2008 – Old Yankee Stadium: The Final Year
On May 1, 2017
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I hadn’t been back to the Stadium since the Yankees lost the 2003 World Series in that final Game 6, but this was going to be the last year of this version of Yankee Stadium and it was practically a requirement that real Yankee fans make the pilgrimage to the Mecca of baseball to see a game there one last time.
Besides, I wanted that top-deck, last-row-center, fisheye shot of the entire interior of the stadium that posterity required me to take. I also wanted to see what the new YS version being built next door was looking like.
Let’s start with that entire interior shot. It would be a hassle to try to do it during the game, so I got inside early to get it done.
From my seat – also in the upper deck, but more behind the Yankee dugout than home plate – I took the rest of the shots, including: The left field corner, where you can see a construction crane and part of the new YS.
Monument Park, bleachers and bullpens:
The mighty swing of A-Rod as he fouls one off:
So much for my last Yankee game at the old Stadium……………..but I wasn’t done yet.
The Yankee Stadium Tour!
I shot with both film and flip phone. Let’s start with…………..
FLIP PHONE PICTURES
The Stadium:
A ticket booth:
Offices and Press Entrance:
The Press Box:
The Yankee Dugout:
Manager Joe Girardi on the top step of the Yankee dugout (yeah, right):
The lineups for the final game at Yankee Stadium:
The tunnel to the dugout:
There was one HUGE bummer this day: we were told that the day before was the final day in which Monument Park was included in the tour. I got this shot from outside the Stadium as monuments were being loaded onto a forklift for the trip across the street.
Continuing my walk around the Stadium, I took these shots on River Ave, where the subway entrance and all the souvenir shops are.
This is part of a mural behind a fence. There’s a better shot of it in the film photos:
SLIDE FILM PICTURES
And here’s that better shot:
A couple more dugout shots:
I took this one from the press box. Check out the team names on the scoreboard.
This was a bonus shot that I got from the press box that I don’t think anyone else noticed. With the naked eye, we could see that Bernie Williams was featured on the Jumbotron for some reason, but when I zoomed in, I saw a small figure with a guitar standing right next to the 408 sign. He looked bald. And there was some equipment (sound? video?). It looked like a crew filming a Bernie Williams video.
I didn’t say a word and no one else seemed to notice.
Later, when we were all standing in front of the Yankee dugout, I heard someone say, “Is that Bernie Williams”? I turned around and saw Bernie, the video crew, and a guy carefully cradling his guitar, all walking toward the visitors dugout.
I yelled out, “Hey, Bernie!”
He didn’t quite look our way, but he waved and I got the shot. That almost made up for not getting into Monument Park (but not really).
I later found out that they were filming a video of him playing “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” (http://tinyurl.com/TakeMeOutTTBG). I also found this uncredited photo that I imagine was taken while we were elsewhere and unaware:
Critically-acclaimed guitarist Bernie Williams, formerly of the Yankees, will play a charity softball game and a concert in Ridgefield on Saturday, Oct. 1.
Outside, I took this shot of both Yankee Stadiums. I guess it’s appropriate that one is fading in the shadows, while the other is bright and seemingly full of hope. It reminds me of the annual New Year’s cartoon where the old guy/old year is walking out and the new baby/new year is bouncing in.
As I left, I noticed this small sign on the old YS:
Thank YOU, old YS!
Check out photos from Opening Week inside the new YS in the 2009 post.
SO………….here’s what this post and the previous one boil down to:
GOODBYE YANKEE SHEADIUM!
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