Baseball. Yankee Stadium. Yogi.
I’m not truly a Yankees fan. It’s not because I don’t like New York; in fact it’s one of my favorite places on the planet and I would love to live there for a few years. Since Seattle is home I support the Mariners but find the Yankees fascinating because they’re similarly inspiring and disappointing, just with a much bigger payroll. Watching last night’s final regular-season game at Yankee stadium made us all just a little more a fan of the team – or at least their place in baseball history. How can anyone who loves baseball resist an emotional tug when looking at that park? My friend Bob says it’s “beautiful ugly… a perfect loveable mutt of a stadium for this town”. Seeing ostensibly tough New Yorkers sitting moist-eyed in the stands for the final time was touching and is a testament to the powerful connection they have to that park.
Yogi Berra’s pre-game speech was moving and inspiring, and free from the maudlin sentiment that seemed so prevalent in the broadcast. He remains my favorite baseball player of all time, both for his brilliant playing and for being Yogi. If baseball were a religion, he’d be a great pope. Seeing Don Larson and Whitey Ford scooping some souvenir dirt off the pitcher’s mound before the game… priceless. And the ceremonial first pitch by Babe Ruth’s 92-year old daughter Julia Ruth Stevens… awesome.
Seriously. You gotta love this game. I hope the new stadium is every bit as loveable as the old mutt across the street.
“The towels were so thick there I could hardly close my suitcase.”- Yogi Berra