Farewell to Yankee Stadium...the Mecca of Sports

As the final days of the stadium are rapidly winding down, I thought it would be fitting to take a look back at all the wonderful and magical moments this grand building has given us, and a chance to say Thank you for keeping us on our feet for the last 85 years.

            It started way back in 1923, with a guy that built the park, or so they say, Babe Ruth. The stadium was built because of him and fittingly he hit the first ever homerun in the park, one of his many, monstrous dingers. He also led the team to their first ever Championship, in what would become the all time greatest sports team of the millennium. He started a trend, a way of life in New York and we are still ever thankful for him.

            It wasn’t only Ruth, though, that brought out the best in New York. It was Gherig and his consecutive games played streak, earning him the nickname “Iron Horse”. It was DiMaggio, managing to get a hit in 56 straight games. It was the M & M boys of Mantle and Maris and their blazing homerun chase in the summer of ’61 and the list goes on and on.

            As the season winds down and a new generation of fans get ready to embark on a new palace, I want to take this moment out to take a look at what has defined the most recent Yankees, the ones who will be trying to re-create what they are leaving behind, The Aura and Mystique that has been so blatantly visible for so long.

            It all started in 1996, when the Yankees brought in a stumbling Manager by way of Joe Torre. He was dubbed “Clueless Joe”, and for good reason. He had no idea what he was getting himself into. But throughout it all, he seemed to handle all the pressure and adversity, and for the first time in his career and the first time in the last 18 years of the Yankees, managed to guide his team to the World Series and find a way to pull out a stirring victory after being down 2-0 against the heavily favored Atlanta Braves.

            That was only the beginning though. After a rough 1^st round playoff exit handed down by the Indians in 1997, the Yankees set off to prove they were not just a fluke the year before, although it did not start good. They went 1-4 to open the season, then turned it on and never looked back. By the All Star Break they were 61-20 and it was over from there. They went on to win 114 regular season games, the most ever up to that point and went on to capture their 2^ndWS ring in 3 years.

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