A Fan's Memories of Yankee Stadium

By Jordan Schwartz

My first trip to Yankee Stadium came on Thursday, July 22, 1993. Just a 10-year-old boy, I sat with my mom, dad, and sister in the lower level down the left-field line. In the bottom of the seventh inning, my favorite player of all time, Don Mattingly, scalded a 2-1 pitch off Doug Linton into the right-field seats for a three-run homer. It was the 200th of his storied career, and the Yankees went on to beat the California Angels, 12-1.

Exactly 15 years later, on Tuesday, July 22, 2008, I attended my 42nd and final game at the old Yankee Stadium. Accompanied by just my sister this time, we sat in the upper deck, down the left-field line. In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Yankees scored four times to put away an 8-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

The Bombers are missing the playoffs this fall for the first time since the year in which I went to my first game, but during that decade-and-a-half span, I was fortunate enough to see my share of Yankee Stadium magic.

The Yankees were 35-7 in games I attended at the Stadium. That’s right, 35-7. Five of the seven losses were by one run, another defeat was by three, but New York brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth, and the only blowout loss was when they were no-hit by six different Houston Astros pitchers on June 11, 2003.

My friend, Brad, caught a foul ball during that game, and from that point forward, we knew we were doomed.

I witnessed seven walk-off victories, including three in a row between Sept. 30, 2004, when a homer by Bernie Williams clinched the division, and May 16, 2006, when Jorge Posada’s game-winning blast capped a 14-13 comeback victory over the Texas Rangers—a game in which the Yankees had trailed 9-0.

But the biggest walk-off I saw was one of the most dramatic in franchise history.
When 2003 postseason tickets went on sale in late September of that year, I, like thousands of others, stared at my computer as Ticketmaster.com informed me that my wait time was eight minutes.

A half-hour later, a screen popped up presenting me with the option of purchasing four tickets to “ALCS Home Game 4.” I immediately snatched them up, not thinking that I would actually attend the game. But a few weeks later, the Boston Red Sox forced a Game 7, and I found myself skipping a Thursday afternoon class to drive from Syracuse to New York.

The excitement was palpable among the 56,278 people that attended the game with me on that chilly October evening. It was Pedro versus Clemens, Sox versus Yanks for the right to advance to the World Series, and I was there.

The anticipation quickly morphed into shock as the Bombers fell behind 3-0 in the top of the second, and by the time it was 5-2 Boston in the top of the eighth, the feeling turned to desperation. But then, as always, the rally started with Derek Jeter. A double. Then Bernie Williams singled him home. 5-3. Then Hideki Matsui doubled to put the tying runs in scoring position for Jorge Posada.

I clasped my numb fingers in front of my face and rocked back and forth in the right-field bleachers as the Yankee catcher battled with the tiring Martinez. After an agonizing five pitches, Posada finally lifted a fly ball to shallow center, as everyone held their breath.
Until it landed.

The stadium actually shook as Matsui scored the tying run, and I high-fived everyone around me. But there was still work to be done. The game continued on, knotted at five, into the ninth, the 10th, and finally the 11th. As Tim Wakefield got ready to deliver his first knuckleball to Aaron Boone, my dad and I turned to step up onto the bleacher so we could see better.

Just then, we heard the crowd roar and swung our heads around to see the ball land in the left-field seats for a pennant-winning home run. My dad and I turned to each other in shock, but we were too excited to be disappointed. We had just witnessed—sort of—one of the greatest moments in Yankee history.

The magic dissipated somewhat over the following five years, but I still took in my share of great Yankee Stadium moments.

I saw Clemens win his 350th career game, Posada homer from both sides of the plate, and Jeter pass Bernie Williams and then Mickey Mantle on the Yankees’ all-time hit list.

I’ve seen New York play every American League team except the A’s and White Sox, I’ve attended 10 inter-league games, and I’ve even had three dates at Yankee Stadium. The team was 2-1 in those games. I was 1-2.

So, as the House That Ruth Built closes its doors for the final time this year, it takes with it old memories of championships and fathers taking their sons to their first game.

But with a new stadium come new memories, and I can’t wait to one day bring my son to his first Yankee game at the ballpark across the street.

It’ll probably be July 22.