Yankee Stadium comes crashing down...

[DrLev]

I may not be a Yankee fan, but I'm a stadium nerd and have been closely following the demolition of Yankee Stadium. This afternoon, the last piece of the upper deck was pulled down, and at this point, nothing's left but the outer shell. Any baseball fan should be at least a little saddened by all of this.

http://www.demolitionofyankeestadium.com/index.php?showimage=19' rel="external nofollow">

LINK TO PHOTOS

[Palmoripken]

I absolutely hate the Yankees but I too appreciate great stadiums and history. A lot of amazing things in sports not just baseball happened there. Sad to see it go. I was really fortunate to see a game that final weekend when the O's were playing there. We lost that Friday night but it was Mariano Rivera's last save at that stadium. I was a closer myself as a kid in Little League so that made it kinda special.

[scOtt]

I'm sad for the demise of the original. Too bad it wasn't that new monstrosity that was coming down.

[scOtt]

DAYAM! I probably sat in that very same section in the picture....

[Arthur_Bryant]

I am personally saddened to see the destruction of the stadium where Louis beat Schmeling, where the Colts beat the Giants in the '58 champpionship game, where Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass, and where Pink Floyd performed to sellout crowds.

Did something else take place there?

[NewMarketSean]

Went to my first and only game in Yankee stadium in July 2008. The Orioles blew out the Yanks, Millar his a grand slam...a good game to attend. I sat at the very top of the upper deck behind the third base line. Very cool experience to be there...the history is so thick there it's like a fog.

[ShaneDawg85]

Hate the Yankees, and even hate the place as much as you want to, but if you're a baseball fan and your baseball soul doesn't feel a little less empty after seeing those pictures then something just isn't right. This isn't Three Rivers Stadium, or one of the other pieces of crap that history will gladly forget. This was the mecca of baseball. When, if ever, comes the day they tear down Wrigley Field or Fenway Park, my baseball soul will feel the same then as well.

[waroriole]

Hate the Yankees, and even hate the place as much as you want to, but if you're a baseball fan and your baseball soul doesn't feel a little less empty after seeing those pictures then something just isn't right. This isn't Three Rivers Stadium, or one of the other pieces of crap that history will gladly forget. This was the mecca of baseball. When, if ever, comes the day they tear down Wrigley Field or Fenway Park, my baseball soul will feel the same then as well.

I'm gonna have to disagree here. Yankee Stadium was host to a lot of events and great history, but it's not even close when compared to Fenway, at least for baseball. Plus, the place was a dump.

[ShaneDawg85]

I'm gonna have to disagree here. Yankee Stadium was host to a lot of events and great history, but it's not even close when compared to Fenway, at least for baseball. Plus, the place was a dump.

I guess it depends on how you look at it. From a historical perspective, and in turn a success perspective, I don't see any stadium that matches Yankee Stadium. Not even Fenway Park. I mean, it was the House that Ruth Built. Which ballpark was nicer doesn't really matter too much to me. I haven't been to Fenway since they changed some of it, but from what I remember the best of Fenway was all the stuff outside and the atmosphere. A lot of the inside of the stadium wasn't particularly memorable. Not saying that Yankee Stadium was some five-star ballpark, since it's fresh in mind it was dark, narrow, and my seats smelled of gasoline.

From a historical perspective, to me, I go with Yankee Stadium. But the bottom line is both were, and will always be very important ballparks when looking at the history of baseball.

[Dipper9]

I'm gonna have to disagree here. Yankee Stadium was host to a lot of events and great history, but it's not even close when compared to Fenway, at least for baseball. Plus, the place was a dump.

The physical building was old and rundown, much like many of us. However, you could not walk in that stadium and NOT feel the ghosts, the emotion, the aura, of Yankee Stadium. I went in July 2008 so that I could say I was there. It was an experience I will never forget!

[waroriole]

The physical building was old and rundown, much like many of us. However, you could not walk in that stadium and NOT feel the ghosts, the emotion, the aura, of Yankee Stadium. I went in July 2008 so that I could say I was there. It was an experience I will never forget!

Oh, I agree the history of the place is what makes it memorable, but as far as a pure baseball stadium, nothing comes close to Fenway IMO.

[Don Quixote]

It is sad to see, even though I've never been a Yankee fan. The historical importance, both inside and outside of baseball, made it a huge loss.

[DrLev]

This weekend will also be the Last Stand for the Save Gate 2 movement. Gate 2 is the only entrance to the stadium that was not modified during the 1970s renovation and retains its original decorative balconies and baseball-themed terra cotta tiles. The physical entryways are original to 1923, and the rest except for a small portion at the top was built in 1928. There's been a grassroots movement to save this portion of the structure to be the entryway to the park that will be built on the site of the stadium, but the city parks department isn't listening at all. (Sounds a whole lot like the dedication wall of Memorial Stadium, huh?) At any rate, the word is they're pulling down the gate on Tuesday, and with it the last remains of the pre-renovation stadium.

[RShack]

Oh, I agree the history of the place is what makes it memorable, but as far as a pure baseball stadium, nothing comes close to Fenway IMO.

IMO, Fenway gets over-romanticized. It's main feature is that it's old and small, like ballparks used to be. If Shibe Park was still around and Fenway wasn't, people would get all romantic about it. Other than being old and small, Fenway pretty much sucks as a ballpark. There's not room for modern-size people, just for midgets, and the shape of the field is bastardized by the city block it had to be squeezed into. For years, the Red Sox were lousy in part because they weren't sure whether to design their roster for playing baseball vs. playing at Fenway. When it comes to being "a pure baseball stadium", Fenway is a weird mutant. Just because it's old doesn't mean it's good. (Having said that, I think they are doing the right thing by keeping it and renovating it one chunk at a time without saying that's what they're doing. They're gonna end up with a new ballpark that everybody still thinks is old when it's not. They're gradually doing a secret modernization/rennovation that's hidden in plain sight.)

I hate the MFY's as much as anybody but, like it or not, no stadium has the baseball significance of Yankee Stadium. Whenever I was in NYC, I'd go out there to watch a game, no matter who the MFY's were playing. It was a special place.

[RShack]

This weekend will also be the Last Stand for the Save Gate 2 movement. Gate 2 is the only entrance to the stadium that was not modified during the 1970s renovation and retains its original decorative balconies and baseball-themed terra cotta tiles. The physical entryways are original to 1923, and the rest except for a small portion at the top was built in 1928. There's been a grassroots movement to save this portion of the structure to be the entryway to the park that will be built on the site of the stadium, but the city parks department isn't listening at all. (Sounds a whole lot like the dedication wall of Memorial Stadium, huh?) At any rate, the word is they're pulling down the gate on Tuesday, and with it the last remains of the pre-renovation stadium.

That's a real shame. You'd think that somebody who's important up there would give a damn...