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Goodbye, Old Friend…

By Brian | September 16, 2008 | Share on Facebook

Tonight, I attended my final game at the current Yankee Stadium – 161st Street and River Ave in the Bronx, New York.  I’ve put together a photo album of some of my Yankee Stadium memories here.  I’ll probably add to it as I dig through my archives for more pictures.

I know it probably seems silly to most people to have an emotional attachment to a building, let alone a baseball stadium.  I guess the caption on the first photo sums up my feelings best:

THE CATHEDRAL OF BASEBALL

SO many memories…My grandfather was at the first game – saw Babe Ruth hit the first home run in the new stadium.  My father watched Joe and Mickey and Phil and Roger and all the rest.  I came here as a kid with my father (and, once, my grandfather) and watched Bucky and Willie and Reggie and Thurman and Bobby and all the rest.  My father and I have taken my sons to watch Derek and Mariano and Tino and Paulie and all the rest.

The history of a stadium, the history of a family…

You will be remembered, old friend. By the four generations of Greenbergs that shared family memories within your walls, and by the generations to come who will hear the stories, watch the videos and look at picture albums like the one above. May your successor generate memories as numerous and as plentiful. I look forward to visiting it with my children and my as-of-yet-unborn grandchildren.

We walked on the beach beside that old hotel
They’re tearing it down now
But it’s just as well
I haven’t shown you everything a man can do
So stay with me baby
I got plans for you

And so we embrace again
Behind the dunes
This beach is so cold
On winter afternoons
Ah, but holding you close is like holding the summer sun
I’m warm from the memory of days to come

This is the time to remember
‘Cause it will not last forever
These are the days
To hold on to
‘Cause we won’t
Although we’ll want to
This is the time
But time is gonna change
I know we’ve gotta move somehow
But I don’t want to lose you now

-Billy Joel

Topics: Family Matters, New York, New York, Sports Talk | 2 Comments »

2 Responses to “Goodbye, Old Friend…”

  1. jason says at September 16th, 2008 at 12:36 pm :
    Not a baseball fan myself, but I certainly understand the emotional attachment to buildings where you’ve had significant experiences, and which you’ve shared with friends and family. I was down for a couple weeks when The Villa, the grand old movie palace where I saw so many of the big landmark films of my youth, shut down. (It’s still standing, but it’s been converted into — I kid you not — Adib’s Rug Gallery. I hate to even drive past it, and I sometimes think maybe it really would’ve been better if they’d knocked it down and built a WalMart, as was the original plan.)

    I don’t think it’s silly at all to get a little choked up at times like this…

  2. FamilyGreenberg.Com - For Sale: Dirt and other Garbage says at May 14th, 2009 at 3:20 pm :
    [...] recent months, I’ve blogged quite a lot about the shuttering of the old Yankee Stadium and the opening of the new Yankee Stadium, [...]

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