Get Herald RSSThe New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox played what was in all likelihood their final contest at the current Yankee Stadium on Thursday. Because the Red Sox had already convincingly won the first two in the three-game series, and with the Yankees needing a miraculous run to make the playoffs this year, the energy in the park was not nearly as intense as matchups between the rivals have been in the past. But the initially mellow atmosphere provided fans the perfect chance to sit back and soak up the sense of tradition that pervades nearly every inch of the ballpark.
Fans entering the stadium are greeted by corridors older and narrower than those in newer stadiums, and where other stadiums often have hundreds of televisions broadcasting the game everywhere one turns, Yankee Stadium seems to have just a few scattered televisions. The easiest way to follow the game is to listen to the radio play-by-play blasting from the multitude of old, oversized gray loudspeakers - appearing to be remnants from the 1920s to a first-time visitor.
After walking under the arched entryways toward their seats, fans find the familiar sights of any ballpark: fresh-cut grass and a finely groomed diamond. Visiting fans used to a more modern stadium may be surprised by how massive the towering upper deck appears as it casts shadows down behind home plate.
The overwhelming sense of history and tradition at the stadium is apparent in even the smallest details. Instead of showing a photograph of the Yankee at bat, the big screen displays stylized paintings of the player, making even tabloid headliner Alex Rodriguez look like a classic old-time ballplayer.
It's impossible not to take notice of how much history is in the stadium. Above seemingly every entrance to the concourse on the lower deck is a black-and-white picture of one of the Yankees' world championship teams. Everywhere fans turn, they're reminded of the fact that the Yankees have won 26 world championships. People wear Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera jerseys, but just as many bear the numbers of old-time legends like Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle. Yankee Stadium is place to see seven-year-old kids wearing the jerseys of players who played 70 years before they were born.
The Yankees fans' appreciation of tradition and history is one of the most impressive aspects of taking in a game at Yankee Stadium. While some might find the Yankees' insistence upon the absence of players' names on their uniforms pretentious or obnoxious, any sports fan has to be impressed by the fact that the in-game trivia contests often require fans to know the numbers of Yankee greats as old as Lou Gehrig or as recent as Bernie Williams; and it seems that the majority of the fans often know the correct answer.
Even while being surrounded by these reminders of how historic Yankee Stadium is, it is readily apparent that times are changing for the Yankees. The House That Steinbrenner Built will never have the same sense of tradition as the House That Ruth Built, no matter how hard Steinbrenner might try. After standing and singing "God Bless America" during the seventh-inning stretch, fans now shake their beer bellies along to Kanye West in an attempt to get on the jumbo screen. Rather than being forced to overpay for a cup of Bud Light, many fans choose to down even more expensive microbrews.
But the final tradition that seems to be fading is that of the Yankees always winning. For the first time in recent memory, the final regular-season game against the Red Sox lacked emotion, as the fans on Thursday didn't seem to believe the Yankees could rally to make the playoffs. Jon Lester was chipping away at the winning tradition by retiring Yankee after Yankee. By the seventh inning it seemed a forgone conclusion that the Yankees would suffer the ultimate humiliation of being swept by the Red Sox in their final matchup at Yankee Stadium, and fans would have to settle for celebrating the shorter bathroom lines at the opening of the new Yankee Stadium rather than the American League or World Series title.
And then the man with the classic old-school, oversized mustache entered the game and drilled a two-run homer into center field to tie the game. Not long after, he drove home the winning run to give the Yankees a thrilling 3-2 victory in the bottom of the ninth. The crowd erupted, shouting along to "New York, New York." Yankees fans had reason to hope that, like Giambi's mustache, maybe the Yankees' winning tradition may continue to grow at their new home.
