IN MY SHOES: Seeing A Ballgame At Yankee Stadium For The First Time
Freelance writer William Ecenbarger offers this walk down memory lane about seeing the Yankees live in action at Yankee Stadium with his dad shortly after his 11th birthday, and why the game ended up being so important to him:
In my boyhood, there were three teams - the Dodgers, the Giants and the Yankees. Your affiliation, like your religion, was known by all. You were Protestant, Jewish or Catholic. You were a Dodger, Giant or Yankee. Going to Opening Day at Yankee Stadium was no small matter.
Until then my only visual contact with big-league baseball had been on a 10-inch, black-and-white television screen, so I was not prepared when the subway train shot into the sunlight of the elevated tracks at the
Yankee Stadium looked big enough to apply for statehood. The famous facade was strung like a huge spider web all around the rooftop. Inside, a red clay warning track framed the dark, blue-green field. The infield dirt was red, save for home plate and the perfect white squares of the bases.
I drank in the scene with thirsty eyes. The game was not a blur, but there were many quicksilver moments, with Joe and Dominic DiMaggio playing on opposite teams, Ted Williams in right field - he got one of six hits off Vic Raschi - and a 19-year old rookie named Mickey Mantle playing his first major league game. …
In retrospect, it was an ordinary ballgame. But, as I came to know, baseball games are like sunsets - even the worst of them are worthwhile.
Editorial Note: The 2008 season marks the last that will be played in the House That Ruth Built. Beginning next year, the Yanks move to a brand new, facsimile/replica (last item) being built literally across the street from the real thing.
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