Final Night at the Stadium

I had the privilege of being able to be at the final game last night.  Here are some of the pictures I was able to take. 

 

The first championship banner raised at Yankee Stadium.

Willie actually slid into second base, but I missed my chance.  Instead I was able to get this.

Final pitch thrown at the stadium.

Comments

[Brad]

Good for you for being there, John. I never ever went to the stadium, but it seemed like a very well executed goodbye to the place.

[dc]

nice pictures john...i read your other comment about things not going quite as smoothly behind the scenes...sorry that may have put a damper on your good time, but it still must've been a thrill...watching it on tv wasn't quite the same i'm sure, but at least when i wanted a hot dog and beer, or go to the bathroom, i didn't have to wait in line, or otherwise be disappointed...anyway, thanks for sharing...

[krueg]

Cool pics bro!

It sucks so badly that I never got to go to the old stadium...still an emotional night though. It must have been awesome to be there aside from the inconveniences. I will be going to the new stadium next year come hell or high water!!!!

[nettles]

Glad you got to be a part of it, John. And thanks for sharing your pics.

I watched the game at Nick's Coney Island, a Yankee watering hole here in Portland, with a few other Yankee fans. I admit to getting a little misty eyed when ESPN showed Mo's final pitch in the bullpen, then followed him out the gate in the wall as he ran in to pitch the ninth. Always loved seeing him lope in, striking fear into the hearts of the opposition.

I'll miss the old barn; glad I got to see six games there!

[SF]

Awesome, John, glad you could be a part of it.

[Brad]

I always swore I would never go, even though I live only an hour away. Somthing about everything that went on last night there made me wish I had just put aside my hatred for the team for just a day and catch a blue jay game or something.
Oh well, so it goes.
On another note, and not trying to start a flame war or anything, but how do Yankee fans feel about the fact that Hank wasn't there last night? That seems weird to me, to say the least. What could possibly be more important than making the last game?

[dc]

no flame brad, you ask a legitimate question...frankly, there were a number of strange omissions, and some odd inclusions...some of which were pointed out on another thread:
for example,

inclusions:
el duque
bernie being the last to be introduced, rather than say, yogi [i'm not slighting bernie, but yogi is, well, yogi]

exclusions, not because they weren't present, but they weren't mentioned at all as far as i know:
torre
clemens
hank

i guess they had to work within some framework of criteria, but i'd be interested to know what that was...to answer your question, hank should have been there to represent the family, but perhaps even he realizes what a lightning rod he is, and may not have wanted to distract from the event, which was really about the players and fans...

[Sam-YF]

To me Hank not being there further exemplifies his role in the organization: media attention grabber. Hal really seems to be making the decisions and Hank is essentially playing the role of ownership spokesman. Its an interesting setup that could potentially work well or terribly depending on how it plays out and how coordinated the two parts actually are.

[Sam-YF]

Here are my photos from last night.
Im still in the process of editing and naming them (there are way too many now) but I wanted to get them up...

http://tinyurl.com/4zyjof

[LYF]

I was also there last night from about 6pm. A bittersweet time. I am on the road so pics don't accompany this message.

- As a decades-long season ticket holder I don't know where I will be sitting next year; no matter what it will be more costly and a worse seat. (Unless Wall St.'s woes really do a number on ticket sales...did the Yanks miss the market for locking in insane ticket prices?)

- When a team flops like the Yanks did this August, it was hard to "accept" the playoff atmosphere, no matter the reason. At least there were shouts from the crowd getting on Abreu for his awful fielding and Cano for overall lack of hustle. Compare these guys with their Baltimore counterparts Roberts and Payton. All hustle vs dubious movements.

- Donnie Baseball was a huge omission. He, Torre, and Clemens weren't even on the big screen. Same for George and even Brian Cashman, Bob Watson and Bob Lemon. Odd. Some kind of denial from the greedy, our way or the highway Trost and Levine (and presumably Hal & Hank).

- The "ghost" players should have had some stats on the board or even descendants present....many are HOF. When were the uniforms actually heavy cream colored? Artistic license?

- Above all else the Yanks need to clean house of the mercenaries and the young players who seem to either hustle or care. If they don't develop a new core of "career Yankees" then the new park will be empty pretty soon.

[John - YF]

"Donnie Baseball was a huge omission. He, Torre, and Clemens weren't even on the big screen."

Donnie was on the big screen. He was up there when they showed the 1st basemen. The others, I agree there was nothing on them.

[Lar]

The house that Hughes built? ;)

[dc]

joba's hut

[Brad]

Nice, dc: but hasn't "Joba's Hut" for most of his career been the infirmary?

I kid.