Yankee Stadium: 1923 - 2008

In the eyes of many, football has zoomed passed baseball as the national pastime. Perhaps. But no matter how much more popular football gets, it will never, on any level, have the history and the tradition that baseball has. And absolutely nothing anywhere in sports has more tradition and history than Yankee Stadium. The long list of icons that only begins with Babe to Gehrig, DiMaggio to Mantle, Whitey to Reggie, Winfield to Mattingly and Jeter to A-Rod that have played on the hallowed grounds by 161st Street and River Avenue in The Bronx doesn't need to be rehashed here. We all know about the 39 American League pennants and 26 World Series wins. But the closing of The House That Ruth Built is the single biggest example of why football has become more popular in recent years.

So what was wrong with Yankee Stadium anyway? The building was sound - probably the most sound structure north of Central Park. It was an honor for anyone to play in Yankee Stadium, friend or foe. All the memories and history made for an incredible aura and home field advantage that every other sports franchise in the world could only drool over. No new ballpark is as special a place to see a baseball game than Yankee Stadium and Monument Park is the next best thing to Cooperstown. So why change? Money.

What's new?

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In 1998 a 500-pound beam fell from the top of the stadium to a seat near the field. Fortunately, the ballpark was empty, but it seemed too much of a coincidence because George Steinbrenner was in the middle of a major-league squabble with the city. Ever since he saw how the stadium formerly known as the Skydome in Toronto raked in the fishnagles hand-over-fist thanks to the newest form of revenue - luxury boxes, Steinbrenner became dollar-green with envy and was threatening to move the Yankees across the bridge to New Jersey if the city didn't give him a new playground. One of his complaints was the age of Yankee Stadium and how it could fall apart at any time. Knowing what kind of a devious bastard Steinbrenner is, I would be very surprised if he didn't arrange to have some workers deliberately create the situation so the beam would fall in an empty stadium in order to emphasized his point. His other reason for leaving was that the stadium was located in a very dangerous part of The Bronx. There's no denying that, but the last several years the attendance figures have proven that if the team is winning, nothing will keep the fans away from the ballpark. Even Shea Stadium, a ballpark in need of replacement, will draw almost 4 million fans because the Mets are in a serious pennant race. Winning is the ultimate cure-all. But the bucks coming from the luxury boxes are Steinbrenner's cure-all.

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Over the years, anyone who takes a stroll around the neighborhood surrounding Yankee Stadium can't help but notice that once they get to the ballpark the environment changes completely. Everything is clean, the iron pillars for the elevated subways are painted Yankee blue, all the storefronts are gleaming. The hypocrisy of Steinbrenner's whining about The Bronx is exposed by the fact that the new stadium will be right next door. If the Yankees wanted to have the best of both worlds, they could have taken the billion or so they've spent on the new stadium and remodeled the old one to Steinbrenner's specs and still had enough money left over to rebuild the entire area for 10 blocks in every direction. That would have been a public relations windfall that nobody could match and it also would have kept the Yankees' home field advantage alive (even through what will now be a long rebuilding phase, but that's another story). The fact that the Mets are getting a new home is a large reason for the Yankees getting one, but even with CitiField in Queens shaping up to be a blockbuster, the original Yankee Stadium would have continued to stand proud. Comparisons would have created a fascinating direct connection between the old and new ballparks and it would have fueled the rivalry that much more. But instead of that scenario, and after all of Steinbrenner's haggling and B.S., Yankee fans will still have to go to what remains an unsafe neighborhood and less fans will be able to attend a game because of all the space those luxury boxes will take up to house the fatcat corporate snobs. Thanks a lot, George. It's almost a miracle that he didn't decide to name the new joint Steinbrenner Stadium. Don't be surprised someday if Cap'n Hankerchief does.

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This insensitive chloroforming of one of baseball's last remaining traditions and it's most important historical landmark is only good for football. And as if to drive more salt into the wounds with a sledgehammer, the Yankees are going to tear the damn thing down! It's unbelievable. I don't give a damn how great the new ballpark will be - the fate of the original Yankee Stadium and the reasons for it's demise are a dagger in the heart of any true baseball fan, regardless of how he feels about the New York Yankees.

No matter what they call the Yankees' new digs, there will never be another Yankee Stadium. Ever.