The final game at Yankee Stadium is set for Sunday night. ESPN will do a retropspective Yankee Stadium special at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The YES Network will also do a two hour pre-game show, beginning at 6 p.m. ESPN will then broadcast the game nationally. Many former players are expected to attend and the pre-game ceremonies should be amazing. WFAN radio has a very cool audio clip which compiles the 25 greatest moments of all-time. The clip includes the audio of the TV or radio broadcast of almost every moment. You can hear it on their website, which is linked on this page. It's really worth a listen.
What are your favorite memories of Yankee Stadium?
6 comments:
Jeter's first grand slam was amazing - especially because we were all there together, even Aunt Ann!
The last game I attended was fantastic, too. We were just a few rows behind home plate. The stadium is loud from those seats! And it just looked beautiful.
--Susan
beer fueled venom....i cant top that.my favorite game was my first.i left my tee ball game and went right to the stadium on a bus trip.we sat in the mezz in rf.i screamed for reggie thinking he would hear me.thurm hit a double to drive in 2 runs.yanks lost to the royals 4-2. i was in 2nd grade.1977
lonnie miller
My memories of Yankee Stadium:
* Old Timer's Day, 1976 - My first game. Mantle played in the Old Timer's game and a guy from the other team - the Orioles - caught my eye as a kid. He was the most colorful baseball player I'd ever seen, and remains so to this day. He'd be a Yankee the next year. His name was Reggie Jackson.
* Old Timer's Day, 1978 - This was the famous game when the Yankees made the surprise announcement that Billy Martin would return to manage the team. It was the longest ovation I have ever seen. It went on forever.
* I was also at a game in 1980 vs. Oakland when Reggie went yard, and in 1981, I went to five games, including a three-game sweep of the White Sox. Nettles homered at one of the games and Ron Guidry gave me his autograph. After '81, I always tried to see them play the Angels. I still loved Reggie. I also really loved the team in the mid-'80s. Mattingly, Winfield, Henderson, Pags, Righetti ... they didn't have the arms to win the division, but they were a lot of fun to watch. From '85-'88, they broke my heart, but they always hung in the race until deep in the season. I saw them often.
* Enter "The Dark Years (1989-1992)." This team was awful, but I liked them anyway. Donnie was there and Mel Hall was certainly entertaining. Jessie Barfield had the best arm I've ever seen, and I was at one game vs. the Angels where the Yanks rallied from being down 8-0 to get the win. It was one of the best times I ever had at the stadium. There was also a great moment when our "Don Mattingly Is The Chosen One" banner was put on the diamond vision while Donnie circled the bases after a home run. (The banner also appears in the 1997 Yankee Yearbook and in the Don Mattingly "Yankeeography.") I was also there in 1993 for "Reggie Jackson Day," when they retired #44 and unveiled his plaque for Monument Park. Very cool.
* 1998 American League Championship Series. Game 6. Yankees beat Cleveland to win pennant. It was great to see the best baseball team ever win the pennant at home. I remember after Mendoza left the game in the 8th and held the lead, I stood up and shouted "Way to go Mendoza! You just put us in the World Series!" By the time he got to the dugout, many others realized this, and he got a standing ovation. Of course, Mo then came in and slammed the door.
* 2001 World Series. Game 3. I don't care what's happened over the past year, I love Roger Clemens. And to see him pitch in Game 3 of the World Series with the Yanks down 2-0 in the series, and to see him win, was amazing. This was only 7 weeks after 9/11 and it was the first World Series game at home. President Bush - still liked at the time - threw a perfect strike for the ceremonial first pitch. The tattered flag from the World Trade Center hung in centerfield. Posada homered just as the big centerfield clock read 9:11. It was a strange time, but I'm glad I was there, in New York, for the start of the healing.
* Roger Clemens 300th win and 4,000th strikeout came in the same game in the summer of 2003. I had to be there. He had been trying to get his 300th win for a few starts, and on one occasion, he left with the lead but the bullpen blew it. On this night, he was really dealing. Struck out the side in the first. Historic. Awesome.
* Opening Day, 1997 - Joe Torre and Don Mattingly raise the World Championship banner. Nice.
* Was also there for Jeter's first grand-slam in 2005, and I don't think I missed an Opening day from around 1989-1993. Also saw three mammoth home runs hit against the Yanks. Saw Mark McGuire hit one into the black seats, and Jim Thome and Mo Vaugh go way, way deep into the upper deck in right field. Impressive. In '06, vs. Toronto, saw Jeter lead off the game by going yard. In '04, was there when the Yanks lit up Pedro and the BoSox. Jeter had a huge hit, and not long after that game, Pedro gave the infamous "The Yankees are my daddy" quote. This was one of the few times I really drank a lot at the game. I was spewing beer-fueled venom at Boston and having an absolute blast. Two Sox fans sat behind us and tried to be vocal. We shut them down. Also, on another occasion vs. Boston, I actually saw the hot dog vendor refuse to sell a Sox fan a hot dog. This may have been the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life. Also went to lots of Old Timer's Days in the late '80s and early '90s, when DiMaggio, Mantle, Berra, Ford and Rizzuto would all show up ... what a sight to see them all there together.
* The best game I ever saw and the best time I ever had at Yankee Stadium was Game 2 of the 1995 American League Divisional Series.Yanks back in playoffs for first time in 14 years. The game was epic. It went 15 innings. The lead changed hands constantly. O'Neill went yard and when Mattingly hit one out, I thought the place was going to fall right down. The building was actually shaking. It was the loudest I'd ever heard the place. Even when he came onto the on-deck circle, the roar was tremendous. Leyritz homered in the bottom of the 15th to give the Yanks the win. It was drizzling outside and 1:15 a.m. in the morning, and nobody left. The emotions from the ups and downs of the game were totally exhausting, but we just stayed and kept on cheering and cheering. People were chanting "Donnie-Baseball" as we walked out of The Stadium. Outside on Jerome Ave, I was slapping high-fives with people in their cars stuck in traffic. It was absolutely electric and is by far my favorite memory of Yankee Stadium.
All of these memories were shared with family and friends. My dad, my parents, my sister, my wife, my aunt, old great friends that I've grown up with, cheering for the Yankees, heading out to stadium for another game ...
I'm sure I'll think of all of this stuff again on Sunday when I'm there.
There is no place in the world I would rather be.
- Alan
Berg and I sitting in Left Field dangling a "Goose - Let Him Loose" banner Berg made over the side so that Goose could see it in the bullpen. He tipped his hat to us.
Walking out of monument park for the first time, not realizing that you look out onto the field as you leave. What a view!
- Rosey
Game 5 - 2001 World Series. Sat in the left field bleachers. Right before Brosius hits the HR I hear a lady crying saying, "We need this one, not just for the Yanks, but for NY, we've been through so much this past month. I'll trade all our 26 championships for just one this year"
It was hard to stomach the loss to the Red Sox in 2004, but losing the series in 2001 after remembering those comments and the euphoria of 2 comeback wins at the stadium that year was the toughest to get over as a Yankee fan.
my second best stadum memory was in 1980. Watching batting practice down the right field line. Lou Pinella hits one off the tarps strikes me right in the temple. Lou comes running over and was actually holding my head until First Aid showed up. After I was ok, Steinbrenner invited me to be on a commercial for channel 11 for a Kids day promotion. Never forget the elevator ride with me, my dad and The Boss. Then The Boss personally introducing me to Phil Rizutto saying that we have another Italian kid for ya!
Rosey I just recounted that game to Mel at the last game. Along with Frank's fit over not getting the Royals away Jersey.
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