There are places i'll remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends i still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life i've loved them all
I grew up on 169th St and Ogden Avenue in the Bronx. For those who don't know, this is the neighborhood that has been home for 85 years to majestic Yankee Stadium. Today, we say farewell to this historic building, home to millions of stories, and billions of memories.
Highbridge was a great neighborhood to grow up in. My parents grew up there also, in fact I lived in the exact same apartment that my mother was raised in. It was a neighborhood of Irish, Italian, Jewish and later, Hispanic and African American working families. We had differences, but we had much more in common. And we were Yankee fans. I was lucky enough to go to bat days and ball days, playoff games and World Series games. For fifty cents we could sit in the bleachers, and there were many a weekend day in the Summer that six or eight of us would walk down the hill together to see a game. I saw Mantle and Maris, Yogi and the Scooter. The world was safe for kids, TV was limited, and the greatest Baseball team of all time was right down the street. It was heaven.
I was lucky enough to go to one last game in Yankee Stadium this summer, and walking the halls I could close my eyes and travel back 40 years, back to Ballantine Beer, men in fedoras, back to a chapter in America that closes today. I didn't think I would take this day so hard, but I am, and I know I'm not the only one.
You guys are from all over the country (and world), and you all have your favorite teams, but I know there are Yankee fans everywhere. Share your memories here, I'd love to read them. Go Yankees.