When Brian Roberts hit Mariano Rivera’s last pitch on Sept. 21 to Cody Ransom, the Yanks’ time at Yankee Stadium came to a close. While the Yanks had been planning on a November send-off to the Stadium, the team has decided to call off the celebration, as amny blared to subway riders this morning.
While the story’s headline is completely misleading — anyone at the Stadium finale knows the House that Ruth Built didn’t go out with a “whimper” — Garett Sloane has all the relevant details. Basically, the Yankees aren’t offering up much, but the team’s one excuse — that the Sept. 21st game should be the last event at the Cathedral — sounds good to me.
Sloane writes:
The team had promised a final salute in November, which fans speculated would be a star-studded goodbye to the doomed stadium.
“The Yankees were considering having a charitable event at Yankee Stadium,” team spokesman Howard Rubenstein told amNewYork, reading from a prepared statement. “However, the Yankees realize that the final event at Yankee Stadium should be a baseball game, which in fact took place on Sept. 21, 2008.”
…Rubenstein would not elaborate on why the charitable event was cancelled and what exactly was planned, but the tribute was reportedly set for Nov. 9. Instead, the team will donate $500,000 to Baseball Assistance Team, an organization that helps struggling families in the baseball community.
As it should be, the final event at Yankee Stadium was a Yankee game. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Meanwhile, if you want to see the Stadium one last time, tours are now available through the end of October. It’ll be the last chance anyone has of seeing the an 85-year-old baseball temple.