison	Old Yankee Stadium	Current Yankee Stadium
Historical Date...
Opening Day	1923	2009
Existing Field Dimensions Maintained...
Field Dimensions	Left Field 318' Left Center 399' Center 408' Right Center 385' Right Field 314'	Left Field 318' Left Center 399' Center 408' Right Center 385' Right Field 314'
More Comfortable Seating...
Total Seating Capacity* (Subject to final count)	56,886	52,325 (Including Standing Room)
Seat Width	18" to 22"	19" to 24"
Legroom Between Rows	29.5"	33" to 39"
Cup Holders	N/A	Cup holders in all seating in the general seating bowl
Home Plate To Backstop	72' 4"	52' 4"
Private Luxury Suites	19	56
Party Suites**	XXX	410
Stadium Amenities for Convenience...
Average Concourse Width	17'	32'
Concession Fixed Points Of Sale Ratio	219 permanent and 79 portable points of sale, 298 total (Approximately 191 fans per point of sale)	272 permanent and 172 portable points of sale, 444 total (Approximately 117 fans per point of sale)
Restroom Fixtures Ratio	1 for every 89 Fans	1 for every 60 Fans
Family-Style Restrooms	N/A	12
Team Stores (Square Feet)	Approximately 6,800	Total Approximately 11,560 Main Store 5,825 Collectible/Art 1,735 Home Plate Store 2,435 Great Hall Store 1,565
Dining And Lounge Options	Yankee Club Stadium Club Pinstripe Pub Great Moments Room	Legends Club 2 Legends Dugout Lounges Hard Rock Cafe NYY Steak Audi Yankees Club Delta SKY360 Suite Jim Beam Suite Lounge Martini Bar Mohegan Sun Sports Bar Outdoor Patio Area Outdoor Food Court Indoor Food Court
Main Video Scoreboard	25' by 33' 25MM (Standard Def.) LED	59' high by 101' wide 16 MM True HD LED
Elevators	3	16
* The total seating capacity figures include wheelchair, aisle-transfer and companion seats. ** The Party Suites capacity figure includes wheelchair, aisle-transfer and companion seats.

It's A Grand New Era In New York Yankee Stadium History

The new Yankee Stadium, already teeming in class and history, is ready for its first season. Learn about its design and features, check out video and pictures from virtually every angle, and find out what to look for in the ballpark experience and more.

Baseball's Most Decorated Franchise Opens New Home

History was teeming at the new Yankee Stadium on April 16, 2009
when the franchise with 26 world championships opened its season in a new home for the first time since 1923.

New Stadium With Same Old Tradition
Yankees make sure that new home feels like old one, with additions

Members of the Yankees grounds crew work on the Yankee Stadium field

New Yankee Stadium: Vision to reality

Things are going to be different. They have to be. The old Yankee Stadium had been around for eight decades plus another half dozen years, and times, quite frankly, have changed.

Scoreboards are bigger and lights are brighter. Luxury boxes have become the norm. The things that were in vogue in 1923, in the Roaring '20s decade, aren't all still popular in a time of Blackberries and Twitter. So to start from scratch -- to lay a new cornerstone and to pour new concrete and to install 52,325 new seats -- the Yankees had to take some risks.

The fear, of course, was that things would be too different. And the Yankees took pains to avoid that, drawing up a blueprint that looked and felt -- apart from a few upgrades -- almost exactly like the old one.

They wanted it the same. And they made it the same.

"If you loved Yankee Stadium, it's still Yankee Stadium," chief operating officer Lonn Trost said. "We just moved it a little."

They moved it across the street, installed the requisite bells and whistles, and now they're ready to open the doors. The seats are in place and the scoreboards are mounted. The luxury suites are furnished and the concession stands are stocked, ready for the first of two exhibition games against the Cubs on Friday. And the Yankees would like to think that all the history of the old park has already made its way into this one. That the familiar aura -- that old Yankee mystique -- remains.

It was the most important stipulation the Yankees made in their stadium plans, from the moment they began designing the park. Their task was to provide their fans with all the conveniences of modernity, without disturbing a single ounce of tradition. And the Yankees believe that they've accomplished that.

"I think it's exceeded my goals," Trost said. "It's exceeded my desires by a lot. Every single thing about the stadium, every visual, every amenity, every restroom, every office, every suite, every banquet [room], every bleacher location, has exceeded what I was hoping we'd get."

And so upon entering the new Yankee Stadium, fans will see a high-definition video screen hanging in the Great Hall, an otherwise classically designed tribute to Yankees history. They will grab food at NYY Steak and the Hard Rock Café, full-service restaurants within spitting distance of Monument Park. And they will watch the same old game of baseball -- the one that Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig played way back when -- from some of the most luxurious seats in professional sports.

It's Yankee Stadium with a twist.

"All the stuff that we liked from the old stadium will be the same in the new stadium," catcher Jorge Posada said. "Obviously, for the fans there's going to be a lot of things new, but for us, we wanted to keep everything the same -- the playing field, the dirt, the grass, the lights, pretty much everything."

But placing 21st-century amenities into an 86-year-old design is no easy task. Tinker too much, and the risk of damaging that signature Yankee Stadium atmosphere increases.

So Trost, his team of Yankees executives and the HOK Sport global architecture firm examined every detail of the old Yankee Stadium, replicating all that they could. Many of its signature features, such as Monument Park and the decorative frieze, were easy to snap into place. And what the Yankees hoped was that in doing so, they would be able to transfer some of the more intangible aspects of the old stadium -- "the ghosts," so to speak -- along with them.

It was a different sort of process than, say, replanting Wrigley Field's ivy or reconstructing Fenway Park's Green Monster. More than any single architectural quirk, Yankee Stadium's charm was founded upon the success of the teams that played there. That's hard to recreate.

"We think this is a living museum with all the history that is here," Trost said. "What we tried to do was make it look like Yankee Stadium."

Whether or not they also replicated the feel will take some time to determine. But the players, the management, the ownership -- nearly everyone seems convinced.

"I know it's going to be a spectacular stadium," said closer Mariano Rivera, the longest-tenured Yankee. "A magnificent stadium."

"We're still in Yankee Stadium," Trost said. "When you see the batters and you see the pitchers and you see everything we've done, the history and the tradition, it's now here."

Posada will be one of those batters, Rivera one of the pitchers. Derek Jeter will be there, as will Andy Pettitte. And perhaps it will be those four -- the links to the Yankees' four most recent World Series titles -- who will likewise link the new Yankee Stadium with the old one. More than any coat of paint or decorative feature, the Yankees hope that winning will be the common thread.

"We still have great players on the field," Trost said, "so we certainly hope that we'll be able to accomplish what we did in 1923 in 2009."

That year, six months after opening the original Stadium, the Yankees won the World Series for the first time. It's no secret that they're aiming for some similar success in a conspicuously similar park.

"To me, I hope for just the same," Rivera said. "To me, it's still Yankee Stadium."

New Stadium Scoreboard Is A Marvel
Giant high-definition screen in center will keep fans informed

Members of the Yankees grounds crew work on the Yankee Stadium field

April 14, 2009

NEW YORK -- The thing that most distinguishes the new Yankee Stadium from the old one, that dominates the center field skyline and gives the park an entirely new look, is the scoreboard that hangs above the batter's eye in center field.

It is big, bright, vibrant, impressive. Choose your adjective, and the list goes on. It is a marvel, a monstrous board that commands attention. And the fans are sure to provide plenty of that.

"I'd be surprised if they don't love it," Yankees chief operating officer Lonn Trost said.

By the books, it is 59 feet by 101 feet, a 16-mm true high-definition video board. And hard as it is to believe, it seems even larger than that.

During the course of any given game, the main video board will display the line score in a strip across the bottom, player information with an enormous picture in the middle, and another strip at the top with a K counter, a radar gun reading and a pitch count for whoever is on the mound. Between innings, it displays many of the same entertainment features that the scoreboard at the old Yankee Stadium did, only on a larger scale, in a more vibrant style.

Compared to the main board, the two smaller boards that flank it seem precisely that: small. But they are not.

The board to the left of the main video screen displays advertisements throughout the game. And the one to the right houses the out-of-town scoreboard -- a section that shows the score of games, the pitcher and the men on base -- as well as captioning of some of the stadium's audio.

A smaller board down the right-field line also provides captioning.

There is a nearly quarter-mile ribbon board that stretches along the facing of the Terrace level, and a 383-foot ribbon board beaming in the Great Hall, the stadium's main entranceway. Also present in the Great Hall is a 24-by-36 foot high-definition video board, mammoth in comparison to nearly everything but the main scoreboard in center field. And like many of the others, this board comes with a twist.

"It's not only for enjoyment of the game-day experience," Trost said.

On the way out of games, fans can glance up at that or any number of video monitors for traffic delays and related information. If a subway line isn't running, fans can find out about it on the board. If there were ever a fire at the new Yankee Stadium, emergency exit routes would pop up on the screens. If weather patterns are affecting play, fans can see what the forecast holds.

In all, the Yankees installed nearly 1,100 high-definition video monitors throughout the stadium, with the goal of ensuring that fans won't miss a pitch when they go to the bathroom or buy a hot dog. There are video monitors at the concession stands. There are video monitors on the concourse. Anywhere a fan might be, video will be, too, showing the game in real time.

They're all impressive in their own right. But it's clear that the jewel of this stadium is the board in center field, mammoth and brilliant and vivid all at the same time. If not for the scoreboard, the new Yankee Stadium would look even more like the old park than it already does.

"Except for the huge screen above the batter's eye," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said after the first of two Spring Training games against the Cubs last weekend, "you felt like you were in old Yankee Stadium."

But with the addition of that board, fans can truly feel like they're experiencing the new Yankee Stadium -- and all the technological advances that go along with it.

Mystique, Aura On Display In Bronx As Yanks Open At Home

April 16, 2009 4:28

NEW YORK -- The only real chill on this spectacular and sunny mid-April day in the Big Apple was the one going down fans' and players' spines.

It happened everywhere you looked at Yankee Stadium on Thursday.

Not even a nine-run seventh inning for the visitors could change that.

"Today was about the new stadium," said Eddie Zeto, who made the four-hour drive with his wife Kim from Westchester, Pa., to see history happen. "It's insane. My wife bought us these tickets on MLB.com last Christmas, and it's the best gift I've ever had. It's a long enough wait for a baseball season, anyway, but especially for this. It wasn't about the score, it was about seeing a brand-new Yankee Stadium."

The 30th and final Major League Baseball home opener was finally here, Indians vs. Yankees, and John Fogerty came out to center field and serenaded everyone with "Centerfield." There were chills when Bernie Williams appeared on the giant screen behind him, and then the popular former center fielder for the Bronx Bombers came out onto the same spot and performed the same guitar version of "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" that appears on his new album.

Then, suddenly, fans started to chant "Ber-nie Wil-liams!" and everyone knew that it was just beginning. The pregame ceremony was about to go into full chill overdrive, with appearances by so many greats of the past. Fans realized right there and then that it was not really about a new ballpark, but it was about tradition.

That's baseball.

The introduction of Yankees alumni began at 12:30, followed by the baseline introductions of the Yankees and Indians uniformed personnel. Then there was an introduction of the giant American flag, unfurled by West Point cadets, a flyover by the 174th Fighter Wing, presentation of colors by the NYPD/FDNY Color Guard, and the first national anthem by Kelly Clarkson.

She hit such a high note on the word "wave," it captured exactly the moment.

It's hard to imagine life without a Yankee Stadium. There has to be one, for those who love the Yankees and even for those who hate them. It represents the most famous franchise of the sport, and now it represents new beginnings.

"It's a new stadium, but I think they did a great job of bringing the characteristics over here," said Yankees captain Derek Jeter, who had the last Yankees at-bat in the old stadium and the first one here against reigning American League Cy Young winner Cliff Lee. "I think that has to do with our fans. I would expect it to be the same atmosphere here."

It is on this day, and that is what was most noticeable about being here. It is the gradual filling of the beautiful blue seats with Yankees fans, those who demand postseasons. It is those former Yanks who came out onto the field, and that very personal feeling that each fan gets over seeing different ones. This stadium is drenched in tradition, in the form of relocated Monument Park, the Yankee Museum, the Great Hall banners and more.

One of those legendary figures was here to throw the first pitch, and that would be the immortal Yogi Berra. He was told that Tom Seaver had just thrown the first pitch at Citi Field three nights earlier after working on his mechanics and even throwing in the bullpen to warm up. How did the Hall of Fame catcher plan to do this?

"I didn't even know I was gonna throw the first pitch," he said. "I hope I can make it reach. I'm gonna cheat, I know that."

He stood between the mound and home and threw one that hopped in, but did anyone really care? No. Yogi Berra was on the field at Yankee Stadium.

People around the Yankees still buzz about the stupendous clubhouses here, and Yogi was asked about that giant space for his pinstriped successors. "They got too much room in the clubhouse," he said. "To me, if you want to talk to a guy, you gotta walk half a mile."

The first words out of Yogi's mouth when he sat down in the interview room before the game actually were these:

"OK, let's go."

They were very appropriate.

That is it feels around Yankee Universe right now. It was a long winter of talking about the new ballpark and wondering about tickets and seats. They had the two-game exhibition with the Cubs last weekend for everyone to get acclimated, but it was just a tease. This was about as late as you could ever imagine playing a home opener, April 16, and after Seattle made it the 29th home opener, finally it was the Bombers' turn.

Cleveland was almost an afterthought this morning to many people here. There was so much to see, so much Yankee history to relive, so much buildup and anticipation and chills -- and then suddenly it is just baseball.

Sabathia vs. Grady Sizemore. Former Cleveland teammates at this time last year.

"I've never been a huge Opening Day guy," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "I think it's more for the fans and baseball enthusiasts. But this is different here. I'm a big believer in the history of baseball and how it affects our American history, and it's even international now. With the old Yankee Stadium and what it's meant to the game of baseball, to be here at the first game ever at the new ballpark, I'd be lying if I said it's not special. It's special to the game."

Everything is special about this day at new Yankee Stadium. The sun is shining. The chill is going down your spine again and again. George Steinbrenner was spotted in his box on the big screen, and he was applauded and then it showed the words "Pride of the Yankees." There is history teeming everywhere here. The franchise with 26 world championships has begun its home schedule, and now at last it is time for routines and regular baseball.

Sabathia threw a ball outside to Sizemore.

Bernie played his guitar in the outfield.

"Let's Go, Yankees!" was heard in a new acoustic setting.

The roll call was shouted from the bleachers in right.

Look at me, I can be, center field.

Dining Part Of Attraction At New Stadium

Hard Rock Cafe joins NYY Steak in offering unique service

Members of the Yankees grounds crew work on the Yankee Stadium field

April 16, 2009

NEW YORK -- You know there's major appeal when rabid Yankees fans commute for multiple hours and fight nasty traffic to watch a ballgame -- on television at a bar.

You know the connection is precise when one fan -- a local pizza owner from New Canaan, Conn. -- watches the first pitch from a coveted seat at the new Yankee Stadium and views the middle innings from a spot at the circular bar, intending to stay there for the duration of the game.

Lorenzo Colella is the owner of Joe's Pizza back home. By chance, he and his friend Tommy met a contingent representing the Nutmeg State. Rounds of shots at the Hard Rock Cafe were aplenty, and that was the deal breaker. Unless you frequent the Martini bar located above the Great Hall, there is one choice of alcohol -- beer.

"We may not need to go to the Stadium," Colella said.

The game experience at the Hard Rock Cafe, located at Gate 6 in the new Yankee Stadium, began at 10 ET on Thursday morning, when a throng of people donning pinstripes and rock regalia filed into the circle bar and cozy seating area. By 2 p.m., the wait for a table was more than two hours, and navigating the restaurant was like finding wiggle room on the Major Deegan Expressway.

Hartford's Mike Mancini drove three hours to watch the game -- without a ticket. That's the main marketing strategy of both the Hard Rock and its upstairs neighbor, NYY Steak. There's a package deal with watching the Yankees at Yankee Stadium, even though you aren't viewing the field with naked eyes.

"It's been worth the trip," Mancini said. "We drove three hours, in traffic, to hang out at the Hard Rock."

If you're at the Hard Rock Cafe and not a ticket-holder, don't think about trying to sneak in. The Yankees have security staffed at back doors toward the kitchen. At the back door that leads to the Great Hall, there's a guard with a scanner, but law-abiding citizens will have plenty to do.

The Hard Rock's plans for the season include live remote broadcasts from radio stations when the Yankees are on the road and special lunch offers for those touring the facility during the offseason. Private functions and events are being arranged, including one for captain Derek Jeter's Turn 2 Foundation.

"This is the closest you'll get to being in Yankee Stadium if you're not able to get a ticket to the game but want to be a part of the action -- this is where you're going to feel it the most," said Dave Miller, the Hard Rock's director of operations. "Even if the Yankees are away, we want people to come on down. It's a great atmosphere with a great bar and a great staff. And you're inside Yankee Stadium.

"If the Yankees are playing the Red Sox in Boston, why wouldn't you want to be down by the Stadium inside a great location with a live radio broadcast in New York going on?"

And where else can you enjoy beef dry-aged for up to 28 days with a view of the Great Hall and an ambiance that combines substance with class?

Jacques Lamour is NYY Steak's general manager, and he began as a staff of one on Feb. 4 before the company evolved to a team of 65, including "Top Chef: Season 2" contestant Josie Smith-Malave as the head chef.

Lamour managed premium services at the original Yankee Stadium for four years and dealt with one common denominator -- emptiness at game time. By the fourth inning on Thursday, NYY Steak's bar was nearly full, and half of the restaurant's tables were serving appetizers and cuts of beef made from scratch.

Ron Lombardi of Mountain Lakes, N.J., is another ticket-holder who explored views from his seats for the first four innings and the Hard Rock Cafe before he and his group settled into the laid-back atmosphere of NYY Steak. He was awaiting a rib eye, but not with the impatience of a starving 7-year old.

"This is a steakhouse," Lombardi said. "The appetizers are good."

Getting in and out will soon be a breeze, with valet service to be established within the next two to three weeks on non-game days. And whether it's the Hard Rock or NYY Steak, fans will have somewhere to hang out for two hours after the game instead of fuming in traffic on the Deegan or the George Washington Bridge on a Friday night or Saturday afternoon.

For good measure, Lamour proudly boasted of something unique to the NYY Steak experience. Patrons can have their initials carved within the bone of their rib eye.

"The vision is to provide exceptional service," Lamour said. "What that means is to provide every guest with an experience they're not going to forget. That goes beyond giving them a good plate of food or serving from the left or cleaning from the right or having knowledge of the menu. It means developing a relationship with that customer and treating them like they're coming into our home."

Collection Of Firsts At New Yankee Stadium
Posada christens ballpark with fifth-inning home run off Lee

Members of the Yankees grounds crew work on the Yankee Stadium field

April 16, 2009

NEW YORK -- The first home run at the new Yankee Stadium was appropriately hit by a Yankee, as Jorge Posada christened the building with a line drive over the center-field wall in the fifth inning, plopping onto the netting that protects the relocated Monument Park.

Posada watched the ball soar toward the restaurant windows that double as a batters eye, but it was not until he reached the Yankees' dugout that the 37-year-old catcher realized he'd done something special. Posada doffed his helmet for a curtain call, an acknowledgment that history had been made.

"It's going to set in a little later," Posada said. "I'm going to remember the home run, no question about it. I'm going to remember -- it's a great thing. I'm happy about it, but right now it's a little disappointing on our part."

"I'm very happy for him," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "We don't talk a lot about individual stuff here, but for Jorgie to hit the first homer, I was very happy for him. He's been here a long time and he's meant a lot to this franchise."

The regular-season opener of the magnificent facility did not go the way of the Bombers' April 18, 1923, beginnings across 161st Street, as New York's bullpen could not hold a tie and served up another memorable moment -- Grady Sizemore's grand slam, the first home run hit into the right-field porch.

"It's always exciting coming to New York, and getting a chance to open a new stadium is something I'll always keep with me and enjoy," Sizemore said.

Everyone in uniform seemed to know something special was happening from the minute they laced up their spikes, setting foot on the field for what will be regarded as a historic occasion, no matter the outcome.

"I think it lasts for the entire day, especially when you're talking about opening a new stadium," said Derek Jeter, the first Yankees batter. "People are going to pay attention to the first hit, the first run, the first home run. It's going to go on for a while. That's a good thing. It's fun for us as players."

Johnny Damon logged the Stadium's first hit, batting with one out in the first inning and stroking a single to center field. It would be the only hit for Damon in five trips, however, so he struck a chord of melancholy when asked about the topic after the game.

"It was memorable to get the first one, but the other four I would definitely like to forget," Damon said. "That's something I will definitely always remember."

Though CC Sabathia threw the building's first pitch, a ball outside to Sizemore, the winning pitcher was Cleveland's Cliff Lee, who held the Yankees to one run in seven innings.

"After the fact, it's neat to say I started the first game in Yankee Stadium," Lee said. "To get the win makes it that much neater."

First pitch: CC Sabathia, ball to Grady Sizemore, first inning

First hit: Johnny Damon, single, first inning

First home run: Jorge Posada, solo fifth inning

First RBI: Kelly Shoppach, double, fourth inning

First run scored: Ben Francisco, fourth inning

First putout: Sizemore groundout to first baseman Mark Teixeira, first inning

First hit (Indians): Francisco, double, second inning

First strikeout: Sabathia gets Victor Martinez swinging to end the first inning

First home run (Indians): Sizemore, seventh inning

First run (Yankees): Posada, fifth inning

First RBI (Yankees): Posada, fifth inning

First error: Tony Graffanino, throw to first base, fifth inning

First wild pitch: Cliff Lee, fourth inning

First victory: Lee, Indians

First loss: Jose Veras, Yankees

First caught stealing: Sizemore -- Posada to Robinson Cano, fifth inning

New Yankee Stadium A Model Of Accessibility
Goes above and beyond catering to patrons with challenges

Members of the Yankees grounds crew work on the Yankee Stadium field

April 14, 2009

NEW YORK -- The new Yankee Stadium isn't just a cutting-edge facility, it is a groundbreaking new venture in accessibility.

After collaborations with the Department of Justice and other private groups that cater to people with disabilities, the stadium was deemed an exemplary model in going beyond the ground rules stated in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

"When we set out with this stadium, one of our top priorities was making this program state of the art in accommodating people with disabilities," team president Randy Levine said.

On Tuesday morning, the Yankees made good on their promise, unveiling a facility that caters to patrons with physical challenges in the most innovative way possible.

The new digs feature nearly 1,500 wheelchair-accessible seats, including 530 companion seats that allow non-disabled guests to sit alongside the designated wheelchair spaces. Aisle transfer seats have removable armrests so that people can easily transition into them from a wheelchair, and are dispersed equally across all price points.

In addition, the stadium is the only one in the Major Leagues that has implemented wheelchair lifts in both dugouts, allowing wheelchair users direct access to both the players' bench and the field.

"People who are in wheelchairs should have the same ability to go into the dugout on the [stadium] tour as people who don't need wheelchairs," Levine said. "For example, Joba Chamberlain's dad is in a wheelchair.

"These are great fans; some of them are our most passionate fans. They should have the exact experience as everybody else. So maybe it's not needed, maybe it's not so practical, but it's the right thing to do."

The old Yankee Stadium struggled to meet ADA standards, and both groups entered into an agreement to settle litigation on previous compliance issues in 1999.

Though all new ballparks must obey certain statutes and rules in regards to accessibility, the Yankees took their legal responsibilities one step further.

"The Yankees approached accessibility as a matter of doing the right thing in the right way," Lev L. Dassin said.

Dassin, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, was on hand on Tuesday to announce the government's successful review of the new Yankee Stadium.

"Baseball is at its best when it breaks down barriers by embracing values we cherish as a nation," Dassin said. "Qualities like empowerment, equality and teamwork. As a result of the Yankees' cooperative efforts, there is equal opportunity for people with disabilities to enjoy the new stadium and really appreciate the game. Whatever happens on the field, that's baseball at its best."

Lonn A. Trost, the Yankees' chief operating officer, also spoke on Tuesday about the importance of catering to people of all disabilities and limitations. He said that the new stadium will have free assistive listening devices, game materials in Braille or large print, and will continue to implement a program accommodating service animals.

"We wanted to do what was correct," Trost said. "You will see that we didn't have to create the various items that we have. ... We did it anyway, because it was the right thing to do."

Famed Ruth Bat Part Of Festivities
Historic item held by Jeter before being moved to museum

Members of the Yankees grounds crew work on the Yankee Stadium field

April 16, 2009

NEW YORK -- In a symbolic gesture, the bat that Babe Ruth used to christen the original Yankee Stadium on April 18, 1923, was laid across home plate before the bottom of the first inning on Thursday in the inaugural game at the new Yankee Stadium.

Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter was introduced as the first home batter of the game -- by Bob Sheppard, via recording -- before interim public-address announcer Paul Olden requested fans to direct their attention to home plate, where the lumber rested across the dish.

With the bat, Ruth hit a three-run, third-inning home run off Boston's Howard Ehmke, beginning the legend of "The House that Ruth Built." Grinning, Jeter picked up the bat and pretended as though he would use it in the at-bat before handing it to a batboy.

Ruth's thunder did not carry on to Jeter, who flied out to center field against the Indians' Cliff Lee. Jeter said he had been made aware of the Ruth bat plan in advance.

"It was fun, a nice gesture on the part of the organization to have his bat out there," Jeter said. "It was heavy, I know that."

Could he have used it against Cleveland's ace, batboy trickery notwithstanding?

"No, I could not. Not against Cliff Lee," he said. "Maybe [Tim] Wakefield or someone like that."

The bat is on loan from the collection of Richard Angrist. Following its symbolic use, it was taken directly to the Yankees Museum at Yankee Stadium, where it will remain on display until the All-Star break.

Older Fans Excited About New Stadium
Hope for future memorable moments to join those from past

Members of the Yankees grounds crew work on the Yankee Stadium field

April 14, 2009

NEW YORK -- Thoroughly impressed upon entering the Great Hall for the first time, Timothy Marston, 65, of Long Island, felt inclined to go and visit it again. So before the first pitch of the Yankees' second Spring Training game against the Cubs on Saturday, April 4, and after grabbing a hot dog, Marston made his way back down to the new Yankee Stadium's entranceway and simply looked up.

"It's so different," Marston said. "But then I look at the field and it's still the Yankees, it's still Yankee Stadium. I guess that won't change."

Part of Marston likes change, part of him does not. Part of him was eager to see the new Yankee Stadium, part of him missed the old one. They're all common sentiments, shared by so many of his generation. After decades of knowing the old Yankee Stadium and nothing else, many of the team's older fans are now adapting to the new park. And such adjustments take time.

"I was skeptical of this from the beginning," said Philip LaDuca, 71, formerly of the Bronx. "I grew up with Yankee Stadium. This is not Yankee Stadium like I know it.

But it is, in more than a few ways, still Yankee Stadium.

"I think I'll still like it," LaDuca said, laughing.

For so many of the Yankees fans who grew up watching Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris and, for the eldest among them, even Joe DiMaggio, the new Stadium is something quite new, not yet integrated into the Yankees tradition that they know. But most have high hopes.

John Ricci, 68, of Norwalk, Conn., remembered going to the old Yankee Stadium -- the old, old one, before the renovations -- as a kid, then experiencing some of these same emotions when the park reopened in 1976.

"I knew it was better, an upgrade," Ricci said. "For a while, we would say, 'It's not the same, it's the same park but it's not the same.' Then we got over it and I grew to love that park as much as anything. This will probably be the same way. It's such an improvement, whatever nostalgia we have, you have to feel excited for this new stadium, too."

The Yankees did their best to capture the nostalgia of the old park -- and the old, old park, too -- when they designed this one. Most notable is the frieze, which now wraps around the grandstand as the original copper version did back in 1923. The Yankees hung a replica of that frieze above the bleachers when they reopened the park in 1976, and it has since developed something of an iconic status -- a third logo, of sorts.

Also intact are the most recent dimensions of the old stadium. The Yankees made it a point to preserve as many aspects of the old Yankee Stadium as they could, in the hope of preserving the old feel along with it.

And their fans -- especially the older ones -- appreciate it.

"It's stuff like that that I remember," Ricci said of the frieze. "I think it was smart that they brought it over."

For many, their memories revolve around specific events. When Marston looks up at right field, for example, he remembers the 1977 World Series Game 6 he watched on TV, when Reggie Jackson hit three home runs to give the Yankees a series-clinching win over the Dodgers.

When LaDuca looks at the bleachers, he remembers the World Series game he watched from that vantage point in 1998.

There are so many memories from so many different fans, a generation full of them.

Now, they know, they will have to make new memories. And though many of the elder Yankee fans are not completely sold on the decision to leave the old Stadium behind, they're willing to give this new one a try.

After all, it's still Yankee Stadium.

"It's still the Yankees," LaDuca said. "And I'll always love the Yankees."

Yanks Sod Available For Public To Buy
Seed, pallets to be sold in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut stores

Members of the Yankees grounds crew work on the Yankee Stadium field

The smell of fresh-cut grass that signifies the beginning of the baseball season has a whole new meaning for Yankees fans.

That's because starting Friday, official New York Yankees grass seed and sod pallets are expected to be available for purchase at 25 Home Depot stores in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, according to The Associated Press.

According to the AP, the sod will cost $1.50 per square foot and the seed will cost $30 for a 3-pound bag. Smaller bags of seed will be sold at Yankee Stadium.

The product licensee, Stadium Associates, said the Yankees sod, grown by DeLea Sod Farms of East Northport on Long Island, is unique because it is supposed to be cut more frequently than regular sod. Fred Pfaff, a spokesman for the company, told the AP that the Stadium's grass is mowed twice daily during the baseball season.

Yanks Prevail As Stadium Goes Dark
Rivera secures Pettitte's victory in historic venue's final game

I got you Babe... Yanks Close House That Babe Built In Style

NEW YORK -- Eighty-five years of memorable moments and indelible achievements at Yankee Stadium have been book-ended by Babe Ruth's home run to christen the building and Mariano Rivera's final pitch to close it.

Rivera recorded the final out in the history of the Bronx's storied Cathedral on Sunday, inducing a ground ball to first base that put the finishing touches on a 7-3 decision against the Baltimore Orioles, ensuring that Yankee Stadium went out the same fashion it came in -- with a win.

"It was emotional -- it was a great night," Rivera said. "It's something that I'll never forget. I was thankful for the opportunity to be on the mound for the last out."

The Stadium's last batter was Brian Roberts, who chopped a tight shot down the first-base line. Cody Ransom gloved the ball and ran it to the bag himself, handing the ball off almost immediately to Rivera for safekeeping. The longtime closer said that he was holding it for Yankees principal owner George M. Steinbrenner, who watched the final game from home in Florida.

"I'm going to give it to George," Rivera said. "He deserves it. He's the one that put this team together. He deserves it and more than that."

A dying Ruth told fans in a farewell address: "I'm very proud to have hit the first home run in Yankee Stadium. God knows who'll hit the last one."

Sixty years later, Jose Molina answered the question, clubbing a two-run homer in the fourth inning that turned out to be the last one.

Johnny Damon also connected on a three-run homer for the Yankees, who backed starter Andy Pettitte through five-plus innings as the left-hander -- a stalwart of the club's recent championship dynasty -- went into the books as the final winning pitcher.

Following his blueprint of removing Pettitte mid-inning to provide him with an ovation from the crowd of 54,610, manager Joe Girardi trotted to the mound after the left-hander allowed a leadoff single to Ramon Hernandez. Pettitte walked off to the Yankees' dugout, waving his cap, and was called back out for a curtain call as the fans chanted his name once more.

"It was great -- it was very special," Pettitte said. "I appreciate the fans so much here. They've always been so great for me. It's very unusual -- I wasn't going to go out there, but some of the guys said to do it. I said, 'What the heck?' It's going to be right up there, as far as special nights."

Apropos for the occasion, Damon gave the Yankees the lead in the third inning, taking advantage of the short right field porch with a three-run homer. Damon's shot off Chris Waters was his 16th of the season, setting off a scramble in the first few rows of the same area where Ruth might have taken aim.

"It's at the top," Damon said. "I know I've had some big home runs here, but being able to close out the stadium -- I have no regrets whatsoever about donning the pinstripes. I'm happy I got to enjoy this day."

The Orioles got the deficit back against Pettitte in the fourth, as Kevin Millar singled, moved up on a hit and scored on Roberts' single to right field. Molina -- a 33-year-old backup catcher -- connected in the home half for his third home run of the year, a two-run shot that landed on top of the netting covering Monument Park.

"It feels great," Molina said. "I feel happy. It's one of those things you're going to remember for the rest of your life."

Jose Veras relieved and recorded the first two outs before issuing a two-out walk to pinch-hitter Oscar Salazar. Rookie Phil Coke struck out Roberts swinging to end the threat, stranding two men aboard, and recorded one more out before Joba Chamberlain hurled 1 2/3 innings to get the ball to Rivera for the ninth inning.

Pettitte, the second-winningest pitcher at the remodeled Stadium to Ron Guidry (99), threw 85 pitches over his five-plus innings of work, allowing three runs (two earned) while walking one and striking out three.

His swinging strikeout of Hernandez opening the second inning gave him 2,000 for his career, and later, the left-hander acknowledged that this game was as much a must-win as any he had pitched.

"It almost felt like a playoff series that we just won, as far as how tired I am right now," Pettitte said.

Waters, the final opposing starter in Yankee Stadium history, was charged with five runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings, walking four and striking out two. New York added two runs in the seventh to pad the lead as Jason Giambi blooped a soft RBI single into short left and Robinson Cano added a sacrifice fly.

Giambi, a veteran who will be a free agent after the season, said that he has already asked for his Yankee Stadium locker to be shipped to his home and reflected sentimentally on his seven years in pinstripes.

"This is a place where men become children and think about their heroes, and where children always remember as men," Giambi said. "It gets passed on from generation to generation about how these memories live on."

The game was preceded by a stirring ceremony in which the club paid homage to the rich history of baseball at the facility, inviting numerous legends and their family members to attend. The Yankees completed play at Yankee Stadium in the 85-year-old ballpark's 6,580th game, securing their 4,133rd all-time win. New York lost 2,430 of those contests, posting 17 ties.

Yankee Stadium's all-time hits leader -- with 1,274 -- Jeter went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts in his final game and was pulled defensively with two outs remaining in the ninth inning so he could receive an ovation.

But Jeter came through with the evening's capper as he delivered a rousing and semi-impromptu speech from the pitcher's mound, surrounded by his teammates and speaking of the honor of wearing the Yankees uniform.

Speaking of Yankee Stadium, Jeter said, "There's a lot of tradition, a lot of history, and a lot of memories. Now the great thing about memories is you're able to pass it along from generation to generation.

"And although things are going to change next year, we're going to move across the street, there are a few things with the New York Yankees that never change -- it's pride, it's tradition, and most of all, we have the greatest fans in the world."

Yankee Stadium Career Leaders

Career home runs
Mickey Mantle 266 - Babe Ruth 259 - Lou Gehrig 251

Career victories
Red Ruffing 126 - Whitey Ford 120 - Lefty Gomez 112

Career hits
Derek Jeter 1,274 - Lou Gehrig 1,269 - Mickey Mantle 1,211

Career games
Mickey Mantle 1,213 - Lou Gehrig 1,080 - Yogi Berra 1,068

Career RBIs
Lou Gehrig 949 - Babe Ruth 787 - Mickey Mantle 744

Career strikeouts
Ron Guidry 969 - Andy Pettitte 813 - Whitey Ford 748

Career saves
Mariano Rivera 231 - Dave Righetti 111 - Goose Gossage 70

Managerial wins
Joe McCarthy 809 - Joe Torre 614 - Casey Stengel 604

Wins by visiting pitcher
Hal Newhouser 17 - Jim Palmer 16 - Early Wynn 16

Jeter Delivers Final Address At Stadium
Yankees captain thanks fans during on-field celebration

Jeter addresses the fans

NEW YORK -- They didn't want to leave... Not the players... not the fans.

When the final out at Yankee Stadium was recorded at 11:41 p.m. ET on Sunday, the stands were still filled with people clapping and screaming. At the time the players would normally head for the clubhouse, the dugouts emptied onto the field. Some players immediately headed for the pitcher's mound to grab some dirt. Bobby Abreu stuffed a handful in his back pocket.

For a few moments, they high-fived and looked around at the crowd that was still on its feet, extending the stadium's last game a little further.

Then one player stood atop the mound of baseball's Cathedral, and his teammates gathered in a clump around him. Captain Derek Jeter held a microphone, and as he called for attention, the fans who had filled the ballpark with cheers all day stood quietly to listen as Jeter spoke.

"For all of us up here, it's a huge honor to put this uniform on every day and come out here and play," he said. "And every member of this organization, past and present, has been calling this place home for 85 years. There's a lot of tradition, a lot of history, and a lot of memories. Now the great thing about memories is you're able to pass it along from generation to generation. And although things are going to change next year, we're going to move across the street, there are a few things with the New York Yankees that never change -- it's pride, it's tradition, and most of all, we have the greatest fans in the world.

"We're relying on you to take the memories from this stadium and add them to the new memories that come to the new Yankee Stadium, and continue to pass them on from generation to generation. On behalf of this entire organization, we want to take this moment to salute you, the greatest fans in the world."

And with that, the Yankees took off their caps, waved them at the crowd, and the shortstop led his team in a final lap around Yankee Stadium with Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" playing in the background.

The poignant moment came at the end of an emotional day for the Bombers and their fans. Jeter said he had been asked a few days earlier to speak following Sunday's game, though he wasn't sure what he would say.

The words came from his true feelings.

When Jeter was taken out of the game with two outs in the ninth inning, he receive a standing ovation and a curtain call, and realized he didn't have anything prepared.

"When I came out in the ninth inning I said, 'I've got to think of something quick,'" Jeter said. "I knew I wanted to acknowledge the fans.

"I was scared to death," Jeter said. "When I was younger, I used to get really, really nervous when I had to do an oral report in front of 25 people. I guess I've come a long way."

His speech will be the last in a line of memorable speeches at Yankee Stadium, and the fans will never forget the words spoken in their honor from the man who has represented the organization they follow with pride.

Jeter said that moment will stand out to him in a night filled with memories, and he gave other members of the organization something to remember as well.

"I thought that it was perfect," manager Joe Girardi said. "He's someone who has grown up in this organization, and who is a true Yankee. It was just perfect. He did everything right, and it's just who he is."

"I think it was great," former teammate Bernie Williams said. "I think I would have been a nervous wreck, grabbing the microphone in front of all these people and saying what he did. He looked very poised, and he did a great job."

When they finished their lap around the field, the Yankees stayed on the field a while longer, soaking everything in. Family and friends were invited onto the field, and Williams watched as his daughters ran around in the outfield, scooping up dirt.

And they weren't alone. Baltimore's Kevin Millar and Aubrey Huff took some from the third-base line to remember Yankee Stadium, and Mariano Rivera took a plastic storage container to the mound, scratched the dirt with his cleats, then filled the container.

At one point, Jeter started to walk toward the dugout, then turned around and went back onto the field, not yet ready to leave the place he's called home since 1995. He just needed a little bit longer.

"I think a lot of people don't want to leave," he said. "Look at all the people that are still in the stands. We know we're not going to be in this stadium for a regular-season game at least with people in it, and we want to enjoy it.

"The night was perfect."

Stadium Leaves Night To Remember
Yankees fans take away countless memories from finale

They didn't want to leave... Not the players... Not the fans

NEW YORK -- They will never forget the date, Sept. 21, 2008, when Yankee Stadium became "old Yankee Stadium."

They will never forget the time the Yankees opened the gates seven hours before first pitch and let fans walk around the field.

They will never forget a 7-3 Yankees victory over the Orioles, a stadium retired on a five-game winning streak.

They will never forget the time when the whole Yankees team did a lap around the field, waving their caps at fans who didn't want it to end.

They will never forget Derek Jeter's speech -- one last memorable speech in a line of famous speeches at old Yankee Stadium.

"For us out here, it's a huge honor to put this uniform on and come out every day to play," Jeter told them after it was all over. "We have the greatest fans in the world. We're relying on you to take the memories from this stadium, take them to the new stadium, and pass them on from generation to generation."

They will never forget the time when Willie Randolph ran out to second base in the pregame ceremony and slid into the bag as if to steal it.

They will never forget the time when Jose Molina hit one deep to left, 60 years after a dying Babe Ruth told fans in a farewell address: "I'm very proud to have hit the first home run in Yankee Stadium. God knows who'll hit the last one."

They will never forget when Yogi Berra went out to his old catcher's position wearing cream-white flannel pinstripes with No. 8 on the back.

They will never forget the night camera flashes went off for hours on end like glittering stars, well past midnight.

They will never forget the time Bobby Murcer's family went out to center field in honor of their late Yankee great.

They will never forget the most perfect weather anyone could order for the last official day of summer and a night that dreams are made of.

They will never forget the time Bernie Williams came home for one last appearance in center.

They will never forget the time they sang "Y-M-C-A" together after the sixth inning.

They will never forget the time a sign out front said, "Thanks for the memories."

Abby Rosario, a season-ticket holder who brought along fellow Long Island middle school teacher Tracy Meissner for the whole day, said, "That's the sign that usually tells you about the next game. I teared up a little bit."

They will never forget the time countless collector's outside offered $20 to buy your used ticket stub.

They will never forget the time Ronan Tynan sang one last tenor version of "God Bless America" during the seventh-inning stretch.

They will never forget the time starting pitcher Andy Pettitte fanned his first batter and it then announced his "2,000th strikeout" on the DiamondVision scoreboard.

They will never forget when you could pose for pictures up against the "408 feet" marking on the ball-pocked blue wall in straightaway center field.

They will never forget one last walk through Monument Park, and the big blue No. 3 flower arrangement positioned in front of Ruth's plaque.

They will never forget how perfect strangers shared their favorite Yankee Stadium memories with each other.

"We were here for '96, and it was the loudest ever," said Greg Packer of Huntington, N.Y., getting to know another fan who had "MATTINGLY" on the back of his jersey. "Charlie Hayes caught the last out, and I remember there was a Yankees fan on one of side of me and a cop on the other, and we were all celebrating. Then Wade Boggs rode around on the horse."

They will never forget the time symbolic actors dressed in old-time uniforms ran out onto the field to simulate the 1923 lineup and other late greats who followed. They will never forget how the one guy looked so much like Casey Stengel it was scary.

They will never forget the anticipation and how the day was finally here after months and years of wondering what it would be like. Julius Horowitz of New York's Westchester County felt that way. He is 94 and was at the 1923 opener, and his family brought him here.

"I can't explain to you how I feel -- just wonderful," Horowitz said before the game, walking around the warning track with fans and surrounded by TV cameras. "I've never been down here before. I remember when Babe Ruth hit a homer. And I'm never gonna forget this day."

They will never forget seeing the Bronx Bombers one last time on a baseball field where 26 seasons culminated in World Series championships.

"This is the most exciting day ever, aside from having my daughters," said Lorraine O'Rourke of Rochelle Park, N.J., much to the chuckling dismay of her two daughters standing beside her. "I got to touch [Mike] Mussina. I asked, 'Would you mind if I touch you,' and he said, 'OK.' I might never wash my hand."

They will never forget the last time Mariano Rivera ran out from the bullpen to the mound for a ninth inning while "Enter Sandman" played.

They will never forget the time when a giant 1922 American League pennant was unveiled beyond center field.

They will never forget when Jeter was removed from the game with two out in the top of the ninth, replaced at shortstop by Wilson Betemit so that fans could shower him with chants of "DEREK JETER! DEREK JETER" and give him a curtain call.

They will never forget when Cody Ransom made the last putout in history at this ballpark, a simple 3-unassisted on Brian Roberts' grounder.

They will never forget hearing Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" one last time, then one more time, then one more time, and so on and on.

They will never forget seeing the emotion flowing on the faces of each other. Bryan Hoch, the Yankees beat writer for MLB.com, said of his most memorable moment: "For me, personally, it was walking the warning track before the game and seeing the looks on people's faces, like they were visiting hallowed ground. Tears streaming down their eyes. A sunny, hot September afternoon, looking at the new stadium from the warning track in right field."

They will never forget when Joba Chamberlain went back out onto the mound one last time after that team victory lap, slapping the pitcher's rubber twice and then waving to the area where his father was sitting.

They will never forget the time they stayed around past midnight, not wanting to leave, snapping pictures of everything that caught their eyes on the way out, so satisfied and so spent and so emotional.

They will never forget Sept. 21-22, 2008, when Yankee Stadium became old Yankee Stadium.

Yogi Enjoys Final Night At Cathedral
Eighteen-time All-Star soaks in atmosphere one last time

Yogi Berra stands behind the plate in Yankee Stadium for one last time

NEW YORK -- On any given day, baseball legend Yogi Berra can be seen walking through the Yankees' clubhouse or riding the elevator up to watch the game.

But on this particular day, Berra dressed up a little differently.

For the celebrations honoring the final game at Yankee Stadium, the former catcher donned a uniform similar to the one he wore during his playing days. Instead of the crisp white jersey worn by current players, Berra's was off-white, and the fabric was the traditional flannel.

He wore the uniform through the pregame ceremonies when he was joined by former teammates and fellow Yankees alumni on the field to honor the history of baseball's Cathedral. The memories Berra holds from his time as a player made the day bittersweet as the club prepares to move across 161st Street to its new facilities.

"You hate to see it go," Berra said. "I played here all my life. Playing with all the guys I played with was terrific."

Berra never played in the stadium as it stood Sunday night. He finished his career before it was remodeled in 1973. But the ballpark still holds the same meaning for him as the original stadium.

"It's still Yankee Stadium," he said. "It will always be in my heart."

When asked what he would want from the Cathedral, Berra joked that home plate would make a nice souvenir, knowing that that particular piece of stadium memorabilia will likely end up in Cooperstown rather than Berra's house.

Known for his unconventional sayings and "Yogi-isms," Berra was asked if he would have to amend the phrase "It ain't over 'til it's over," because even once the building is gone, the aura of Yankee Stadium will never fade.

Berra laughed.

"I say things I don't even know I say sometimes," he said. "But I'm sorry to see it over, I'll say that."

Yanks Alumni Consumed By Nostalgia
Former players overwhelmed with pregame recognition

Sunday's pregame ceremony to celebrate the final game at the ballpark

NEW YORK -- The flashes from thousands of cameras lit up the stands of Yankee Stadium during Sunday's pregame ceremony to celebrate the final game at the ballpark.

But the desire to capture a moment of history on film spread from the crowd to the field.

As a collection of Yankees alumni took their respective spot on the diamond, several carried cameras, wanting to commemorate the historic evening. Every player on the field stood along with the fans in attendance to honor the stadium that has played host to some of the most memorable moments in sports history.

"Just to be out there amongst the legends and the greats, and, obviously, Yankee Stadium, it's just heartwarming," former pitcher David Wells said. "That was the best part of it, being part of it. I'll never live this down for the rest of my life."

Before Wells jogged out to the mound, the DiamondVision screen in right field showed moments from his perfect game in 1998. For the left-hander, it brought back memories of the relationships he had with his teammates, and the family atmosphere he felt at Yankee Stadium.

And while the perfect game and World Series championship stand out to Wells as unforgettable moments at the Cathedral, the emotions he felt whenever he put on the Yankees uniform in the Bronx are something he will always remember. Wells wore the jerseys of eight different organizations throughout his career, but he said the New York fans always show their appreciation when a player puts on the pinstripes.

"These Yankees fans never forget," he said. "They hate you when you wear another uniform. I'm living proof of that, going to Boston and coming back here. But once you come back in the uniform and you pay your respects, these fans don't forget."

Wells stood in a prime spot atop the Yankees dugout during the ceremony, giving him a chance to talk with all the honorees before they took the field. Before former second baseman Willie Randolph took the field, Wells and several others provoked him to slide into second base.

And as Randolph started to jog out to the cheers, he picked up speed and the crowd roared as he slid into second base with a smile spread across his face.

Yanks Alumni Consumed By Nostalgia
Former players overwhelmed with pregame recognition

Sunday's pregame ceremony to celebrate the final game at the ballpark

"I knew they knew what I am all about," Randolph said. "I feel their love and I love them. To be back here is always special. To walk through those gates, I am going to miss the old place, man. But it's time to move on."

For certain legendary names, the honor of taking the field was bestowed upon family members. As Mickey Mantle's name was called over the public address system, his son, David, jogged the center-field position his father took for most of his 18 seasons with the Yankees. And David wore the same sort of flannel uniform his father did, saying that he now understood why his dad had always complained of the itch.

Before he arrived at the stadium, not even Mantle knew what the night's ceremonies entailed. A bus came to pick him up at the hotel, and from there, the day rolled along. But as he got to catch up with some of his father's former teammates, he had time to take in the special day.

"It was a great pleasure and a real honor," Mantle said. "It was the pride and tradition, playing 18 years for the Yankees was just what Dad always dreamed of. It's too bad that he's not here to represent instead."

The names of those who stood on the grass at Yankee Stadium prior to Sunday's contest was a staggering remembrance of years of history, and the experience was overwhelming for many.

"They all had heart and they all had soul," Dave Winfield said. "I'm just happy to play for a great organization. Your little contribution adds up to great contributions. When I saw Babe Ruth's daughter, you could have hit me over the head with a feather. That's awesome. Then to see Whitey [Ford] and Yogi [Berra] and think about over 80 years. Think about that."

One of the more poignant moments took place when Bobby Murcer's name was announced and his wife and children walked to center field in his memory. His daughter Tory's eyes filled with tears as the cheers filled the stadium and the fans and players alike remembered Murcer.

"That was a moment right there," Wells said. "I just lost it. I knew I would at some point."

As the ceremony continued, fans waited with anticipation for the announcer to call one name -- Bernie Williams. Williams had not returned to Yankee Stadium since 2006, and prior to the celebration, he said he felt the nerves he used to feel before a playoff game. And when his name was announced as the final player to be honored on Sunday night, chants of "Bernie! Bernie!" accompanied him on his way to the field.

The night was a remembrance of a historic ballpark, but for the players who returned to honor it, it also marked a chance to reunite and reminisce about the times they'll keep with them from baseball's Cathedral.

"It's great to have all those guys back," former first baseman and team captain Tino Martinez said. "It's teammates you won titles with. Fans really showed their appreciation.

"I just kept looking around. I was standing at first base, just looking at the fans, just thinking about what a great night it is, all the great moments that I was able to experience here."

85 Years Of Yankee Stadium
Legends of all decades represented at pregame ceremony

Generations merge in Stadium sendoff

NEW YORK -- Capping a ceremony honoring the 85 years of Yankee Stadium's place as one of America's most prestigious addresses, Bernie Williams tipped a hat in center field to chants of "Bernie! Bernie!," ending his personal absence of nearly two years at Yankee Stadium.

Williams crossed his heart and raised both hands in the sky as he shook hands with family members of Mickey Mantle and Bobby Murcer, reclaiming his rightful place among the Yankees' top center fielders of all time.

It was Williams' first appearance at Yankee Stadium since his final day as an active player in October 2006, though the four-time World Series champion has not officially retired from baseball.

The ceremonial first pitch was thrown by Julia Ruth Stevens, the daughter of the slugger who christened the stadium with a home run in its first game on April 18, 1923. Ruth Stevens threw the first pitch of Yankee Stadium's final game to Yankees catcher Jorge Posada.

The ceremonies opened with the clear, concise and correct speech patterns of venerable public-address announcer Bob Sheppard, who recorded his portion of the ceremony from his home in Baldwin, N.Y., unable to attend games in the Bronx this season as he recovers from a respiratory illness.

"I've missed being at the Stadium this season, but I hope to see everyone next year in the New Yankee Stadium," Sheppard said. "And now, it's time to sit back, as the Yankees pay homage to The House that Ruth Built. So, friends, I'll see you next season."

Turning over the microphone to masters of ceremonies John Sterling and Michael Kay, the duo watched as a historic memento from the Yankees' past was unveiled.

Workers pulled a black tarpaulin from the black beyond the center-field wall, revealing the first flag in history to fly at Yankee Stadium: the club's original 1922 American League Championship pennant, outlined in red and proclaiming in blue text upon yellowed white: "NEW YORK YANKEES LEAGUE CHAMPIONS 1922."

With that, the club rolled Yankee Stadium's clock back to Opening Day 1923, with a cast representing the Yankees' lineup from that day exiting from a runway behind the right-field wall, plus club mainstays like manager Joe McCarthy, Bill Dickey, Red Ruffing, Lefty Gomez and, of course, the Iron Horse, Lou Gehrig.

The Yankees found more than 700 living alumni as they scoured their archives. Those who were not able to attend were acknowledged on the DiamondVision screen in right-center field, as the club rolled back the annals of its best at each position since Yankee Stadium opened its doors for the first time.

In a celebratory scene similar to the festivities that preceded the July 15 All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium, most garnered loud, passionate reactions as fans treated them as though they were taking the field for a game.

The Yankees paid tribute to great alumni who have passed away by inviting family members to don their uniforms.

Cora Rizzuto, the devoted wife whom Phil Rizzuto rushed across the George Washington Bridge to on so many occasions, walked to shortstop escorted by Yankees closer Mariano Rivera. Helen Hunter, the wife of Jim "Catfish" Hunter, went to the mound.

The children of Roger Maris, Elston Howard and Thurman Munson also took their fathers' positions across the diamond. Mickey Mantle's son Danny, bearing a striking resemblance to his father, tipped his cap in center field, and Kay Murcer -- the wife of Bobby, who passed away this year -- walked to center field holding hands with their two children.

The requisite chants of "Reggie! Reggie! Reggie!" made the building sound like 1977 all over again, and the introductions of Scott Brosius and Tino Martinez flashed memories back to the club's most recent championship years.

The cheers grew louder and louder as Yogi Berra's eyes moistened, the former catcher trotting a few steps before walking the rest of the way to take his position behind a home plate that he joked would make a great souvenir to bring back to New Jersey.

Berra's batterymate of perfection from the 1956 World Series, Don Larsen, couldn't wait that long -- Larsen bent over and took dirt from the Yankee Stadium mound during the ceremonies.

Some showcased the flair from their playing days: Willie Randolph ran onto the field and, instead of joining Billy Martin Jr. and Bobby Richardson at his former position, made a tight left turn and slid into second base, grinning and waving to the roaring crowd.

Players from both clubs lined the railings of each dugout, some holding cameras to preserve the moment for themselves. Each base for Sunday's game showcases the circular Yankee Stadium logo, which has been worn on the club's uniform sleeves all season.

Following the introduction of the Yankees' greats, Sheppard announced the Yankees' starting lineup for the first time this season and the last time in this Stadium, sending each player out to his position. The United States Army Field Band performed the national anthem.

Derek Jeter was honored before the game for being the all-time hits leader at Yankee Stadium, a feat he accomplished on Tuesday night, when he eclipsed Gehrig's stadium total with his 2,170th hit.

Below is a list of players represented at their respective positions prior to Sunday's Yankee Stadium finale:

LEFT FIELDERS
Roy White, Dave Winfield

SHORTSTOPS
Cora Rizzuto (escorted by Mariano Rivera), Gene Michael

THIRD BASE
Graig Nettles, Wade Boggs, Scott Brosius

RIGHT FIELD
Randy Maris, son of Roger Maris; Reggie Jackson; Paul O'Neill

SECOND BASE
Billy Martin Jr.; Bobby Richardson; Willie Randolph

FIRST BASE
Moose Skowron; Chris Chambliss; Tino Martinez

CATCHER
Yogi Berra; Cheryl Howard (daughter of Elston Howard); Michael Munson (son representing Thurman Munson); Joe Girardi

PITCHERS
Whitey Ford; Don Larsen; Helen Hunter (wife of Catfish Hunter), Goose Gossage; Ron Guidry; David Wells; David Cone

CENTER FIELD
David Mantle (representing Mickey Mantle); wife Kay Murcer and their two children; Bernie Williams

Ruth Stevens Opens Final Game At House Her Father Built
Babe's daughter tosses out first pitch

Ruth Stevens opens final game at house her father built

NEW YORK -- Julia Ruth Stevens set up close to home plate on Sunday at Yankee Stadium and tossed a dribbler toward home plate, falling well short of Jorge Posada's glove in a moving ceremonial first pitch.

While it was fitting for the daughter of the greatest player in franchise history, Babe Ruth, to open the final game in the house her father "built," Ruth Stevens knew the Babe would have been amused by the sight.

"He knew I didn't throw very well," Ruth Stevens said with a laugh. "But I taught him how to bowl."

Taking the field, out of her wheelchair for a brief moment, Ruth Stevens felt a tremble throughout her body. She accepted the invitation to throw out the first pitch only a day before, and when the moment arrived, it brought upon her three predominant responses.

"Thrilling, exciting and scared to death," Ruth said.

Ruth Stevens still has memories of her father slamming long home runs, starting with 1927 in Yankee Stadium. And even though it's terrible to think the ballpark has reached its final days, she understands that this moment had to come at some point.

"I am very sad that Yankee Stadium is not going to be in existence any longer," Ruth Stevens said. "I wish it could have remained as a New York landmark, but I guess, like all things, it has come to its final days and it has to go. But I'll always have the memories of my father hitting those home runs out into the bleachers. And I have a lot of his pictures, and I'll just remember those, and the glory days of the old Yankee Stadium. And I hope the new Yankee Stadium brings good luck to the Yankees."

From Cathedral, New Stadium In Sight
Fans wistful, optimistic about exchanging the old for the new

Fans with Cathedral memories are looking forward to making new memories at the new Yankee Stadium

NEW YORK -- Fans on Yankee Stadium's escalators hurried to their seats. Step by step, right-foot leap by left-foot leap, they anxiously moved toward the tiers that wouldn't wait for them past this weekend.

To the upper decks, to the "penthouse," as one woman put it, they exhibited the panic of one missed pitch turning into two.

Then, in between the levels -- curiously -- they stopped.

The gold-encrusted lettering in their field of view shot sunlight into their eyes. The white stone, reminiscent of "a marble coliseum," as one gentleman put it, stopped them in their tracks. Almost every one of them pulled out a camera, zoomed in, and took a picture of the new -- and the soon-to-be only -- Yankee Stadium.

Price tag: $1.3 billion and a move out of the current -- and soon to be non-existent -- Yankee Stadium. Often, the new building's shine attracts a childlike jaw-drop. And other times, the traditionalists shooed off the notion of abandoning the perch in which they viewed their team's alleged new "home."

"It's the history of it," Victor Ridern said in defense of the current Yankee Stadium. "You can't go over there and say Bath Ruth played there. I don't think they should get rid of this one."

Nobody can rob the meaning of the stone on which they stand, which will create anything but a clean break from the Cathedral. Newer doesn't necessarily translate into better in the eyes of some Yankee fans, especially one picture-taker, who packed his lens into his backpack and said, "Too much money."

Across the way, John Daneker posed in front of an outfield view for his wife Cindy's camera, reminiscing about coming to Yankees games with his father for 25 years. Glancing across the street, and circling back to view the current stadium, John Daneker has yet to fall prey to the new building's charm.

"Does it impress me? I think it's kind of sad that they are tearing the old place down," Daneker said. "They are definitely doing it right, building it like the old stadium, but it will never be like this place."

But he said that Yankees fans have to realize that new stars have blossomed before their eyes, such as Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams and Mariano Rivera. And more heroes will come. The mystique of yesteryear has not left; it has only reformed in recent triumphs.

"You think about all of the players, and at some point, these guys are going to be down there," Skeet said, envisioning "half of the '99 Yankees" with busts. "And then you realize, I am living through that period right now."

Still, the fans' memoirs cannot be bought by a pricey stone pillar. Michael Murphy, who was thrilled to squint through his glasses at a tiny digital picture of the white stones, still holds another Yankee Stadium photograph quite dear. It's an image of Murphy and his father, Joe, sitting in their seats at Game 4 of the 1999 World Series.

On that same day, their favorite player, Paul O'Neill, mourned his father's passing only hours before the Yankees won it all. In a moment, the two Yankees fans realized what a gift it was to watch -- together -- their team win. To this day, Murphy, a social worker, keeps that photograph in his desk at work.

"In terms of the Yankees, Yankee Stadium, it's the only baseball team I ever liked, so, yes, we don't have the same personal memories as over here," Murphy said, pointing to the new Yankee Stadium and adding that his father joined him for their final game at their favorite old ballpark Saturday. "But we fully intend on making many more of our own over there."

"It will be tough," Murphy continued, envisioning his final walk through Yankee Stadium's tunnels Saturday afternoon, which others will travel Sunday. "I wouldn't be surprised if there were some tears shed."

While Monument Park will move into the latest Yankee Stadium in 2009, it's impossible to relocate the nostalgia of World Series titles and Hall of Fame players. Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle and others will remain attached to the old grounds. It was even rumored that some of those legends were buried under their plaques, joked fan Harold Skeete.

Monument Park inhabitants

MONUMENTS

Miller Huggins 5/30/32
Lou Gehrig 7/4/41
Babe Ruth 4/19/49
Mickey Mantle 8/25/96
Joe DiMaggio 4/25/99

9/11 tribute 9/11/02

MONUMENT PARK PLAQUES
(in order of dedication)
Jacob Ruppert
Ed Barrow
Pope Paul VI
Joe McCarthy
Casey Stengel
Pope John Paul II
Thurman Munson
Elston Howard
Roger Maris
Phil Rizzuto
Billy Martin
Whitey Ford
Lefty Gomez
Bill Dickey
Yogi Berra
Allie Reynolds
Don Mattingly
Mel Allen
Bob Sheppard
Reggie Jackson
Ron Guidry
Red Ruffing

Boss Stays Home From Cathedral
Closing night is bittersweet for Steinbrenner family

George Steinbrenner was last seen at Yankee Stadium during the All-Star Game in July

NEW YORK -- George Steinbrenner was the centerpiece of Major League Baseball's pregame festivities for the All-Star Game on July 15, circling the warning track at Yankee Stadium and looking into the stands with wet, appreciative eyes.

On Sunday, as the Yankees bid farewell to their home for the last 85 seasons -- the Yankee Stadium that Babe Ruth may have built, but George owned -- Steinbrenner remained home in Florida, viewing on television and entrusting the transition to his children.

Co-chairman Hal Steinbrenner spoke on behalf of the club's ownership following the stirring pregame ceremony, which included appearances by many former Yankees greats, as well as representation of legends who have passed on.

"It's mixed emotions. Tonight is about this facility and 85 wonderful years," the younger Steinbrenner said. "I've got a lot of memories, over 30-plus years of it. As excited as I am to go into the new facility, there's a little bit of mixed emotion."

Venerable public address announcer Bob Sheppard appeared via recording, but there was no acknowledgment of Steinbrenner, who has been the Yankees' owner since purchasing the club in 1973. Hal Steinbrenner and Jennifer Steinbrenner-Swindal represented club ownership on Sunday.

"As could be expected, he's been very emotional," Steinbrenner said of his father. "It's been 35 years. He was a big part of getting the renovation done, and when it was done, of course, we were in the World Series and won two of them [in 1977 and 1978], and numerous ones since. He was very emotional about it, without a doubt. I think we all are. That was an amazing night and I don't think anyone can argue it."

The $1.3 billion building rising quickly across 161st Street is, largely, a major piece of Steinbrenner's vision and stewardship at the helm of the franchise.

Steinbrenner was instrumental in ordering the 1974-75 overhaul that provided the Stadium with the current layout and structure that has become synonymous with the club's recent era of success.

But he pushed repeatedly for the type of world-class new stadium that the Yankees will soon enjoy, and Hal Steinbrenner spoke optimistically that fans will embrace the new stadium's amenities come the opening of next season.

"It's phenomenal," he said. "It's going to give our fans so many memories, so much nostalgia of this particular ballpark, but at the same time it's going to be a better fan experience in many, many ways. It's a great monument.

"It's exactly what this city and their fans deserve. If you're going to move into a facility and leave this one, that's the one. There's going to be very, very much [of] this team's history there."

Steinbrenner, who lists Mike Torrez catching the popup to end the 1977 World Series as his favorite Yankee Stadium memory, said that heavy consideration went into the proper way to execute Sunday's festivities.

One major decision was permitting fans to enter the stadium early and visit Monument Park for three hours in the early afternoon, ringing the warning track around the field and having the opportunity to slowly say goodbye to the facility.

"These are things we've been thinking of for months," Steinbrenner said. "You can imagine, after 85 years, trying to figure out how to do a proper sendoff to this great facility and the millions of fans over the years that have seen it.

"A lot of thoughts came in, a lot of good ideas came in. We just wanted the fans to be a part of it, to take some part of it with them, even more so than on a normal game or season. Letting them walk on the field and feel the Stadium, we knew that would be special."

The festivities were tinged with the reality that the Yankees, provided one more loss or Red Sox victory, will not qualify for postseason play for the first time since the strike-shortened 1994 season.

Steinbrenner said that decisions would begin within the next couple of weeks on a variety of major personnel issues for 2009, including the status of general manager Brian Cashman, who has served in that position for the franchise since 1998.

"We've got a lot of decisions to make and we know that," Steinbrenner said. "We've got numerous areas to improve in, we know that, and we're going to do everything we can. That much, I promise the fans. We will do each and everything we can to make this team even better than it already is. That's our promise to you."

One Last Sunday At The Ballpark
Fans, players paint final scene before bidding Stadium farewell

From A-Rod to a Yankees fan, Yankee Stadium has more than left an impression during its 85 years

NEW YORK -- They arrived early on a cloudless Sunday afternoon, lining 161st Street armed with cameras. It was a perfect opportunity: With one slight movement, you could point to the present, soon to be the past, and take a breathtaking view toward the future.

A deep fly ball from where it used to "get late early out there" in Yankee Stadium's left field, as Yogi Berra would say, the 12-foot-high blue letters spelling out the new home of the Yankees stood out against the perfect blue sky.

It was absolutely worth a look. But this was a day for nostalgia and history, two things no place is better synonymous with than Yankee Stadium. They lined up in pinstriped jerseys outside Gate 4 in reverse succession, Derek Jeter's No. 2, Babe Ruth's No. 3, Lou Gehrig's No. 4.

"The great thing about being part of this and being in New York is that people understand what this is about," manager Joe Girardi said. "They understand the history of this stadium. What this building has meant to the city, to baseball and all the other events that happened here -- NFL championships, college football, boxing matches, papal visits.

"This has been a big part of our history, not just of baseball, but of our country."

Thousands waited to take a final stroll through Monument Park and around the warning track, ringing the field and bending over to tie their shoes, in an attempt to hide a swift collecting of treasured soil.

Perhaps home plate is not in the exact same location where Ruth connected for a home run to christen the building in 1923 -- the 1974-75 renovation actually moved the batter's box about 10 feet -- but the concrete was deemed strong enough to continue standing. The walls have still seen so much.

"It's the same building here," Berra said on Sunday. "They did a little remodeling on it, but it's still Yankee Stadium. Everyone, when they come to New York -- even my friends -- want to see Yankee Stadium. It will always be in my heart. It will."

It seemed worth the slow procession through the darkened concrete concourses, a pathway that will not exist after passing through the gates next year -- when each fan purchasing a commemorative program will have a clear and unhindered view of the playing field.

On this day, the final programs were $10 -- pencils, as always, were free. The DiamondVision screen in right-center field focused on the bronze profile of Lou Gehrig, displaying in large blue letters, "Thank You, Fans."

Many of the players stayed late on Saturday, enjoying the field one last time. Girardi threw batting practice to his 6-year-old son, Dante, while Joba Chamberlain, Johnny Damon and Jason Giambi each showed family members around the darkened field.

The youngest Yankees were the first to arrive on Sunday, with Phil Coke and Cody Ransom standing outside the press entrance, looking up at the quotation attributed to Joe DiMaggio: "I'd like to thank the good Lord for making me a Yankee."

They would disappear down the small, narrow blue staircase, guarded by the forbearing sign: "Players and Press Only." They followed a blue line along walls that had been stripped bare.

Photographs of Ruth, Gehrig, Mickey Mantle and other legends had been removed earlier in the week so, as Andy Pettitte explained, "they wouldn't start walking off." Pettitte admitted he had his eye on bringing a Whitey Ford lithograph back to Texas.

Making one final walk around the stadium on a game day, fans pressed against a chain-link fence in left-center field, aiming their cameras past the waiting ambulance to catch a fleeting glimpse of the empty ballpark.

A few feet away, fans lined five deep to meet Harlan Chamberlain, the father to the Yankees' Joba. The souvenir tables and beer taps were busy at Stan's Sports Bar on River Avenue, and the sound of Yankee Stadium's organ playing a Herman's Hermits tune spilled onto the street.

Those not grasping tickets tried mightily to scour some, calling out. One fan scrawled a cardboard sign reading, "Need one ticket." At the will-call window, rows ranged in the dozens of those crowding to pick up their ducats.

A radio broadcast of the Giants' NFL game crackled on a personal radio, but no one paid much mind. It was an afternoon for baseball. A pregame ceremony at the current stadium began at 7:05 p.m. ET, and encompassed the chronology of Yankees greats who played in the field's expanses.

Among the distinguished alumni scheduled to take part in the festivities were Berra, Ford, Goose Gossage, Ron Guidry, Graig Nettles and Bobby Richardson. Bernie Williams spoke to the media earlier in the day and said it was like old times coming back, with fans begging for autographs as he entered the players' entrance.

For at least a day, he was playing again, and said -- a few hours before he is expected to jog out to center field and bring the house down -- "I think there's no question in my mind that I have to be here."

The ceremony is also expected to feature representatives from the families of deceased Yankees greats Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Thurman Munson and Phil Rizzuto, among numerous others.

Two longtime icons of the Yankees organization, George Steinbrenner and public-address announcer Bob Sheppard, are not expected to attend, though the club's ownership will be represented by Steinbrenner's sons, Hank and Hal, and daughters, Jennifer and Jessica.

The game will be televised nationally on ESPN, with first pitch scheduled for approximately 8:15 p.m. ET, and coverage of all Yankee Stadium-related ceremonies can be viewed on the YES Network.

"A historic artifact from the Yankees' past will also be unveiled," the team said, urging fans to be in their seats by 6:50 p.m.

It is likely that Sunday starter Pettitte will be removed mid-inning so the Yankee Stadium crowd is able to offer him a similar ovation to the one Mike Mussina received on Friday.

Win or lose, Girardi intends to ensure the last Yankees pitcher throwing a ninth inning at the stadium will be Mariano Rivera. Jeter and Alex Rodriguez are likely to play all nine innings, and Girardi said he would start Hideki Matsui at designated hitter.

"I think there's a lot of thought that goes into it, because you want to feel that you did it the right way, and the way that honors the organization and the stadium the most," Girardi said.

Those intending to obtain souvenirs of Yankee Stadium on their own are strongly urged to reconsider. Damaging or theft of stadium property is a crime, and the New York Police Department, Major League Baseball and several federal and state agencies have joined in the effort to safeguard against any unlawful activity.

"Numerous law enforcement agencies will be on hand for the final game to ensure a safe and enjoyable fan experience," the team said. "Violators will be prosecuted by the Bronx District Attorney's Office to the fullest extent of the law."

The Yankees confirmed that Sunday's game will not be the final event at Yankee Stadium. It was reported earlier this week that a Nov. 9 ceremony and concert will be held to celebrate the stadium, though the club has not confirmed that date or accompanying details.

Stars Soak In Stadium's Festivities
Mayor Giuliani among several personalities on hand

As a child, Richard Gere recalls watching Mickey Mantle roam Yankee Stadium

NEW YORK -- Believe it or not, actor Richard Gere was 12 years old once. And when he was that most impressionable age, in 1961, there was no other player to love than a certain member of the Yankees.

"No question," Gere said, "my favorite player had to be Mickey."

Mickey Mantle, the Yankees' preeminent star in the 1950s and '60s, flew around the bases and took the actor's heart in his childhood. Even for a boy born in Philadelphia, the Yankees and their stadium underlined the essence of baseball, something he hoped his son, Homer, would grasp as they watched batting practice from outside of the home dugout at Yankee Stadium on Sunday.

In the stadium's final moments, Gere brought his family to the venue that hosted his childhood idols, saying he almost came to tears as he walked on to the field.

So what is his favorite moment in Yankee Stadium?

"It was bringing them here for the first time," Gere said of his wife and child. "I keep thinking about the history, the sense of tradition. It's important to culture."

In agreement with that, filmmaker Spike Lee was in attendance to capture the stadium's final moments. Also in attendance were actor Matthew Modine and famous college basketball coach Bobby Knight. Actor Val Kilmer also strode foul territory, keeping it short and sarcastic when trying to think of his favorite moment at Yankee Stadium.

"I had a date here once," Kilmer said.

With who?

"A girl," he said, still smiling.

Is that really your favorite moment?

"Oh no, it would have to be today," Kilmer said on Sunday, beginning to walk away from the conversation. "It's so sad, but so exciting."

Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, like any good politician, spoke at length about his years heading the city while the Yankees were king. But he also witnessed greatness at Yankee Stadium as a kid, which came in the form of Roger Maris' 61st home run, stellar performances from the DiMaggio brothers and interactions with a gracious star, Yogi Berra.

Giuliani was a catcher as a youth, and he stood outside Yankee Stadium waiting for the legendary backstop after a game. Beyond his expectations, Berra appeased Giuliani and a group of kids by signing every autograph.

But his greatest keepsake he held in his hand Sunday -- a "PD" NY "FD" hat. After the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Giuliani wore the cap around town, despite the fact that the yellow letters on either side of the Yankees' logo were flipped.

Regardless, baseball helped rehabilitate a devastated city, and it was then that the mayor learned how important sports were to the residents of New York. They identified themselves as Giants fans, Jets fans, Mets fans and Yankees fans.

And Yankee Stadium was the largest part of that heritage. While it will be sad to lose the dirt and the grass where the current stadium stands, a new era, he said, can be started across the street.

"You realize you are very lucky to be a Yankee fan. You have more championships than all the other teams," Giuliani said. "To be standing in the exact spot where Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio stood and Lou Gehrig stood ... to a sports fan, history is important, and this place has more history than any sports venue, I believe, in the world. Now it's going to be moved across the way."

From Two-Cent Stamps To MLB.TV
A look at the world's changes since the Cathedral's opening

A larger-than-life icon of the Roaring '20s, Babe Ruth slugged the first homer in Yankee Stadium

When Yankee Stadium opened on April 18, 1923, the world was quite a different place than it is today, when the old ballpark in the South Bronx hosts its final game Sunday.

What exactly has changed over the years? Well, here are just a few things.

In 1923, the construction of the Stadium was finished for a total cost of $2.5 million.

In 2008, the Yankees' third baseman, Alex Rodriguez, salary was $28 million. Their first baseman and designated hitter, Jason Giambi, has made more than $23 million. Their shortstop, Derek Jeter, has made over $21 million.

In 1923, a first-class stamp cost 2 cents.

In 2008, it's 42 cents.

We won't even discuss gas prices.

But enough with all that.

Let's talk about how the world has, well, evolved, while the Yankees were busy winning 26 World Series titles in the past 85 years.

In 1923, Vladimir Kosma Zworykin patented the iconoscope, a transmission tube that eventually led to television.

In 2008, all Yankees games can be seen in high-definition on the YES Network and can also be watched right here on MLB.TV.

And there have been a lot more developments than that in the world of baseball.

In 1923, history was made when President Warren Harding died of a heart attack in August and was replaced by Calvin Coolidge.

In 2008, history was made when Barack Obama became the first African-American nominee of a major party for U.S. President.

In 1923, Time magazine printed its first issue, with a picture of retired House of Representatives Speaker Joseph G. Cannon gracing the cover.

In 2008, actress Dyan Cannon watched her favorite team, the Los Angeles Lakers, lose in the NBA Finals to the Boston Celtics.

Musical advances have taken place in the past 8 1/2 decades, too.

In 1923, Bessie Smith recorded her first song, "Down Hearted Blues," a huge hit that made her known as the Queen of the Blues.

In 2008, the Police finished up their reunion tour anything but down-hearted after grossing close to $360 million. They sang "King of Pain."

In 1923, Harlem's Cotton Club opened and included concerts by Cab Calloway.

In 2008, the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Tennessee featured a set by Death Cab For Cutie.

Let's not forget film and literature, either.

In 2008, the actor known as Keanu Reeves starred in "Street Kings." Reeves used to play bass in a band called Dogstar.

In 1923, the famed Hollywood sign was erected.

In 2008, comedian Howie Mandel finally got his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 1923, Irish poet William Butler Yeats won the Nobel Prize for Literature "for his always inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation."

In 2008, A New Earth, by Eckhart Tolle, became an Oprah's Book Club selection. "Oh my gosh," Oprah Winfrey said. "I love this book because my goal in life is to get people to think for themselves in a way that they know who they are."

Yes, time has moved on and a lot has happened in the world and in America since 1923, but baseball's Cathedral has always stood in the same spot -- that is until next year.

But on that magical Opening Day, April 18, 1923, Babe Ruth strode to the plate in the third inning and took Boston Red Sox pitcher Howard Ehmke deep for the first home run in Yankee Stadium history.

And now, with the park shutting its doors and making way for the new Yankee Stadium just a Ruthian blast away and ready for business in April 2009, one can only wonder what will happen between then and 2094.

Hopefully, we'll be around to write about it.

Longtime Fan Bears Witness To Finale
Lang in Cathedral with husband, Seeing Eye dog Laramie

Before I leave the Stadium I want to touch these walls, I want to feel everything

NEW YORK -- As Jane Lang stepped on the warning track at Yankee Stadium on Sunday morning, she bent down to touch the dirt beneath her before she walked any further. She reached for the blue outfield wall.

And when she walked through Monument Park, she put her hands on the plaques and monuments for the last time in their original home.

"Before I leave the Stadium I want to touch these walls, I want to feel everything," she said.

While fans started lining up early Sunday morning for one last glimpse of baseball's Cathedral, Lang waited for a final touch. A touch, because Lang has never seen Yankee Stadium. Not in the traditional sense.

Lang is blind, but she has been a witness to countless moments in the Stadium.

She started coming to games with her Seeing Eye dog, Laramie, eight years ago, and before that, she came with friends and family who guided her through the ballpark. Lang has built friendships with numerous fans, ushers and other Stadium regulars throughout the years, and has gathered a collection of addresses to keep in touch.

"I write to people all year, and they're really friends because we have the Yankees in common, and we have a lot of other things in common," she said.

Sunday, she made her final visit to Yankee Stadium with her husband, Pete, and Laramie, who wore his own miniature Yankees cap. It also marked Laramie's final day of work, as Lang will retire him Monday, but keep him as a pet. Lang wore a matching hat, but hers was filled with pins displaying the pictures of Yankees and one in the shape of a jersey with No. 62 on the back. It was a gift from pitcher Joba Chamberlain. Lang's seats in the handicapped section behind home plate have given her the opportunity to get to know the 22-year-old standout.

Lang, 61, makes the trip from her home in Morris Plains, N.J., about 25 times a year, and in recognition of her loyalty, she took part in the MetLife countdown on Aug. 30, pulling the lever to help bring the Yankees one step closer to their final day in the historic ballpark.

But her favorite game at Yankee Stadium remains one that took place eight years ago. It was the first time Lang came to the park by herself. She took a train from Morris Plains to Penn Station, then walked to 34th Street to catch the D Train and stepped from the platform to hear the familiar sounds of 161st Street and River Avenue.

As Lang sat in her seat during the game, she began to cry.

"What are you crying for?" an usher asked her. "We haven't even lost yet."

But the tears came from pure happiness.

"I never thought I'd be able to learn the way to Yankee Stadium, I thought it would be too hard," Lang said. "But it's really not. And since then, I can come any time I want."

Lang and her husband will celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary next week, and Pete said for the past few years when he's asked his wife what she wants for a gift, the response has not wavered -- "Take me to Yankee Stadium."

During her final visit, Lang took the time to soak everything in. She smiled and laughed as she walked through Monument Park with other fans, exclaiming, "Isn't this great?"

"I saw some of the monuments, I got to touch them, but sometimes my hand just itches like, 'Let me see,'" she said. "But I'm grateful just to be here and walk around the field. It just means so much."

Lang donned a Bernie Williams jersey Sunday and said she couldn't wait to yell and cheer for her favorite player as he returned to the field as part of the celebration of the Cathedral. If she could have entered the Stadium at 6 a.m., she would have. For Lang, the last visit was bittersweet, and she wanted as much time as she could get to take it all in one final time.

"It's sad because I love this place, and I know my way around, I feel at home," she said. "I really love this place, and I don't know what the new stadium's going to be like, but as long as it has the Yankees in it, I think I'll get used to it."

Yankees Old Guard Says Goodbye
Members of recent dynasty reflect on closing of Cathedral

The members of the recent Yankees dynasty give their thanks to the fans

NEW YORK -- It was the one photo they all wanted -- the four remaining cornerstones of the Yankees' dynasty, celebrating one final time on the field they had enjoyed with so much victory.

Before the lights went dark on Yankee Stadium, Mariano Rivera found himself lined with his teammates from the four most recent World Series championship clubs, flanked by Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte.

"That's why we wanted to have that picture, so we always remember that moment," Rivera said. "Like Mickey and Joe and Whitey and Yogi. That's what we represent in this era. Like Joe DiMaggio said, 'I thank the good Lord for making me a Yankee.' And that's the way it is."

As the mass of Yankees walked as one through the stadium, milling off the mound and waving their caps to left field before making a complete lap of the grassy patch in the Bronx, it was an event they could not have scripted any better.

Pettitte threw a solid five-plus innings and logged the final victory in the Stadium's history, handing the ball off to the bullpen, which paved the path to Rivera, who tossed in a perfect ninth inning.

It was not an easy day for Pettitte, who remains uncertain on his baseball future and desperately wanted to soak in as much of the proceedings as possible.

"When I'm trying to get ready, I'm usually in the weight room by myself, just trying to think about the game," Pettitte said. "I had all the TVs on in there so I could see it tonight.

"I wanted to get as much as I could and soak it all in. It was an awkward pregame for me, from the standpoint of wanting to see everybody and talk to it. I wanted to enjoy it."

But it was arguably most difficult for Posada, reduced to the role of spectator after he had season-ending surgery in late July to repair ligament damage in his throwing shoulder.

"It's sad. You look up and you see the guys around you still playing," Posada said. "They're going to go on the field. They get to play today. It's like when you're a kid and you're not allowed to play. It was tough for me."

Posada expects to be ready to catch on Opening Day across the street at the new stadium next season, but there is uncertainty as well. No one is sure what the future brings, but Posada already knows what he will miss.

"It's tough to put an end to this great place," Posada said. "I don't think there's another stadium where you can feel the way you feel at the plate," . The way you see the ball here, the ball seems like it glows when it comes in.

"Having the black back there, I don't think there's another stadium in the big leagues that has the greatest background in the world."

Plunked on the left hand with a fastball on Saturday, Jeter's swing wasn't necessarily as smooth as it had been for most of his 1,274 Yankee Stadium hits, but the 0-for-5 did not prevent Jeter from coming up big in the clutch one final time.

With his speech thanking the Yankees fans for their support through the years and speaking of the honor wearing the pinstripes demands, Jeter capped Yankee Stadium's finale on a day when he finally realized the end had arrived.

"I had a moment there before the game started," Jeter said. "I was in the clubhouse and it was just me and Andy, and another moment it was just me and Bernie [Williams].

"We were talking about how weird it is that this is the last time -- regular season, at least -- that we're going to be getting ready to play a game here at Yankee Stadium. I think that's really when it hit me."

Running from the bullpen to the strains of Metallica's "Enter Sandman" one final time, Rivera didn't have time to pause and admire the ocean of flashbulbs. It went by a bit too quickly, the closer lamented.

"I was so caught up with emotion that I think I got there faster than ever," Rivera said. "I was trying to hold on, but I couldn't. There was so much adrenaline."

With two outs in the ninth inning, Rivera knew as soon as Brian Roberts' bat struck ball, the game -- and Yankee Stadium -- was over.

All that was left was for Cody Ransom to glove the shot and become the answer to a trivia question, running it to the bag himself for a celebrated 3-U putout.

The four men soon to be grinning in the photographs had been at other celebrations -- more raucous ones, the types that were marked by heavy dry cleaning bills and parades down the Canyon of Heroes. Yet Jeter said Sunday's most definitely ranked.

"It's really tough. This is right up there at the top," Jeter said. "There's so many things that have happened here throughout the years. This is definitely right up there. We've won World Series here in 1996 and 1999, and this year's All-Star Game; they're all special in their own way."

Final Stadium Events Will Stand Forever
Molina's homer enters history books as last at hallowed park

Fittingly, Mariano Rivera threw the final pitch in the history of Yankee Stadium

NEW YORK -- With two outs in the ninth inning on Sunday -- one out left in the life of Yankee Stadium -- a mundane grounder from Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts approached Yankees first baseman Cody Ransom. As he usually does, Ransom fielded the grounder, stepped on the bag and handed the ball to Mariano Rivera, who ended the frame with a 1-2-3 performance.

Ransom didn't quite have time to digest the magnitude of his stepping on the bag, or process how he followed players such as Tino Martinez and the iconic Lou Gehrig in recording an out on that base at Yankee Stadium. But he would be the last.

"It's pretty cool -- it's something that I'll never forget," Ransom said. "I'll always be able to say I did it. I just didn't want to miss it, not catch it, get the last error in the Stadium."

The importance of closing the door on Yankee Stadium's storied career bestows an honor on whoever it might be. For an inning, Brian Elmer, a Mets fan, had what he understood to be the last home run ball in Yankee Stadium.

"Heck yeah," Elmer thought, holding on to Johnny Damon's third-inning three-run home run into the first row of the right-field stands.

Elmer, who said he will experience the closing of Shea Stadium this coming week, flipped the ball through his hands, contemplating the upcoming conversation with the Hall of Fame over the rights to possessing the ball. Then, an inning later, it was wiped away.

Catcher Jose Molina jacked a two-run shot into the left-center-field netting. Damon's home run ball was deemed second to last, second best. Only a few could earn the distinction of the last to net a moment at Yankee Stadium, which extended from those performing on the fields to those watching in the stands.

The magnitude of executing the lasting event -- which had fans underneath the netting trying to pull the ball through the mesh -- has yet to really sink in for a catcher who is known mostly for his defensive prowess. Of the great home run hitters who have driven a ball into the stands, it was Molina, who has three home runs on the season, capping a venue's long-ball tradition that includes Babe Ruth, Gehrig, Roger Maris and others.

"It's just one of those things that you will remember for your life," Molina said. "I think for everybody, this was a special night."

Molina hit the last home run. Andy Pettitte received the last win. Rivera fittingly threw the last pitch. And Ransom held onto the last out until passing it on to his closer.

"It was hard to let it go," Ransom admitted.

For Rivera, this was the end of a blessed career at Yankee Stadium. His journey out of the bullpen overloaded him with adrenaline, the right-hander estimating after the game that his walk to the mound was the quickest of his time in New York.

When the deed was done, Rivera turned the page on the Stadium's final chapter, but he would not keep the ball. It's going to principal owner George Steinbrenner. But Rivera will take something else with him for a lifetime.

The last moment -- that was his.

"It was emotional," Rivera said. "It was a great night. It was something that I will never forget. I was glad, I was thankful, actually, for the opportunity to be on the mound for this time for the last out. ... It will go with me until the day I die."

Girardi Is Moved By Final Moments
Yankees manager closes door on Stadium's legacy

Joe Girardi (27) stands at home with Yogi Berra (8) and Michael Munson (15, son of late Thurman Munson) in a ceremony acknowledging alumni

NEW YORK -- Joe Girardi starts talking about saying goodbye to Yankee Stadium and has to fight off tears.

And this is from a person who grew up a devoted Chicago Cubs fan and never set foot on Yankee Stadium turf until he put on the famed pinstripes as a player in 1996.

Four hours before the final game there on Sunday night and Girardi sinks down in the deep cushion of an over-sized leather chair in his office. He's as tense as if this is the seventh game of the World Series.

"It feels like the seventh game of a World Series," the crew cut Yankees manager says. "You always have to win a seventh game. We have to win this seventh game."

Girardi's Yankees prevailed, taking down the Orioles, 7-3, and putting a bookend victory on 85-years of baseball.

The first game at Yankee Stadium was played April 18, 1923. Miller Huggins was the Yanks' manager, and Babe Ruth hit the first home run. Jose Molina, whose two-run blast gave the Yankees a 5-3 lead in the fourth, hit the last home run.

Now, Girardi, in his first year at the Yankees' helm, goes down in history at the other end of the stadium's legacy.

He insists he never ever thought about becoming the manager of the Yankees in their final game at the Stadium.

"It didn't even dawn on me when I was interviewing for the job," says Girardi. "At no point in my life did I ever think about it. It doesn't really become the last game until you get close. You never think that that point is going to get here."

A few feet outside his door, his players, who probably won't be playing October baseball for the first time since 1993, are in various stages of dress and undress, preparing for their historic game.

"I've had an extremely blessed career," Girardi says. "I got to play for my boyhood dream team, the Chicago Cubs. But when I look at my favorite times as a player it was here [1996-1999]. Not only the championships, but what we went through as a group -- all the adversity."

Girardi feels the importance of Sunday night's finale really hadn't sunk in until the countdown began several weeks ago.

"Then it began to hit me," he says. "I started thinking about all the games and people who've played here. There have been boxing matches, big football games."

Girardi, who took over for the legendary Joe Torre, brought his son and daughter to the ballpark over the weekend and let them soak in the nostalgia of the moment.

"It may be years before they understand the importance of all this," he says.

A few days ago, Girardi, hours before a game, went to the area in the batter's box behind home plate and collected some dirt. Small portions of it have been placed in small jars -- a meaningful collector's item from that last year at Yankee Stadium.

"Somebody asked me if I wanted some from anyplace else, and I told him no," says Girardi. "That's the only place I ever played [catcher]. Home plate is special to me; I have a couple of them [home plates] from games I've caught. I wanted the dirt, and it's going to go in the kids' rooms and I'll give some to friends."

Only days ago, Girardi saw a clip of his run-scoring triple off Atlanta's Greg Maddux in Game 6 of the 1996 World Series on TV.

"That was the best game of my life," Girardi says. "To be on a World Series winner. ... Maddux made a mistake -- he doesn't usually make those kind of mistakes, but I jumped on it. Yes, it was a big hit for me."

Girardi can close his eyes and see the celebration begin after the final out in the '96 World Series.

"And I was on the bottom of the pile," he says. "And as great as it was to be celebrating, there was a point when I got scared -- on the bottom of that pile."

Yankee Stadium became important his first year after he was obtained from Colorado during the offseason. He caught Dwight Gooden's no-hitter on May 14, 1996. The Yankees re-energized his career. He batted .294 and played in 124 games.

And Sunday night, Girardi thought it was important that Andy Pettitte, who was such an integral part of Torre's championship teams, start this historic game.

"Andy was raised in this organization, went through the Minor Leagues and pitched in so many big games here," says Girardi. "This is not a playoff game, but probably one of the biggest games he'll ever pitch at Yankee Stadium."

When Pettitte fanned Ramon Hernandez in the second inning, it was strikeout No. 2,000 for the left-hander.

And when he was replaced in the sixth inning after giving up a leadoff single to Baltimore's Adam Jones, the sellout crowd of 54,610 gave him a standing ovation, chanting "Andy Pettitte, Andy Pettitte, Andy Pettitte."

That's what Girardi hoped for. Pettitte was leading, 5-3, when he left.

"When I look around and think of all the history, all the great players and events that have been here I get a tear in my eyes," Girardi repeats. "I look at the different areas of the stadium."

Pausing, he adds: "Think about what has happened here in 85 years. When you have the papal visits and Notre Dame playing here, I understand why they call it a Cathedral."

And then, during an inspiring 65-minute ceremony that lasted almost until the first pitch, the crowd was reminded of the stadium's great history. Living legends were introduced with video clips and then took the field. Some were represented posthumously by family members.

The ceremonial first pitch was delivered by Babe Ruth's daughter, 92-year-old Julia Ruth Stevens.

Next year, baseball will be played at the new $1.3 billion Yankee Stadium across 161st Street.

But it won't be the same.

"I don't think you can ever replace this place," says Girardi. "You can equal it as time goes on, but it's going to take a long time. There are zero memories over there."

Reality Of Finale Sets In For Yankees
Pride in Stadium's history felt by all in hours before final game

"I can't envision myself going over to the new stadium yet," Derek Jeter said

NEW YORK -- It finally happened. The long-unimaginable reality of Yankee Stadium's finale hit Derek Jeter on a sunny Sunday afternoon, as he navigated New York's thoroughfares and made a sharp left turn into the players' parking lot for the last time.

"Just driving in, I think it really starts to hit you," Jeter said. "This is the last time I'm driving to Yankee Stadium to play a game."

Jeter made his walk across Ruppert Place for the final time as a member of the Yankees' starting lineup at approximately 2 p.m. ET, dressed in a navy blue suit, a white shirt and a blue tie. Accompanied by director Spike Lee, Jeter's oft-repeated claim that playing at Yankee Stadium is a lot like appearing on Broadway seemed appropriate.

So, too, did the attire -- with a Red Sox victory earlier in the day, the Yankees have business to attend to if they wish to avoid remembering Yankee Stadium's finale as also the day they were eliminated from the postseason.

"The last couple of days, I've been looking around," Jeter said. "It's pretty special. Those are the moments that are going to stick with you forever.

"This is a special place. I've been here for parts of 14 years. I still can't envision myself going over to the new stadium yet. This place is pretty comfortable playing here. It's an old stadium, but it's in pretty good condition. I just enjoy coming here every day. I'm going to miss it."

Many of his Yankees teammates knew the feeling. The afternoon has been a difficult one for catcher Jorge Posada, who is on the disabled list and will be unable to appear in Sunday's game.

Posada said that there had been no discussion of activating him so he might at least be able to appear in the contest, saying, "It doesn't make sense." Thus, Posada had a different perspective than most who traveled to Yankee Stadium on Sunday, already missing something.

"I was looking forward to seeing the guys and to be a part of this special day, and hopefully the Yankees win and everybody can take that last memory," Posada said. "But emotionally, when you're not playing, it's tough."

In the Yankees' clubhouse an hour before game time, a cross-section of Yankees past and present took place. David Wells sat at Posada's locker in full uniform and Bernie Williams passed through, wearing the pinstripes as he had hoped as an active player in 2007.

First-base coach Tony Pena eyeballed Yogi Berra wearing a vintage crème uniform and playfully untucked the foreign material, leaving Yogi to grin his Yogi grin and shove Pena playfully. Reggie Jackson brought out his old-school, circa-1977 stirrups to commemorate the occasion.

Phil Coke, a Yankee for less than a month, celebrated the early afternoon in his own special way.

"I pushed my grandmother up all of the ramps because I didn't know where the elevator was," Coke said. "I pushed her all the way up to look down on the field. You want to talk about something amazing? That was amazing."

Coke was one of the first players to wander onto the field as fans roamed the warning track, circling around the storied field after visiting Monument Park.

"Everybody was almost misty-eyed," Coke said. "I was walking in just watching people, and there were saying, 'This is amazing -- I'm on the field!' I thought, 'You're not kidding. I'm lucky enough to do it every day.'"

Jeter has been reluctant to give in to the avalanche of memories that have preceded Sunday's finale, though he has secretly picked out what memorabilia he'd like to bring home. He refuses to say, knowing that as soon as he does so, someone else will pluck that item from its spot.

"I've got to get it before I can actually tell you what it is," Jeter said.

The nostalgia began to steep as Jeter watched television before leaving for the stadium. He saw highlights of the fifth game of the 2001 World Series and Game 7 of the 2003 American League Championship Series against the Red Sox, and the sentimentality began coming back.

"My parents told me about a week ago to make sure I enjoy this," Jeter said. "You don't want to look back and wish you'd done something differently."

It was in the ninth inning of Saturday's game, and Jeter took a little extra time before stepping into the batter's box, knowing that it was one of his final opportunities to do so. He looked around and, as he said with a smile, promptly was hit on the left hand with a fastball. Add another memory to the list.

But as Jeter dressed at his locker late Saturday afternoon, Jackson stopped by to offer words of wisdom, already in the nostalgic mood as his presence was felt all week. What he said resounded with Jeter.

"Reggie came by and said that he doesn't feel sad -- he feels proud to be part of history here," Jeter said. "I don't think anybody could have put it any better."

Bernie Returns To The Cathedral
Williams: 'It was my home away from home'

Bernie Williams fields questions prior to Sunday's final game at Yankee Stadium

NEW YORK -- When the car carrying Bernie Williams pulled up to Yankee Stadium on Sunday afternoon, Williams asked the driver to circle around the ballpark. He wanted to see every side of it one last time.

When he stepped out of the car, he was immediately transported back to his playing days. He walked past the press gate, where he was greeted by fans screaming his name and down the stairs to the hallways and tunnels he saw on a daily basis for the better part of 16 years.

Williams was a foundation piece of the Yankees' lineup for 16 seasons, but Sunday marked his first return to the Stadium since 2006, when he went unsigned as a free agent. Though he hadn't been back in two years, Williams didn't have to hesitate about his decision to bear witness to the ballpark's final game.

"There's no question in my mind that I had to be here," he said. "It was my home away from home. I basically spent most of my adult life here, such great memories."

Williams spent the time away from baseball as a chance to be with his family, sending his oldest child to college. It gave him the opportunity to pursue other interests like music, though Williams said he is staying in shape "just in case."

He continued to keep his distance from Yankee Stadium, saying there was a duel purpose for that. He didn't want to serve as a distraction, but he also stayed away for his own peace of mind.

"I know that it was hard for me, because I missed the game," he said. "I was always trying to keep track of how the guys were doing. The Yankees were always in my heart."

Like many others, Williams has mixed feelings about the closing of the stadium that has housed so many historic moments. He knows that he will have to keep his own memories fresh in his mind, as the ballpark will no longer be around to serve as a reminder.

During his final visit to Yankee Stadium, Williams recalled his first day on the field when he made his Major League debut. For the former center fielder, the last contest seems to come full-circle, as his first game was also against the Orioles. As a young player, Williams said his main focus was to establish himself as a big leaguer. But during his later years with the Yankees, he learned to concentrate more on the history and tradition of the park he called home.

"As I got older, I started worrying less about my career and just started to have more of an appreciation to where I'm playing," he said.

Some of the memories that stick out to Williams come on a more personal level, having nothing to do with baseball. Williams distinctly remembers one day when Paul Simon stood in center field performing a sound check and the sounds of the guitar could be heard throughout the stadium.

Williams took part in a pregame ceremony as part of the celebration of Yankee Stadium on Sunday night, and though he said baseball has taught him never to be surprised, Williams could feel a familiar sensation as the moment drew closer.

"I feel as nervous as I was before a playoff game just to see the reaction of the crowd," he said. "Being a human being and being subject to all the emotions that this occasion will bring, I think it's going to be a very emotional moment for me and I guess for all the people that are really tied up to this building."

Williams was announced last during the introductions and received a rousing, deafening ovation from the fans.

He has heard the plans for the new stadium, though he has not seen the facilities yet. But while some talk has questioned whether Yankee Stadium will hold the same feeling once it moves across 161st Street, Williams said it's not the structure that made the Cathedral the place it is.

"It was more the people than the stadium," he said. "The building was here, and you talk a lot about the magic and the aura but what really made the stadium is the fans. Concrete doesn't talk back to you, chairs don't talk back to you. It's the people that are there, that root for you day in and day out, that's what makes this place magical."

Cathedral Holds Many Memories
Stadium also site of many premier non-baseball events

Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez are far from the only superstars to be in Yankee Stadium

Yankee Stadium was special, primarily because the New York Yankees played there and won there.

No other professional sports facility in North America has been home to so much victory. The 26 World Series championship teams that called Yankee Stadium home did not simply inhabit the place. They set the place apart from all others.

Yankee Stadium was not an architectural marvel. It was not some astounding Frank Lloyd Wright creation that stunned or even jarred the senses. It was not charming or quirky in the way that the new-as-old contemporary parks are. But it was monumental, both in the literal and figurative senses. It was the first ballpark to be billed as a "stadium." It was big enough, massive enough, grand enough to bear that designation.

It was opened in New York in the Roaring '20s. You were expecting perhaps something smaller, cozier, cuter, a Wrigley Field East? No way. Yankee Stadium was what it was supposed to be. And then it became something bigger, as decade upon decade, the Yankees filled it with victories.

Yes, it sometimes transcended baseball. Its size and its location in a city that has functioned as the unofficial capital of the world made it perfect for THE TRULY BIG EVENTS.

The papal visits come, obviously, to mind. Yankee Stadium was, well, an infallible choice as a venue for papal appearances.

Other non-baseball events were so large that they had to happen at Yankee Stadium. There was the 1938 heavyweight championship bout between Joe Louis and Germany's Max Schmeling. In this bout, Louis struck a blow not only for Americans of color, but for everyone in the free world, when he pounded the Nazi's boxing poster boy into the canvas.

The 1958 NFL championship game between the New York Giants and the Baltimore Colts was at the Stadium. This is now often billed as "the greatest game in NFL history." There are those of us who have seen NFL games that were at least as good, but suffice it to say that this thrilling contest, won by the Colts in overtime on a touchdown run by Alan "The Horse" Ameche, ushered in the modern era of professional football as a dominant televised force.

But what set the table for all of this, what set Yankee Stadium apart, was not simply baseball, but incredibly successful baseball. Over the last 85 years, there were baseball generations of Yankees heroes. And these were players who were set apart, not only because of their individual exploits, which were indisputably splendid, but because of their collective success.

Visiting players, players of substance, players who went on in some cases to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame, will tell of being at least momentarily overcome on the field, simply by thinking about the great Yankees who had previously stood on that same ground. They don't speak that way about any other ballpark, because no other ballpark was home to the impressive number of great players that was required to produce 26 World Series championships.

"You almost had to catch yourself and make sure that you paid attention while you were playing the game," Hall of Famer Robin Yount remembers with a smile. "You couldn't let yourself start to wander and think about who has been there before you. If you really have a passion for the game, and you understand what's taken place on that field, you get these weird feelings."

The Yankees represent something unique in baseball. True, for Red Sox fans, they may be "the Evil Empire." For their immense financial resources, they may be envied as much as admired by the other 29 Major League franchises. But if you had the privilege of observing the Yankees closely, as individuals rather than as a corporate entity, that's not what would stay with you.

For people involved in the most recent Yankees run of championships, people such as Joe Torre, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, you remember the dignity and grace and determination they brought with them to their jobs on a daily basis over long seasons. This is also part of what it meant to be a Yankee. This is also part of what sets the Yankees' home of 85 years apart from all other places. The money made a difference, no question. But there were many years when the Yankees simply deserved to win and did win, on merit.

Now, all right, there's some irony at the end. The end for Yankee Stadium should come in a Game 7 of the World Series, won by the Yankees, probably with a walk-off home run in the 14th inning. But it appears that the end will come in a game against the cellar-dwelling Baltimore Orioles, merely in September. The Yankees, after 13 straight postseason berths, are not following the script for a suitable finale.

But over time, this place had a share of greatness larger than any other professional sports facility in this hemisphere. It was originally The House That Ruth Built. But it also became the house that was home to victory, because the New York Yankees played there. The Yankees move across the street now, to a new Yankee Stadium. The old place will be dismantled, but what the Yankees did in this Yankee Stadium will live on as long as baseball is played in New York, or for that matter, anywhere.

More To Stadium Closing Than Goodbye
Ceremony Sunday night about tradition, family, memories

The closing of Yankee Stadium on Sunday night was about families and emotions

It was the closing of Yankee Stadium but it was so much more.

It really was a story of tradition, of families, of memories, of emotional times.

It had to do more with fathers and sons and daughters, of families together at the ballpark than with statistics or famous games or Hall of Fame careers.

It was the emotion of it all that captured me as I watched the curtain come down on Yankee Stadium on Sunday evening.

In a way, it was the distant ballpark of my youth. I grew up in a small town in Ohio and Crosley Field in Cincinnati was the first place I attended a game with my family.

I fell in love with the game of Major League Baseball the first time I saw Crosley and the terrace in left field and the pure white uniforms of the hometown Reds.

That was baseball at its best, but when I thought of championship baseball, I thought of watching games on television of Yankee Stadium in the fall as the shadows crept onto the playing field and the voices of the announcers gave every indication that this was of national importance.

I was later to be at Yankee Stadium, first as a reporter and later as an executive for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

When I first stepped into Yankee Stadium, I knew I was in a baseball shrine, a holy place, the home of Babe Ruth and so many great players.

I always was proud to represent the Dodgers, but I always respected the Yankees.

If you are fortunate to work in Major League Baseball, you realize it's impossible to separate your family and the families of those involved in the game from the business and the playing of the game.

The primary reason is that you seem to spend all of your waking summer hours at the stadium. If you are a player and you want to see your children, you know it's important to make them as much a part of your daily routine as you can.

And thus, the youngsters of players see their dads and know they are living a special life. They may not understand why or how, but they know this is different from their boyhood pals.

The closing ceremonies at Yankee Stadium brought the type of reviews normally reserved for openings on Broadway in New York.

Both Yankee Stadium and Broadway are big stages, as the Yankee captain and shortstop Derek Jeter pointed out on Sunday.

"Playing in Yankee Stadium is sort of like playing on Broadway," said Jeter.

The critics who watched the curtain come down on Yankee Stadium were quick to offer their criticism. Where were the tributes to Roger Clemens and Joe Torre, they wondered.

Critics usually nitpick, even when the production is well-staged and meaningful.

There is no way one could really fault the final production at Yankee Stadium. There was Reggie Jackson jogging out to right field once again with the chants of "Reggie, Reggie" raining down from the upper deck.

There were some of the first basemen through the years -- Moose Skowron, Chris Chambliss and Tino Martinez -- taking their position, and it seemed the size of the men was enough to tilt the infield to the right.

There were Whitey Ford, Don Larsen, Goose Gossage, Ron Guidry, David Wells and David Cone going to the pitcher's mound, and the veteran Larsen having enough experience to scoop up some of the dirt as Ford seemed to look for a place to stash a little of the memorable earth himself.

There were sons and daughters representing their famous fathers, along with widows of fallen heroes, but most striking perhaps was when David Mantle ran to center field as a representative of his famous dad and Billy Martin Jr. taking second base in honor of his family.

For the moment, David Mantle was Mickey and Billy Martin was present once more.

And you know the sons had a million memories flash through their minds of their dads and of days gone by.

This ceremony really was more about fathers and sons and families than saying goodbye to a famous stadium.

Stadiums don't speak and stadiums don't remember history. They are the stage where history is recorded.

I thought about my old friend Lee MacPhail as I watched the ceremonies. He was the Yankees' farm and scouting director from 1948 through 1956 and was a key figure in the signing of Mickey Mantle. He later served as the Yankee general manger.

MacPhail will turn 91 next month and now resides in Delray Beach, Florida. When I contacted MacPhail, he said he had watched the closing Yankee Stadium ceremonies on television and "they brought back a flood of memories."

When I asked MacPhail to reflect on his career in baseball, he said, "Working with the scouts and the Minor League people was the highlight of my career. And Mickey Mantle was the most important player in my career."

MacPhail had followed his father Larry as a general manager of the Yankees and MacPhail's son, Andy, is the GM of the Baltimore Orioles, the final opponent at Yankee Stadium.

From the field, to the front office, to the fans in the stands, the closing of Yankee Stadium was about families and emotions.

Seated in right field for the final game were former Yankee public relations director Marty Appel and his son Brian.

Appel undoubtedly knows as much about the history of the Yankees as anyone on the face of the earth. He started out as a teenager working part-time for the Yankees by answering fan mail with most of it directed to Mantle.

Appel later became the public relations director for the Yankees and worked for the team from 1968 through 1977. He now has his own public relations firm and the background page on his web site reflects, no surprise, pinstripes.

"Sunday evening at Yankee Stadium was magical," said Appel. "To see the sons of Mantle and Martin go out to their positions and so resemble their fathers was like going back in time.

"I had the honor to know Mickey Mantle on a personal level and he was a special man. He liked me and he used to give me the gift certificates he would receive for going on radio and television shows. I still have each and every one of them. If I ever need 10 dollars off on Thom McAn shoes, I know I'm set."

What was most special for Appel on Sunday evening was to be at the game with his son.

"I had attended my first game at Yankee Stadium with my father in the mid 1950's and the Yankee right fielder was Hank Bauer," he said. "Now here I was for the final game with my son and the right fielder is Bobby Abreu. Did you know that the names Bauer and Abreu contain the same letters?"

I hadn't really thought about it, but leave it to an old Yankee PR man not to miss a trick.

Besides, those are the things you talk about when you are sitting in right field at Yankee Stadium while enjoying the game with your son.

It doesn't get any better than that. It won't get any better than Yankee Stadium.

Fred Claire was a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1969-98, serving the team as Executive Vice-President and general manager. His book Fred Claire: My 30 Years in Dodger Blue was published by SportsPublishingLLC. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

"It's a celebration time for all Yankee Fan's with this fantastic new home... I only wish Mick' could have been here to see the new home for the Yankee's... strut out to the pitcher's mound, smile that big curled smile and throw out the first ball... I sure miss Mickey!" Terry Gene Hembree, Esquire