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Yogi Berra, who caught at the first Yankee Stadium, finds a good spot during pregame ceremonies for the final game at the venue's second incarnation. (Jim MacIsaac/Getty Images) |
On baseball
Nice closure at Stadium
By
Nick Cafardo
September 22, 2008
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NEW YORK - Julia Ruth Stevens, 91, bounced the final "first pitch" at Yankee Stadium to catcher Jorge Posada from about 25 feet at The House that Ruth Built last night. Her dad, George Herman Ruth - The Babe - had hit the first homer the day the stadium opened April 18, 1923, a 4-1 win by the Yankees over the Red Sox, the same day they raised their 1922 American League championship banner.
Eighty-five years later, the Yankees said goodbye to the most storied venue in the history of sport.
For the record, Jose Molina hit the last Yankee Stadium homer; Derek Jeter, with a groundout to third base in the eighth, was the last Yankee to bat there; Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts was the last batter; and Mariano Rivera threw the final pitch.
A sellout crowd of 54,610 watched the final game, some 20,000 fewer than the 74,200 who watched the first game.
The Yankees beat the Orioles, 7-3, and avoided the embarrassment of being eliminated from postseason play for the first time in 14 years on this historic night.
"I'm very sad to think that Yankee Stadium will not be in existence," said Stevens before the game. She said she was forever grateful to the New York sportswriters who gave Yankee Stadium its ever-lasting nickname, which bears the family name.
For Yankees fans, this was a tear-jerker of the highest order, from Stevens closing out an elaborate ceremony that included several old-time Yankees (though Joe Torre and Roger Clemens never were acknowledged), to fans holding tickets for the game being allowed to walk around the field in the early afternoon.
Fans stood for the ninth inning and roared when the beloved Rivera made his final run out of the bullpen to the mound. Jay Payton grounded to third. Luke Scott grounded to second. Wilson Betemit then ran out of the dugout to replace Jeter, who received one last "Derek Jeter! Derek Jeter!" chant and a curtain call.
Finally, at 11:31 p.m., Roberts grounded to first baseman Cody Ransom. Orioles players - including Kevin Millar - gathered around the mound and grabbed handfuls of dirt for their children and grandchildren as Frank Sinatra's version of "New York, New York" played for the final time there.
Jeter took the microphone at the mound with his teammates hovering around him.
"It's a huge honor to put this uniform on and play," he said. "Every member of this organization past and present has been calling this home for 85 years. A lot of tradition and history and memories here.
"The great thing about memories is you're able to pass it along generation to generation. There are few things that never change . . . pride and tradition, and most of all we have the greatest fans in the world.
"We're relying on you to take the memories of this stadium and add them to the new memories at the new Yankee Stadium and pass them along from generation to generation. We want to take this moment to salute you, the greatest fans in the world."
The Yankees walked around the stadium and waved to the fans, passing the black background of an advertisement on the right-center field wall that contained the handprints of hundreds of fans who had made the trek earlier.
The Yankees' old guard - Jeter, Rivera, Posada, and Andy Pettitte, last night's starter - had their own gathering on the mound after the rest of the team went to the clubhouse.
In the pregame ceremony, fans got to watch stars of some of the 26 championships - Yogi Berra, Don Larsen, Bobby Richardson, Whitey Ford, Wade Boggs, Scott Brosius, Paul O'Neill, Tino Martinez, Graig Nettles, Willie Randolph, Reggie Jackson, Chris Chambliss, Moose Skowron, Goose Gossage, David Wells, David Cone, and Ron Guidry - be introduced and walk to their positions, reminiscent of the All-Star Game ceremony here in July.
Some fans wept, others took enough photos to fill a scrapbook. Still others tried to sneak a piece of grass or handful of dirt.
It was hard, whether one was a Yankees fan or not, not to view the night sadly, as the passing of a great building. Whether it was pre-renovation or post-renovation, as Berra put it so aptly, "It was still Yankee Stadium. I'll miss this place."
We all will.
Berra, 83, was on the verge of tears as he remembered the late Elston Howard, who was represented by his daughter, Cheryl, and it was wondered how teammates such as the late Phil Rizzuto and Mickey Mantle would have reacted to last night.
Bernie Williams, who had not returned to Yankee Stadium for two years after the team released him, said he told his driver "to take me around the stadium one more time before he dropped me off" and once he stepped foot on its soil it all came back to him.
Williams denied he had a strained relationship with the Yankees and even left the door ajar for a possible return to baseball, but the graceful hitter, the last player introduced, received the longest and loudest ovation, though applause for Berra and O'Neill certainly rivaled it. Williams trotted out to center field, where he joined the family of the late Bobby Murcer and Mantle's son, David, who is the spitting image of his father.
Notably absent was owner George Steinbrenner, who has been ill and remained home in Florida. He had been the centerpiece of the All-Star gathering, but last night that spot belonged to Stevens. Hal and Jessica Steinbrenner represented the ownership; outspoken son Hank also was not on the scene.
"As can be expected, it was a very emotional night for my dad," said Hal Steinbrenner. "It's 35 years and he was a big part of the renovation here. That was an amazing night."
Stevens said she always would remember her father "hitting those towering home runs." And she added that the Babe would have been "so amazed to see me throwing a ball to the catcher at home plate. He knew I didn't throw well."
The flashbulbs popped all night. A half hour after the game ended, nobody wanted to shut the lights off for the final time at The House that Ruth Built.
Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com. 
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
