Sad Times for Baseball Fans - Farewell Yankee Stadium

No other building in the world contains as much sporting history as Yankee stadium. During the first game to be played at the stadium in 1923, Babe Ruth, the greatest player ever to wear a baseball jersey, broke the field in with a home run which set the tone for the Yankees for the next century. Since then the field has seen greatness such as Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and the moving final game for Lou Gehrig where he gave his speech declaring himself the "Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth."

More than baseball, Yankee stadium was home to great events like when Joe Louis knocked out Max Schmeling (or the 7 other Joe Louis fights at Yankee Stadium), great boxers like Jack Dempsey and Muhammad Ali put on shows for fans in the House that Ruth Built. The stadium has seen history made in almost every sport including college football, NFL and soccer.

In addition to sports, world events including visits from Pope Paul VI, Pope Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI took place within its walls. Rallies for Nelson Mandela, memorial services for victims of September 11th, and crusades by the late Billy Graham left their own memories to the people who visited the stadium on those days. Concerts from music legends like Pink Floyd and U2 also brought enjoyment to the fans of the stadium.

Any way you look at the people and times that shaped the last 100 years, Yankee stadium has some connection to them. For millions of people who hold memories they tell their children about, who will then pass it down to their own, losing Yankee stadium and the ability to bring their children to Monument Park will be a loss no new stadium can fill. The new stadium will play New York, New York at the end of every game and I am sure the same organ will play the same songs in between innings, but it will never be the same.

Yankee stadium was a stadium of tradition, greatness and memories. Home to the best franchise in baseball history, in fact, any sport. Times move on and another pillar has been removed for the sake of more money and greed. A sad time for all baseball fans and sports lovers as the memories will only now be in our heads and the highlights films we watch.