Yankee Stadium

The New York Yankees must join the rest of the sporting world and sell naming rights to their new stadium. If they can't do it today, because of the economy, they must take care of it as soon as they can. 

The Dallas Cowboys, the world's wealthiest sports franchise, is currently negotiating a naming rights deal, the Washington Redskins play in a stadium named "Fed Ex" and the storied Manchester United Soccer team plays in Old Tafford—not "Manchester United Stadium."

“Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd;
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,
I don't care if I never get back.
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win, it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game.”

That famous song, by Jack Norworth (I bet you did not know that, and I am impressed if you did) is sung in the middle of seventh innings from early March to late October in ball parks all over the United States.

Time has a way of stripping us of everything we love. It lures away our youth, diminishes our health, and steals our innocence. Sometimes, the latter of these is the hardest to take.

As Kevin Costner’s character Billy Chapel, of the Detroit Tigers, walked to the mound at Yankee Stadium during the ninth inning of the 1999 classic “For Love of the Gamem,” he stared at his baseball as if to ask for help.

Being 40 years of age and having played over 19 seasons, his youth was far from gone, his health was in question, and his innocence compromised.

It didn't feel like Yankee Stadium.

Emerging from the steps that connect the D train to River Ave., I wanted to go left, but the crowds ushered me right - across the street to the new ballpark.

Waiting on the massive line near Gate 6, I gazed up at the colossal exterior and snapped pictures like the thousands surrounding me.

In 50 years, I'd tell my grandchildren how I attended the first ever game at the new Yankee Stadium.

I'd leave out the part about it being an exhibition.

The early morning fog and clouds cleared to reveal nothing but blue sky and sunshine.

The baseball gods would not allow anything to ruin the unveiling of the most remarkable structure its sport has to offer.

(Sorry, Notre Dame fans, Baseball only)

With the Yankees opening a new stadium in a week, it only seems fitting that we count down the top photos taken at or about the House that Ruth built.

Yet, the question remains: How will my generation carry the great Yankees Stadium memories to our children?

Through pictures.

I have compiled a few pictures that really seem meaningful to Yankees Stadium.

Click next to see the first of ten.

Three years ago, the Yankees announced their plans to build a new stadium across the street from the current one. Now, with the new stadium getting ready for its debut, the old one is going to be torn down.

For most teams, a new stadium is no big deal. It's a new place to play that's probably filled with more amenities and conveniences than the old one.

Remember the other day when I posted this about the grass as the old stadium being ripped up? Some of you speculated that the grass would be sold, and it turns out those people were right.

From the AP:

A New Jersey grass farm that has supplied turf to Yankee Stadium since the 1960s plans to sell officially licensed grass in the form of sod or seeds.