This is it. Yankee Stadium enters its final weekend. The famed stadium will host its final series and --- as the Yankees are out of the playoff race --- its final games this weekend, as NY plays Baltimore.
Yankee Stadium is one of the iconic stadiums in the world, right up there ... and probably more famous than ... others like Fenway Park and Wrigley Field. Built in 1923, and known as the "House that Ruth Built," (he hit the first HR there, fittingly) it was renovated in the mid-70s.
But it was the 80-plus year lifespan that made it famous. No, the great moments that can never be forgotten, the history, is what made it famous.
September 30, 1927: Babe Ruth hits his 60th HR.
July 4th, 1939: Who could forget Lou Gehrig, tragically struck down by ALS, making his "The Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth" speech as he bid farewell?
October 8, 1956: Don Larsen pitched a perfect game in the World Series, a feat never achieved before or since.
October 1, 1961: Roger Maris hits his 61st HR on the last day of the season.
But Yankee Stadium wasn't just baseball. It also hosted other iconic events, such as college football's "Game of the Century" in 1946 between Army and Notre Dame, the famed Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling boxing matches in 1936 and 1938, the 1958 NFL title game between the Baltimore Colts and NY Giants, arguably the greatest NFL game ever, and more.
The new stadium will be modern, filled with the latest conveniences and technology. But it won't be Yankee Stadium.
One might wonder why MLB scheduled this year the way they did. The Yankees end the season against Boston, but at Fenway Park. A flip-flop with an earlier series against the Red Sox could have ended the season at Yankee Stadium, a much more suitable end.
Perhaps MLB felt the mystique of the Yankees and the Stadium meant they likely would make the playoffs. But that's not to be. So, on September 21st, we will all say ... farewell.
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