When Jesus Montero signed with the New York Yankees, he must have envisioned playing more than one game at Yankee Stadium.
Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, and the rest of the Bronx Bombers have more than one game left in the House That Ruth Built, but their stay in Yankee Stadium is all but in the books, as well.
That’s the reality that faces Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees played their first season in the Stadium in 1923, and the history that has been made in the ballpark since is legendary. I couldn’t help but look out to Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and the rest of the legends of Monument Park as I stood in the press box. I had no choice but to think about Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, and all the greats who had suited up in the Yankee clubhouse before I found myself there for the first -- and last -- time on Sunday.It’s hard to picture baseball without old Yankee Stadium.
But at least it’s being sent off the right way.
Yankee Stadium, among countless other things, will be remembered for hosting its final All-Star Weekend in its final season.
It was a weekend in which some of the best young prospects on the planet came together for the Futures Game, where Josh Hamilton sent 28 baseballs deep into the New York sky in the Home Run Derby’s first round, and where it took a 15-inning fiasco to for the AL to claim victory over the NL for the 12th time in a row.
It’s also possible that the last year of the Stadium could be the last year of a Yankee dynasty.The Yankees have made the playoffs every year since 1995. They’re in third place, six games out with 67 to go. They’ll have the Red Sox to compete with, as always, as well as the Rays -- who looked a lot better before their seven-game skid into the break.
If the Yankees can’t outlast the Sox and Rays for the division crown, they’ll have to deal with the White Sox, Tigers, Twins, Angels, A’s and Co. That’s at least eight teams battling it out for four playoff slots, and the Yankees could very well be among those left out for the first time in 13 years.
With the loss of Yankee Stadium -- and the potential loss of the Yankee dynasty -- on the forefront, we’re overlooking another loss.
For the first time, this year’s United States roster for the Futures Game was selected with the intent of using it as the unofficial, official trails to make USA Baseball’s roster for the Beijing Olympics.
It will also be the last time the roster is built this way -- at least for a while.We won’t be seeing Olympic baseball again any time soon -- a sport that’s been a part of the Olympics since 1904. It’s already been dumped from the 2012 Games in London. Sure, it could be added to the program for the 2016 edition, but there’s no guarantee that that will actually happen.
At best, baseball makes its return to the Olympics in eight years. At worst, well, it could be much longer.
I can’t believe we’re saying goodbye to Olympic baseball. If baseball isn’t a worldwide sport, then nothing is. Heck, there were 10 nations represented on the 25-man World team for the Futures Game alone.I also can’t believe we’re saying goodbye to Yankee Stadium. The Stadium is the closest thing America has to the arenas that hosted the Olympics in ancient Greece, or where gladiators fought in the Roman Coliseum.
It’s only fitting that we get to say these two goodbyes together. The loss of one doesn’t take away from the loss of the other. Rather, losing them together entrenches 2008 firmly in baseball’s history.
This year will be remembered as the year the last All-Star Weekend was hosted at Yankee Stadium. It will be remembered as the last year of the Stadium itself. It will be remembered as the last year that one of the greatest international games is played on the biggest of international stages -- at least for nearly the next decade.
Across the street from old Yankee Stadium sits the state-of-the-art facility -- a facility that will cost a cool $1.3 billion to construct -- that the Yankees will call home starting next season. It will be a place where they’ll begin building a new dynasty for a new generation.
We can only hope that Olympic baseball will have the same fate sooner than later.Adam Loberstein just got back to California, and he already misses New York pizza. If you're in New York, find a way to send him a pizza at aloberstein@projectprospect.com.