The Music of Yankee Stadium

Baseball fans should know that last night was the final game at Yankee Stadium. I watched about 5 minutes of the game, just to say that I did. The Yankees, for the first time in over a decade, aren't going to the playoffs. I think it is just a bitter piece of karma from the rejected old stadium. I didn't go up to New York to catch one final game this season. I had no need to say goodbye to an aging shrine that many people have reminded me this week is "not that great". What made Yankee Stadium special to me was all those trips my buddies and I took. Route 4 to the George Washington Bridge to the Cross Bronx and of course getting off at Jerome Ave. (the insiders way to go). Once in a while I even dragged my dad and sister out there to go with me. We had some great memories and I'm glad we got to spend so much time at THE Stadium when it really mattered most to us. It seems appropriate that a place I connected to so strongly in my youth is going away just as I reach my 30th birthday. In many ways it feels like a new chapter in my life is opening as an old one gets torn town.

Songs on my mind:
"Empty Baseball Park" by Whiskeytown (mp3)
"Stadiums and Shrines II" by Sunset Rubdown (mp3)
"I've Loved These Days" by Billy Joel (mp3)
"Centerfield (Live)" by John Fogerty (mp3)

and for my buddies... and all Yankee Stadium fans in the know:
"Cotton Eyed Joe" by Rednex (mp3) - I don't know why they play it in the Bronx, but its a fan favorite
"Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" by Jimi Hendrix (mp3) - There is this bum that hangs out on Jermone Ave. on the way back to the parking garages after Yankee games. He is always jamming on his electric guitar looking for donations. He's terrible. We affectionately call him Jimi and always dropped some money in his case on the way home.
"This Magic Moment" by The Drifters (mp3) - always played during Yankee flashbacks on the scoreboard. Originally written by Doc Pomus the Drifters version is the most famous. A Bobby Fleisch favorite.

and of course
"New York, New York" by Frank Sinatra (mp3) - Start spreading the news.

RIP Yankee Stadium (1923-2008)