This day in baseball history-September 20, Part 1-Goodbye old friend

[soberdennis]

"Oh, there used to be a ball park
where the field was warm and green,
and the people played a crazy game
with a joy I've never seen.

How the people watched with wonder,
how they laughed and how they cheered
Yes, there used to be a ball park....
right here....

And the people ate rock candy
on a great big 4th of July
and the fireworks exploded
all across the summer sky.

And the air was filled with wonder
from the hot dogs and the beer
Yes, there used to be a ball park...
right here....

Now the children try to find it,
and they can't believe their eyes
For the old team isn't playing,
and the new team hardly tries

And the sky has gotten cloudy
when it used to be so clear
and the summer....went so quickly...
this year....

Yes, there used to be a ball park...
right here....

When Frank Sinatra sang those words, he was supposedly talking of another ballpark. But they can be said of any old ballpark. I print them in memory of one which closed its doors two years ago today.
To baseball enthusiasts it was more than just a ballpark. It was its cathedral. It was home to some of the greatest players and some of the greatest teams that ever walked the ballfields of America.
It was built out of necessity. The team's landlords of the previous 9 years had decided the team had overstayed its welcome and asked it to find a new home.
The home it found was not just any home. Within shouting distance of its old home, it was majestic. It was the largest of its kind at the time. It even had a special name attached to it. It was not a Field, Park, or Grounds like the other ballparks of the time were called. It was a Stadium, the first to ever carry that name.
Yankee Stadium opened in 1923. Babe Ruth hit the first homer and the Yankees beat the Red Sox.
With the exception of two years in the 70s when the city renovated the Stadium, the Yankees played there for the next 85 years. During that time, they won 26 World Series and provided baseball with some of its most famous moments.
On September 20, 2008, the Yankees played their last game at the Cathedral of Baseball. The farewell was fitting. Many of the greats that had played there were in attendance. Ruth's daughter threw out the first pitch. Of course, the Yankees won the game, beating the Orioles, 7-3.
It's been gone for two years now. The new Yankee Stadium stands nearby in its place. It may end up having its own glorious history to look back on one day.
But to those of us who had seen games there, to those of us with fond memories of the old Stadium, there will never be another like it. So I say this. Yankee Stadium is gone now. But it will never be forgotten.
Goodbye old friend.

[RickD]

Good to have you back Dennis and bringing "This Day" back as well.

I have my Yankees Stadium DVD, Yankee Stadium book and Yankee Stadium newspaper special to hold onto.....sniff, sniff.....indeed, goodbye old friend!

[TTMCentral]

That was fantastic Soberdennis! I love your "This Day" threads.

[whitstatman]

Poets are like baseball pitchers. Both have their moments. The intervals are the tough things.

[soberdennis]

Poets are like baseball pitchers. Both have their moments. The intervals are the tough things.

Since I was never much of a pitcher, I guess I had to be the poet. LOL.
That song was actually written about Ebbets Field. But I just thought it was a nice intro to my thread.

[whitstatman]

Since I was never much of a pitcher, I guess I had to be the poet. LOL.
That song was actually written about Ebbets Field. But I just thought it was a nice intro to my thread.

I actually do write poetry myself, and I read this one before. I just thought that was an interesting quote.

[TTMCentral]

I was neither the pitcher nor the poet. I think I was the benchwarmer. LOL.