Couldn't let the day pass without marking it somehow. The New York Yankees play the last game ever in Yankee Stadium today. Their new stadium - bigger, more luxurious, more expensive - is being built directly across the street. After the ball players and fans leave the hallowed field for the last time, the demolition crews will move in for the final goodbye.
Despite my general sense of disdain for what professional sports have become in our cynical, modern age, I can't help but feel sad about our inability to hold onto history. We just don't seem to collectively appreciate places that matter as much as we ought to. I'm not saying this is the Roman Coliseum, of course. But doesn't a place that's been so important to so many for so long deserve a better fate?
Could Fenway Park be next?
Your turn: Is newer necessarily better?
Newer is never better just because it's new. I prefer old buildings - or those that have old style architecture, as they are much more interesting to look at. I suppose in this case, if the stadium is getting to the point of being unsafe, perhaps a new one is better.
ReplyDeleteI so agree. There is a sadness in losing what we've known for so long. We were just talking about Yankee Stadium today while we sat watching the Tampa Bay Rays play. Why can't they refurbish the old place?
ReplyDeleteOur spring training team plays at the same field where teams have played as long as I can remember, and that is a long time ago. Renovations were done, and we all love going to the intimate park where you are almost right there in the middle of the game.
I'm not a Yankees fan (Go Rays) but I do feel bad that today is the last day there for them...no postseason.
I'm not a big pro-baseball follower, but this hurts even me. Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, Yankee Stadium -- you cannot think of baseball without thinking of those parks. I think it's a pity that more effort doesn't go into refurbishing beloved stadiums.
ReplyDeleteDON'T SAY THAT.
ReplyDeleteSeriously. It makes me shudder thinking about it. Fenway is amazing. Small, crowded, antiquated, and one of my favorite places on Earth.
I strongly believe it will be a LONG time before the Red Sox play anywhere other then Fenway. The ownership has placed SO MUCH MONEY into renovating the park and expanding every spare inch to get extra seats in.
ReplyDeleteSeriously. I think there are going to be seats in the bathrooms next...oh, wait... aren't those called toilets?
lol
Anyway.. I never was a fan of Yankee Stadium. The set up was not friendly to crowd control. The massive escalators and staircases behind home plate... whereas Fenway has many points in where you can get to the higher decks...
...then again I am a die-hard Sox fan and an ever stronger anti-yankees... so that might explain my bias ;)
I wrote a similar post and suggested that Yankee Stadium be made a national historical site. But alas, money talks louder, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteActually, I wrote two posts about it.