Say It Ain't So....

Good afternoon to all,

Well, it seems as if the end to an era is in the works, as it was announced that both the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets have received approval to pursue development plans for new stadiums! HUH?! To coin a kid's words when he found out his baseball idol Shoeless Joe Jackson was accused of cheating, "say it ain't so!". Now I find myself saying those same words with a heaviness in my heart. Could it be that time has run out for Yankee Stadium, "The House that Ruth Built"?

For those of you who don't have the slightest idea who the heck "Ruth" is, it's ok, baseball isn't played everywhere, but the Ruth I'm speaking of is none other than Babe Ruth, the "Sultan of Swat", the "King of Swing", "The Babe", "Ol' Number 3", perhaps the greatest baseball player of all time, Yankee Stadium was built upon his achievements, and still holds his legacy and history within it's very mortar, pillars, and seats. The picture I chose for this blog entry is of The Babe, taken at his final moment in Yankee Stadium, wearing his old colors and number, standing strong but weary as he was being honored by the crowd, weakened by cancer which had attacked his body, eyes looking ever forward, head bowed a bit solemnly, leaning on a bat for stability, but still the subject of such awe, still a deliverer of dreams to so many kids who had ever dreamed about one day being a New York Yankee, Babe Ruth never let the fans down, especially the kids. There are stories told about him buying hot dogs for ten, twenty, thirty kids at a time, who had ran over to congratulate him for hitting a home run, including a few for himself before he returned to the dugout bench. Something you'd never see with the "you're lucky to be here to see me" attitudes of todays sports stars.

Yankee Stadium, sure it's 82 years old, sure other lesser teams have brand new snazzy ballparks with roofs that move, trains, fountains, and other kitsch, but do they have the history? Nope, not even a little. To walk into the place is the closest any fan of baseball will ever come to their brush with the figures of so many stories they've heard, names such as Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle, Maris, DiMaggio, Berra, and so many others have taken the field there. For a moment when you sit down, it's almost a scene from the movie "Field of Dreams", as you can almost see the ghosts of those great baseball players who have passed, still rounding the bases, you can hear the shouts of crowds punctuated by the shouts of hot dog vendors from decades ago, still yelling "Haut dawg! Gitcha haut dawg heyah!". It's captivating, smile provoking, and exciting all at once, even before the game starts. The stadium is what I can only describe as one of the last standing true cathedrals to the game of baseball, though not the last and only, surely the only one I consider the greatest. The sights, the sounds, the smells, it's a one of a kind place.

So often I've heard mention of the great stadiums of the past coming down, reduced to rubble, along with the magic of the games played in them, then come the regrets, people realize they have built the new at the expense of the magic, and it's gone forever. I sit here shaking my head to think such a thing could happen again, not once but twice!

Though I'm rambling on about Yankee Stadium, the historic stadium of the Mets, Shea Stadium, is also on the chopping block. Sheesh! Is nothing sacred? The Beatles played there! The team of the 1969 so-called "Amazin Mets" played there, it too has the magic. Does anyone remember the former home of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Ebbets Field which was torn down in 1960? Do a search on Google under the search term "Ebbets Field", and you'll see sites created by people who are still describing the place as "Brooklyn's Lost Shrine". I predict the same when Yankee and Shea Stadiums are gone, goodbye "House that Ruth Built", hello "House that Television Rights Revenue Built", it somehow just doesn't have the same ring to it, and somehow even for this longtime New York Yankees fan, it will take me a while before I could bring myself to attend a game in a new place. Sure I'm not in the city at this time, but when I go, I'm not anticipating running over to the new stadium, at most I'll probably place a single rose on the spot where the old stadium once stood, saying a few words to the Babe and the guys, telling them I haven't forgotten them, and how much I'll miss their pre-game laps around the bases that I could so easily visualize.

I can't believe how depressing this news was when I heard it moments ago, it's hard to think of replacing the sort of place where a grandfather or even a great-grandfather took their sons or daughters to see their first game, who grew up to take their sons or daughters to a game in the same place, who grew up to take their sons or daughters to their first game..... etc., you know what I mean. I always pictured taking my son or daughter to a game in Yankee Stadium, buying them their first NY hat, bringing our baseball gloves in hopes of catching a ball, telling stories along the way to the ballgame, pointing out seats with a history, and giving them a chance to fall in love with the old place as much as I have. Sheesh, I need some cheering up, so I guess I'll go eat a hot dog, hug my cat and tell him stories of Yankee Stadium, since I have no family or children of my own yet to tell. Heck, If I had known somethin' like this was gonna happen, I might have set out to start a family sooner. *LOL