Farewell To Yankee Stadium

This blog is supposed to be about real estate on Chicago's North Shore. But tonight, it's about Yankee Stadium. After all, I'm a New Yorker!

I was there only three times but I remember each visit. The first visit was almost 40 years ago. (My dad has a hard time with that number; and so do I.) I went with my dad and my two brothers and watched the most storied team in sports play. I don't remember who they played but it was a summer day, a crystal clear blue sky and the most beautiful field I can remember. I still remember that day as if it were yesterday. Driving slowly into the neighborhood, finding a place to park, the smell of hot dogs at the park and sitting just ten rows from first base; I remember the iconic facade. Indelible memories.

I've lived on two continents and traveled around the world and I've always followed the Yankees. I remember the day Mickey Mantle retired (and my dad cried; sorry Dad), and the day Thurman Munson died. I remember Graig Nettles playing third, Reggie Jackson in right and a night of back-to-back-to-back home runs in 1977. Yogi Berra (I never saw him play but know all about him.) There was Bobby Murcer, Don Mattingly, Chris Chambliss, Ricky Henderson, "Goose" Gossage, Ron Guidry, Roger Clemens, Jorge Posada and so many others. And who can ever forget Billy Martin managing so (too) many all-star players, fighting with an owner and players and getting fired every other year (wasn't it fun to read the NY Post every day he coached.) And who can forget Don Zimmer taking on the Boston Red Sox! And then there's the owner we all love to hate/love - George.

In reality, there are too many great games and players to remember just one. Most sadly, I remember the World Series of 2001. Yankee Stadium was the place America rallied to and around. And the President throwing a strike from the top of the mound. That night America needed Yankee Stadium and the Yankees. Enough said. Yankee Stadium was the center of the world.

As I think about the Stadium, I realized that no matter where I was in the world , the mention of "Yankee Stadium" brought me back to New York City.

Today, even as the father of a die-hard Cubs fan, I still have a fond place in my heart for the Yankees and The Stadium. Drew doesn't understand Yankee Stadium and for him Wrigley will always bring him back to Chicago. But for me, even after 24 years in Chicago, Yankee Stadium owns a piece of my heart.

Farewell. And thank you.

DS