Friday, September 19, 2008

My Top Yankee Stadium Memories

As we edge ever so closer to the last days of Yankee stadium it makes me reflect on the lasting memories I will have of the House that Ruth Built. So here are my top memories:


Bad seats and 20 Bucks gets you a damn good view- In the late eighties/early nineties I was a teenager living in CT and my oldest brother worked on Wall Street. After he got out of work my other brother and I would hop on the train and meet him at the bat. We would then buy the worst seats in the house and wait until the 2nd inning rolled around whenwe would go to our favorite usher behind first base and slip him a 20 to enjoy the rest of the game from right behind the first base dugout. I can't say I miss losing, but I sure miss having my choice of seats!!


Walk-Offs- I have been lucky enough to see my fair share of walk-off home runs:
  • 09/09/1988 - Claudell Washington - My homa wah-wah hits the first walk-off I see.
  • 05/05/2000 - Jorge Posada- My brother felt the need to leave this one early, I stayed. Good call as Jorge sends us home happy.
  • 10/21/2001 - Alfonso Soriano - I almost got in a fight with Paul Abbot's cousin (we are lucky enough to get seats from my brother's friend John Sterling for a bunch of games a year, and sit with both teams' families) as Sono (why were we the only ones to call him that?!) sends us home drunk and happy
  • 04/05/2005 - Derek Jeter - Captain Clutch saves opening day with a walk-off blast
  • 04/07/2007 - Alex Rodriguez - Mr Clutch (for the day) delivers a walk off granny vs Cleveland (too bad he didn't save that HR till about 6 months later!).

Benitez Plunks Tino and Graeme Lloyd is a Brawler - I was at the game in '98 that saw Bernie hit a moonshot off Armando in the bottom of the 9th and Tino get plunked on the very next pitch. This set off one of the best brawls in Yankee history. This game is really underrated in recent Yankee history. This was the point in 1998 where the Yankees showed what they were made of. Not only did they come back against the (then) mighty Benitez and the O's, but they stood up for each other. The '98 team had the kind of fight that the current Yankees only dream of. You think the '98 team would've let Don Zimmer get bitch slapped by Pedro? One of the most exciting games, regular or postseason, that I have ever been to. When Raines hit the first pitch after the brawl into the bleachers I thought the Stadium was going to explode.

Clemens' Roid Rage makes Piazza Pee his Pants - This game was memorable simply because of the "what the ...?" moment when Clemens threw the bat at Piazza. Still quite a bizarre moment.

There were others, but these will stand out for me.

Yankee stadium has been good to me and these memories will last long past the wrecking ball.

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