Since this year is the last year for Yankee Stadium before they open a new one next year, it got me to thinking. If Yankee Stadium is "The Shrine" as they call it, if it is "The House that Ruth Built" as they call it, if it is the home to so many ghosts of late great Yankee players and teams, and viewed with such a level of reverence................why the $%^& is it being replaced???? Yeah, I understand the whole thing about greater revenue opportunities with more luxury box seating and being more spacious and fan-friendly but come on. Why is it we choose to memorialize a landmark in our country by tearing it down instead of preserving it? I guess it's our disposable mindset.

As I was watching the HR Derby, Josh Hamilton launched HR after HR into the Bronx night. One of his HRs landed in an area of the outfield seats which was sectioned off and nobody was able to sit. A couple fans breached the area and ran into it to grab Hamilton's HR ball. When they did, a few NYPD cops descended upon them like they were wielding knives or committing terroristic threats. The last view they showed of the scene was of one fan with a cop on his a$$ as he ran down a tunnel and another cop had his hands wrapped around another fan's neck in a choking manner..................over a HR derby ball..............on national TV.

Looks like somebody is going to get called into the chief's office in the morning.

I am a huge baseball fan. I prefer the National League because they play "REAL" baseball where all 9 players play both offense and defense. But the American League is OK if you can't get real baseball.

When it comes to the Yankees let's say that I am for whoever is playing them. I don't like their owner. I don't care for their fans. Most of their players are overpaid, underachieving prima donnas. But they ARE the best team money can buy - as their 26 World Series Championships attest to.

I have been to hundreds of Major League games and several Major League ballparks but I had never been to Yankee Stadium. Until May. I decided I had to see "The House That Ruth Built" before it is gone forever. So I went to NYC for the first time and attended a game.

I saw the Yankees host the Orioles. I loved seeing the Yankees give up 7 runs in the 1st inning for only the 4th time ever at Yankee Stadium. Jeeter made an error and Musina was gone after getting only two outs - his shortest outing since he was a rookie. Later Jeter was hit by a pitch and had to leave the game. When the Yankees' pitcher retaliated it precipitated a bench-clearing brawl. What a great game for my first - and only - game at Yankee Stadium.

Why is Yankee Stadium being torn down? Because it is a DUMP! Plain and simple. It got a major overhaul in the mid-'70s that gave it another 30 years of life but it is an outdated, uncomfortable, run down relic. The New Yankee Stadium just across the street should be a major improvement. Who knows - I might go to a game there one of these years.

(BTW, on that trip I also went to a game at Fenway Park. My first time there, too. Boy, was I impressed. Fenway is older than Yankee Stadium but it has character that Yankee Stadium lacks. I really liked Fenway. (Got to see the Red Sox hit 2 grand slams in one game for only the 4th time ever at Fenway.))

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"Baseball is like church. Many attend but few understand." Leo Durocher
Bruce Breedlove
www.avaloninspection.com

If the place is a the dump you say it is Bruce, then I guess the only people who won't understand replacing it are people like myself who have never been there. If you are a season ticket holder and are paying Yanke prices, you'll probably welcome the change. I'm sure those ticket prices will choke a few wallets dry

My wife and I want to make a trip to Wrigley sometime to see the Phils play the Cubs. So many great Phillies-Cubs games played there over the years (mostly during the Mike Schimidt era). Fenway will also have to go on this list too for being one of the last remaining old-time parks. Of the newer ones, I'd also like to the Pirates and the Giants parks. I've been to Camden Yards which was the 1st of the new retro parks and it's outstanding. The Phillies park is great too.