Tearing Down the House That Ruth Built

Some of you have mentioned to me that one of my favorite subjects in Real Life has been absent from my Blog as of late. Baseball hasn't taken a backseat because baby stuff has invaded my mind, but because it's just too painful to contemplate an October without Yankee baseball. I've come to terms with the fact that my beloved men in pinstripes won't be gracing our television in glorious HD this fall.

I was so excited when I calculated that my maternity leave would coincide nicely with the postseason. The downside of October baseball has always been the late start times of the AL playoff games (the NL always got the shaft with day games) and this season I wouldn't have to sacrifice sleep for the love of the game. Sadly, I don't have a reason to watch any of the games this year, unless one of two scenarios plays out. The only way that this postseason could come to an end that I would be comfortable with involves the ring going to anyone but the red sux. I would love to see Tampa Bay win the series. It would be a great story - the young rookie team who came back from years of living in the AL East basement to conquer the giants. That would be fun. I would also be happy to see Joe Torre's Dodgers win the series. Everyone knows that the Steinbrenners made a huge mistake when they let him leave after last season, and it would be awesome to rub it in their arrogant faces. The best case scenario that I've put together in my head involves a sweep of the red sux in the series by the Dodgers, including a walk-off home run by Manny in the bottom of the ninth, preferably off of puckerface papelbon. Have you noticed that when he makes his lame attempt at looking intimidating his mouth looks suspiciously like a certain part of the human anatomy?



(excuse Pyle on the left, can you believe this is the only papelbon scowl picture I could find?)

Anyway, enough talk about October baseball. Let's move on to an even sadder topic - the final game at Yankee Stadium. The Minion stayed up with me to witness the pre-game festivities and the first inning, but he didn't make it much longer past that so I watched the last hurrah all alone, which was just as well because no one was there to see the tears rolling down my cheeks. Yes, I'm that big of a loser. I don't even have the pregnancy excuse anymore. It was beautiful. Most of the Yankee greats were represented on field before the game and Yogi spent a few innings in the broadcast box regaling the audience with stories of Yankee legends. The greats from the championship surplus in the late 90s were in attendance - Paul O'Neill, Tino Martinez, Joe Girardi, and, most importantly, Bernie Williams, who earned a long and well-deserved standing ovation from the crowd. Andy Pettite started the game for the home team and Captain Jeter gave an emotional post-game speech after Mariano Rivera induced a ground ball for the final out, giving the Yankees a 7-3 win over Baltimore.

I'm still sad that the Minion will never set foot in the old Yankee Stadium, but at least he was able to attend a game in utero :)

I can't wait to take him to a game at the new stadium with Aunt Katie and Great Auntie Ann!