I’m sure that at the beginning of this year’s baseball season, most people were fine with the Yankees closing out the season on the road. They’ve made the postseason every year since 1993, and if that streak continued, the stadium’s final game would be in the postseason, not on the first day of fall.
Well, it’s safe to say this season has been disappointing and rather than heading off to the postseason, the Yankees will finish the season on the road and the stadium’s last game will be a game of little consequence against Baltimore.
I remember the last time the Yankees didn’t make the playoffs- the Yankees finished out the season against Detroit (at home) and there was an optimistic “wait ’till next year” feeling around the team. This year, that feeling is still there, but there’s a lot of introspection over not how the team fell short this year, but also about the lifetime of Yankee Stadium.
It’s unfortunate but necessary that the building will be torn down and the Yankees are moving across the street. While my last time at the Stadium was in aught-two, I’ve been there more times than I can count, and I will miss the stadium.
The greatness of the stadium isn’t in the building, but what’s happened there. The stadium bears no resemblance to the original structure, and it started falling apart ten years ago (right in front of my every Sunday seat, no less). While it has a lot of charm and character, it has little in the way of modern anemities, and can be uncomfortable at times (especially if you’re 6’4″ and trying to watch a game with no leg room). There’s been a lot of back and forth between the city and the team on who foots the bill, but one thing that both parties have to do is improve the neighborhood around the stadium. While it’s a big change, the new stadium means a great opportunity for change, not only for the team and its fans, but more importantly, the people who live in the area year-round.
So I’ll be checking out the coverage throughout the day, tune in for the game and I will follow the team for the remaining week or so of the season. I’m lucky that I have the memories I have of the place. And hopefully, I can get out to NY next year to check out the new digs.
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