Your memories of Yankee Stadium

That's a really cool memory. Nice story as well.

 

I saw the Mick one-hop a ground rule double into the bleachers in left center.

After a 10-7 Giants victory over the Steelers, I watched three huge dudes punch out windows along the exit ramp.

 

Oct. 18, 1977...I get home from school and Dad tells me we're going to the World Series that night, a friend gave him two tickets.

I get choked up just writing about it. And, I've never felt so much as one pang of regret for missing a "big" game since then.

 

I have a ton, but I'll try to just keep it to a couple ...

- My first game, I went with my Dad, my uncle and my cousin. I was about 10 and they played the Orioles. When we got to the Stadium, we entered through the gate near left field. I made my Dad and uncle walk all the way around to section 1 before we could enter the field because I wanted that to be my first view of it, from behind home plate. Yanks lost, but I was hooked.

- Sept. 1, 1998 - My friend and I skipped class and drove down to NYC. Two of our buddies drove up from school in North Carolina. They were supposed to take the train in from Jersey, but not knowing the system, they drove to Cos Cob. Their 11-hour drive ended at the same time our 2 1/2 hour drive did, with both of us pulling into the parking lot at the same time. Weird.

We then took the train into the city and played frisbee in Central Park. A fine-looking lass was sitting against a tree with her skirt riding up to her hips. That was nice.

We went and saw Letterman (Terrell Davis was the lead guest) and when we got out, we just decided to take the train to the Bronx and see if we could get into the game. Bought tickets for $10 each off a scalper, 10 rows from the field by the left field foul pole. Yanks played the A's that night and Ricky Henderson shook his ass at a fan next to us who was heckling him. Wells was on the mound for NY. He pitched 6 2/3 of perfect baseball before Jason Giambi broke up his bid for a second perfecto in the same season. Wells threw a complete game and struck out 13. The Stadium was absolutely electric that night and Wells even had my friends, who are all Red Sox fans, rooting for him. Absolutely perfect.

- Father's Day, 2000 - I told my Dad I was taking him to a Yankee game (though I didn't mention I hadn't bought tickets yet. So we drove down and got caught in some traffic, which had me worried all the scalpers would be gone by the time we got there. We finally pull into the lot as the first pitch is being announced on the radio and some guy motions to put our windows down.

We do and he asks if we need tickets. I say yes, which surprised my dad. Guy says he has two tickets right behind home plate. We're skeptical, but I ask how much. He says he'll take $55 for the pair. Now we really don't believe him. He says he has the other two seats right next to them and we can follow him in. We do and the guy was right. Right behind home plate, two rows from the field. Best seats I've ever had.

Chris Rock sat a few seats away from us. We were on TV the whole game. And I bought my dad a beer for the first time after having turned 21 over the winter. Great day.

 

Was nice that Shep was able to take part, albeit remotely.

Always liked Yogi, and it's too bad that he's perceptably slowed down to this extent.

Whitey Ford sounds like hell, but like Keith Richards, suppose it's
amazing he's still alive . . .

 

Yogi's doing OK considering he's 83 and endured all the stress Dale caused.

 

Pastrami or London broil that's a tough choice.

Me memory is an almost.

1994... Planning a trip to NYC to spend a few days with best freidn and college roomie.
Roomie gets us thrid base row seats for the Yanks and Blue Jays.
Oh Hell yeah! I'm going to see Don Mattingly, my all-time favorite player - in the legendary house that Ruth built.
Two days before we leave for NYC the strike hits.
Fuck You MLBPA!

I've been pissed and bitter ever since. Being a Pirates fan ain't helped.

 

My only game at Yankee Stadium -- Aug. 13, 1995, the day Mickey Mantle died. I remember less about Eddie Layton playing "Over the Rainbow" than I do the shirtless dude with "7" painted on his back running out during the game and sliding into second. Then my newlywed and I went to the Mick's restaurant on Central Park South.

 

Considering he's 83, absolutely. A blessing. Know not all the lines attributed to him were actually his, but he's still hilarious.

 

"I'm going to miss her," Berra said of the Stadium. "I really do." Classic.

 

I’ve got several. Please bear with me:

My dad took me to my first game in the summer of ’55. Somehow, he got box seats behind first base against the Washington Senators. The most amazing thing about that day was walking up from under the grandstand on the runway behind the plate. Until then, I had seen the stadium only on a little black-and-white TV screen. But, on that day, the dark green grass, light green of the copper façade, reddish clay of the warning track and other colors took your breath away. Back in those days, once the game was over, we were allowed to walk on the field along the grandstand, then along the warning track before exiting through the bullpens.

Years later, got there early enough to watch batting practice. Was standing in the lower grandstand in right field when shortstop Dick Howser, wearing civvies and sporting a cast on a broken arm, saunters into our crowd of kids, introduces himself and hangs with us until BP was over.

Made my first visit as a very green sportswriter when a local Jersey City kid, Johnny Kucks, was invited back for his first Old Timer’s Day. That first visit to the Yankees clubhouse was something else. I was standing there, talking to Johnny, when Harmon Killebrew stops by to say hello, then turns to me, extends his right hand and says, “Hi, I’m Harmon Killebrew.” All I could mutter was an awkward, “Uh, I know.” I mean, how could anyone not recognize Harmon Killebrew? I still consider it to be a highly classy gesture on his part. A few minutes later, I’m talking with Mickey Mantle about Casey Stengel’s pitching rotations and an old acquaintance asks him to autograph a photo for his son, Jimmy. Mick reaches into his locker, pulls out an 8x10 glossy and signs it thusly: “To Jimmy: F--- you. (signs) Mickey Mantle” The guy takes it but doesn’t even look at the inscription, slips the photo into his portfolio, thanks Mantle and walks away. Mick’s teammates who saw this are bustin’ their guts. The clubhouse had these deep, low window sills and Yogi was rolling around in the nearest one, laughing his ass off. Just as the guy is about to walk out the clubhouse door, Mick hollers for him to come back. He asks for the photo back and signs another: “Dear Jimmy. Your dad is a hell of a guy. (signs) Mickey Mantle”

Another time, my dad and I had seats in right field, just inside foul territory next to the pole and, I swear, Mick hit a ball over our heads and over the roof. It wasn’t fair, so it didn’t qualify as the only ball hit out of Yankee Stadium. … Was there to celebrate Mickey Mantle Day. Applauded so long and hard my hands hurt for days afterward. … When I want to feel really old, I remember watching Luis Tiant's debut as a Cleveland rookie ... Then there was the Opening Day game when we booed Elston Howard for breaking up Bosox rookie Bill Rohr's no-hitter with two outs in the ninth.

Another time, while stationed at West Point, another lieutenant and I got talking with a major who had just been assigned there. Found out he was a Yankees fan raised on a farm in Kansas. Whenever a Yankees game was featured on radio, he told us, his dad would let him sit in the pickup truck and listen to the radio when the Yanks were at bat. He'd take his turn on the tractor while the other team batted. So Jim Foley and I invited him to take the trip down to the stadium to catch a game before they closed it down for renovations. “No way,” Al said. “I’ve built that place up in my mind to be some sort of palace and there’s no way I want to go there and be disappointed.” Well, we wouldn’t take no for an answer and finally persuaded him to go with us. Came the appointed Sunday and Al was remarkably quiet throughout the game. Afterward, we spent time in the audio hall of fame under the right field grandstand, where they featured radio clips of Gehrig’s farewell, Larson’s 27th out, Maris’s 61st homer and more. As we left the ballpark that evening, tears rolled down Al’s cheeks. “Disappointed?” we asked. “Oh, no,” he said. “This was far greater than anything I ever dared dreamed it could be.”

Post military, went back to cover another Old Timer’s Day where I finally got to meet my childhood hero, Roger Maris. … Sat ringside covering Ali-Norton … Covered Game 6 of the ’77 Series and led with the incredible performance Reggie put on – in batting practice: Every swing a home run, each higher, farther and deeper than the one before. For those who missed it, Reggie gave 'em a taste – three, actually -- during the game.

But the topper remains that Sunday in ’74 when New York’s BBWAA chapter hosted Venezuelan counterparts in a game there after a Yankees-Chisox twinbill. It was the last of a three-game series. The writers played one at Shea Stadium and another on West Point’s Doubleday Field, where Bob Sheppard performed PA duties (“Now batting, No. 42, Pete Wevurski, No. 42”). This was before the New York Press team got its own uniforms for the exchange series in Caracas and Maricay, so the Yanks let us use their flannel pinstripes for the games at West Point and Yankee Stadium. I got the No. 42 shirt but the label inside the pants told me I had Fritz Peterson’s. (To recap: Kekich got his house, car, wife, kids and dog. I got his pants. Go figure.) Gary Schnorbuss of Trenton put one in the right-field seats for our team. Best I could do was a grounder to second. And, I forget why I wasn’t playing my natural position, first base, but instead found myself in left field. But I asked our centerfielder (Phil Pepe?) to switch with me for just one batter. He agreed and we crossed at Death Valley. So, there I was: Playing centerfield. In the original House That Ruth Built. Wearing Yankees pinstripes.

Boy, do I wish I were there again this past Sunday. But I do have memories.

 

Pete, that's the best post I've ever read on this site (of course, I'm a Yankees fan, so I'm slightly biased).

Thanks.

That was amazing.