There Used to Be A Ballpark

There Used to Be A Ballpark

Stadiums' demises show carelessness, lack of appreciation for history.

We've all heard the stories of years gone by. Parents, grandparents, and other realtives relating the first time they visited their favorite team's home field.

Those stories now seem like ones out of a history book, as many of the venues that were so revered by bygone generations are now just memories and feelings.

Benjamin Kabak of riveraveblues.com wrote of the New Yankee Stadium: "For the Yankees, this new stadium isn’t about necessity, and it sure wasn’t about history. Say what you will about the renovations in the 1970s, but Yankee Stadium, man, it has some history. It had Gehrig and Ruth and DiMaggio and Mantle and Reggie and Mattingly and the late 1990s. Sure, the concourses were a bit narrow, but if the Red Sox can eke our more seats in Fenway, the Yanks could have found a way to make their current stadium more hospitable for the 4.2 million fans who made the pilgrimage up the Bronx last year. They could have improved the food offerings and renovated the bathrooms." He also put, "Unsurprisingly, this new Stadium really is all about the money."

I've been to the New Stadium. It was nice, it was beautiful. It was everything I expected, but no history.

Mets fans all over cried foul as they followed in the Yankees' footsteps and demolished Shea.

"Shea Stadium brings tears to my eyes, it was such a magical place with its own personality, so many awesome memories, I miss it…
Afraid to go to Citifield b/c I hate new stadiums, I’m even gonna to admit missing the Vet!!! [Veteran's Stadium in Philadelphia]
These New stadiums are cookie cutters, with so much going on in the park…At least the old ones…… served one purpose..to watch a ballgame, that is it!!!!"

"You can have historical things happen at Citi, like the Mets winning another Championship. But it will never be Shea. It will never be home."

On to Detroit.
"Comerica will never get the repect that historic Tiger Stadium has."

"There is so much history at the Corner. And it was there when Detroit was a great city, not part of the rebuilding process. It's seen the rise of the auto industry (and falling of it), the 68 riots, a couple world wars and the associated parades afterwards, various Chop Houses, and Sonny Elliott. Comerica has a long way to go, with a lot of winning needed, to be on the same level as Tiger Stadium."

Even the New Era commercial with the White Sox fan and Cubs fan arguing states "It [Wrigley Field]'s powered by tradition my friend, something you wouldn't know about at mobile phone park."

It's far too late to look back now. You cannot resurrect Tiger Stadium, Shea, Yankee Stadium, or Comiskey. But you can realise that the beginning of the Era of Expansion was bad for historical purposes. Only three teams have gotten it right.

"'It [Fenway Park] is a living room, it's a backyard. It is a temple. It is all those things,' said Janice Page, longtime Red Sox fan."

"I feel like I'm walking into a place where things happen, says Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe "Something special may happen today. Babe Ruth played there, Ted Williams played there."

 "'We don't allow people to use the S-word. We fine people $5 if they use the word 'stadium,'" said Red Sox President Larry Lucchino.

[on April 20 2012], the Red Sox [faced] New York, just as they did on Opening Day in 1912, [in this same ballpark] when the Sox came out the victors.

Whether Red Sox fans end up celebrating or scowling, they'll be right at home - where they hope to be for the next 100 years."

"I believe the Cubs ought to play baseball at Wrigley Field forever and if there's anything I can do in the role of governor to try to guarantee and assure that the Cubs stay at Wrigley Field...than that's good for the people of Illinois." says Rod Blagochevic, former Illinois Governor.

Even the Los Angeles Dodgers have begun a program called Next 50, to prepare Dodger Stadium for the next half century.

"It [Dodger Stadium] might just be the best looking 50-year-old in the county." wrote Joe McDonnell of FSwest.com.

My Trip to (New) Yankee Stadium

On June 10th for my 16th birthday I visited the New Yankee Stadium, (my first time in either venue). I was taken away by the beauty, the vistas and the overall atmosphere, (as well as the Martin walk off blast). It was a great experience.

However, there was one thing missing,

The history.

Watching the ceremonies, the centennial celebration that the Red Sox held for their home, Fenway Park, made even more of an impact on me. As does knowing of the impending celebration that the Cubs will hold at Wrigley in 2014 for it's centennial, as I was one of few who was not excited to here the Yankees were moving out of their home.

The Yankees have been host to some of the greatest players in baseball history: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe Dimaggio, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Ron Guidry, Reggie Jackson, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto, Thurman Munson and Bobby Murcer among many, many more.

When you watch a game played at Fenway, you know that Carl Crawford is in the same spot Carl Yastrzemski played in. You feel the history as you see the same spot where Bucky "Bleeping" Dent's 3-run blast landed in '78. The site where the Impossible Dream team played in '67. The foul pole around which Johnny Pesky drilled a game-winning home run for Mel Parnell. The bullpen, named "Williamsburg", where Hall of Famer Ted Williams, "the greatest hitter who ever lived", hit numerous home runs. The Lone Red Seat where Williams drilled a home run estimated at 502 feet. You can look at the Red Sox retired numbers and know that all of those players (except 42, Jackie Robinson), played at the same ballpark that Jacoby Ellsburry, David Ortiz and Josh Beckett play in today. When you trek through Wrigley Field, you know that the same place where Randy Wells, Starlin Castro and Dawin Barney play is the same spot that Hall of Famer Ron Santo, Ernie Banks, Ryne Sandberg, and even Greg Maddux played in their day. You can see where Babe Ruth called his shot in the 1932 World Series, where Billy Sianis was ejected and the "Curse of the Billy Goat" began, and the booth where Harry Caray called games for years.

The Red Sox and Cubs combined will never have more World Championships than the Yankees, they will never retire more numbers, they will never have more Hall of Famers, and they will never be the most successful baseball team, the New York Yankees. But the Red Sox and Cubs will always have something which the Yankees will never have again,

A ballpark steeped in history and tradition for the last 100 years, and, as future Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez proclaimed,

The next 100 years.