Yankee Stadium 1923 - 2008: The Final Game

After the pre-game festivities, there was still a game to be played. I'm not going to bore you with an inning-by-inning recap, I'll just mention some of my favorite moments and some trivia.

Andy Pettitte started the game and got the win. It was nice to see him on the mound for the final home game since he was so instrumental in helping the Yankees win 4 World Series titles and 6 AL pennants. The Yanks fell behind 2-0 early in the game but then went ahead 3-2 thanks to a 3-run home run off the bat of Johnny Damon. After Baltimore tied the game at 3, the Yankees went ahead 5-3 courtesy of a 2-run home run off the bat of Jose Molina (more on this later). Andy gave up a hit in the top of the sixth and that's when manager Joe Girardi came to the mound to make a pitching change. Andy walked towards the Yankee dugout to a standing ovation. He waved his cap to the crowd and came out for a curtain call. Jose Veras, Phil Coke, and Joba Chamberlain, held the Orioles scoreless through the 8th setting the stage for the 9th.

During the 7th inning stretch Ronan Tynan treated the crowd to his moving rendition of "God Bless America." I love listening to Dr. (he's a physican by trade) Tynan sing. He doesn't sing at every game only "special" games like opening day, playoffs, and of course for the final game. If you've never heard him sing you need to hear him.


Everyone in the building knew who was coming in to close out the game and the Stadium. As soon as the first chords of Metallica's "Enter Sandman" came over the PA system, the place went crazy. It was so loud that we could barely hear the music. For those of you who have never been to a Yankee game when Mo comes in this is a must watch. For those of you who have, well I hope you share the same feeling that I do....THIS NEVER GETS OLD.


There were a bunch of people in my section, myself included that thought it would be awesome if Metallica showed up at the Stadium to play "Enter Sandman" live. That would have made the evening beyond perfect. Wishful thinking.

With 2 outs in the 9th, Girardi took Jeter out of the game. He left to a standing ovation and also came out for a curtain call. If you're curious, Wilson Betemit replaced him. In classic Rivera style, the game ended on a weak grounder to first. That's when New York's finest swarmed the field with hundreds of police officers. Most were on foot but there were some mounted on horses as well. For the most part, the fans behaved themselves. There were 1 or 2 idiots who thought they could outrun New York's finest. NYPD simply smothered them and walked them off the field in cuffs.

This is where things started to get emotional. The fans started singing along to Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York." A few minutes later, with the entire team gathered on the pitcher's mound, the Captain, Derek Jeter took the mic and addressed the fans

After the speech, the entire Yankee Team took a lap around the field and saluted the fans. No, they did not pull a Wade Boggs and get on horses, they walked around field as a team. After a few more minutes of "New York, New York" we decided to leave. I gave my seat a few taps and left the section. We stopped at a few spots in the stadium to take pictures and finally left Yankee Stadium for good a little after midnight.

Now for some trivia:
Last home run: Jose Molina
Last hit: Jason Giambi
Final out: Brian Roberts
Last strikeout: Aubrey Huff (thrown by Joba Chamberlain)

Yankee Stadium 1923 - 2008: A Recap of Last Night's Festivities

The Runner's Recipe of the Week will be delayed this week due a series of special farewell to Yankee Stadium entries.

The final home game at Yankee Stadium was played last night, September 21, 2008. Beginning next season the Yankees will move across the street into a new building. I was lucky enough to have a ticket to yesterday's festivities. Gates to the stadium opened at 1:00 p.m. Those with valid tickets were allowed to visit Monument Park between 1:00 and 6:30 p.m. Fans were also allowed to walk on the warning track between Monument Park and home plate between 1:00 and 4:00. Unfortunately, I was not not able to make to the Stadium that early.

The pre-game festivities began with a pre-recorded message from Bob Sheppard, long-time public address announcer for Yankees. Bob is still recovering from an illness but said he hopes to see everyone next year in the new Yankee Stadium. Masters of Ceremony were John Sterling and Michael Kay. In the days leading up to last night, the Yankees said that a special historical memento would be revealed. We finally found out what that was, the first ever AL Pennant raised in Yankee Stadium in 1923. It was the 1922 AL Champion pennant.

Sterling and Kay then introduced the first team to take the field in Yankee Stadium:
Manager: Miller Huggins
Starting Pitcher: Bob Shawkey
Catcher: Wally Schang
1B: Wally Pipp
2B: Aaron Ward
3B: Joe Dugan
SS: Everett Scott
LF: Bob Meusel
CF: Whitey Witt
RF: Babe Ruth

Other Yankee greats of years gone by were then honored: Lou Gehrig, Lefty Gomez, Red Ruffing, Bill Dickey, Joe McCarthy, Allie Reynolds, Casey Stengel, and Joe DiMaggio.

Then the real fun began. Sterling began by saying that the Yankees have over 700 living alumni. Starting in left field, a tribute to former Yankee greats was played on the DiamondVision. the last player featured at each position was the current Yankee to play the position.

First up was left field: Roy White and Dave Winfield were introduced and each trotted to left field.

Shortstop was next: needless to say, Derek Jeter was featured and before any player was introduced, the fans started chanting Derek Jeter! Derek Jeter! Cora Rizzuto (wife of Phil Rizzuto) was escorted out by Mariano Rivera followed by Gene "Stick" Michael.

Third was up next: Greg Nettles, Wade Boggs, and Scott Brosius represented.

Right Field was next: Randy Maris (son of Roger), Reggie Jackson, and Paul O'Neill! Paul O'Neill ! represented. What an ovation Reggie and Paulie got.

Second Base: Billy Martin Jr. (son of Billy Sr.), Bobby Richardson, and Willie Randolph. Willie came out in a full sprint and slid into second.

First Base: Moose Skowron, Chris Chambliss, Tino Martinez (TINO! TINO!)

Catcher: Yogi Berra, Cheryl Howard (daughter of Elston), Michael Munson (son of Thurmon), Joe Girardi. This is where I shed my first tear. There was something about seeing Yogi in the old time uniform behind the plate that choked me up.

Pitcher has the most representation starting with "The Chairman of the Board" Whitey Ford, Don Larsen (who pitched the only perfect game in World Series history), Helen Hunter (wife of Catfish), Goose Gossage, Ron Guidry, David Wells, and David Cone. It was interesting that Roger Clemens was not even featured in the video tribute to great Yankee pitchers. No one really seemed to care.

Center Field was saved for last. Everyone in the building was waiting with bated breath for the last player to be introduced. But before that David Mantle (son of Mickey), and Kay Murcer (wife of Bobby) were introduced. The tribute to Bobby Murcer was very moving . Everyone knew who was the last player to be introduced. #51 Bernie Williams. This is where I shed my 2nd tear. Bernie has always been my favorite Yankee. Any of my friends will tell you that I tend to like Yankees who come up through the system rather than join the team via free agency or trade. Bernie was the first to come up and play through some tough years before Jeter, Pettitte, Rivera, and Posada arrived. I've always loved how he played the game. He never searched for the spotlight, he just showed up every day and did his thing. It was great to see him back especially because he kind of was not heard from after he left baseball.

Bob Sheppard then introduced the starting lineup for tonight's game (yes, there was still a game to played). Each player took their spot next to the former Yankees to play the position
CF: Johnny Damon
SS: Derek Jeter
RF: Bobby Abreu
3B: Alex Rodriguez
1B: Jason Giambi
LF: Xavier Nady
2b: Robinson Cano
DH: Hideki Matsui
C: Jose Molina

The U.S. Army Field Band then played the National Anthem.

Finally it was time for the ceremonial first pitch. We were all waiting to see who the Yankee would bring out. Posada came out to to catch it. Then Michael Kay took the mic and said that in 1923 Babe Ruth christened Yankee Stadium with a home run. It would be only fitting that the Yankees close the Stadium with a Ruth. Out came the Babe's 92 year old daughter, Julia Ruth Stevens. Ms. Stevens came out with a smile on her face and waved to the crowd. She then stood in between the pitcher's mound and home plate and threw a one hopper to Posada.

Notably missing was Yankees principle owner George Steinbrenner. I may not have agreed with all of his decisions when it came to personnel but for the owner of the team not to be there on such a historic night is sad.

I know, I've already written a lot and will be writing a lot more. But I just want to share one more thought. In my opinion, there is no other team in sports that could have put together such a ceremony. The ceremony wasn't meant to make people cry, it was a celebration of 85 years of history and tradition.

I'm sure you're all waiting for pictures, I will post them in a separate entry.

What a Day!

I'm not going to include to MotionBased link to my long run today because something got screwed up and the time does not do this run justice. This morning I started out my house around 6:15. Since we only have 1 car, I had to run to Tenafly to meet the running group I've been running with for the past 2 weeks. When I got Tenafly I was already 4.65 miles in to what was going to be a 20 miler. I got the to the meeting sport a little after 7 and by 7:20 we were all there. The group decided to walk up RiverEdge Rd. because they didn't want to start the run going up hill. Once we got to Knickerbocker we started to run north. The other 3 runners I was with were planning on running to Piermont, NY and then back to Tenafly. Since I already had 4.65 miles under me, I turned right on Broadway and headed towards Piermont Rd. I took Piermont Rd. straight into Tenafly and began the climb on RiverEdge Rd. I must be a glutton for punishment because this is the 2nd week in a row I had to climb a steep hill very late into a long run. Anyway, I made it up the hill, took a right on Clinton, then left on Woodbine. By the time I got Woodbine, I was at 19.5 miles. I thought to myself, I can't stop my run here, it's too far to walk back to my house. So I carried on towards New Bridge and then left on Windsor. I finished the run at the my usual spot with enough distance to walk off the run and cool down. I stopped my Garmin and saw that I ran 21.5 miles in 3:15:10. This is the first time during training I've gone past 20 miles. For who are interested, here are the mile splits for today's run.
Mile 1: 9:43
Mile 2: 8:49
Mile 3: 9:06
Mile 4: 9:17
Mile 5: 9:06
Mile 6: 9:34
Mile 7: 9:18
Mile 8: 9:19
Mile 9: 9:25
Mile 10: 9:19
Mile 11: 8:51
Mile 12: 8:45
Mile 13: 8:45
Mile 14: 8:51
Mile 15: 8:52
Mile 16: 8:46
Mile 17: 8:55
Mile 18: 9:25
Mile 19: 9:02
Mile 20: 9:07
Mile 21: 9:10
Mile 21.5: 3:45
Avg. Pace for the run 9:05

Thursday Night's Workout

Part of the fun of the NYRR Thursday Night Running Class is waiting for Coach Bob to tell us the night's workout is going to be. Tonight, Coach Bob came out and told us we would be doing a FARTLEK workout. For those of you who think we spent the evening passing gas, I'm sorry to disappoint. Fartlek is Swedish for "Speed Play" and consists of adding short bursts of speed (in our case 200 yards) into a run. For this workout, we jogged from the school to 110th and 5th. From this spot there are 3.5 miles left in the ING New York City Marathon.



We started our run up 5th Ave and entered the park at 90th and 5th. Soon after that we started our first burst. We repeated this until we exited onto Central Park South. The last burst was up West Drive towards Tavern on the Green which represents the finish line of the marathon. I felt real good tonight, the air was cool and my legs felt great.

Runner's Recipe of the Week

My wife finally got around to giving me the runner's recipe of the week. This week I present to you Peanut Butter Sesame Noodles. This is one of my favorites because it combines two runner's superfoods, pasta and peanut butter. It is a fuel-filled combination of peanut butter and noodles. Yet another noodle recipe, you say? Don't be deceived by the noodle base of a recipe, the additional ingredients that make up a recipe can push the glycemic index up, the carbohydrate load up, the fat content (which increases satiety) up, and suddenly you have a totally different nutritional content. It is important to realize that, during training, satiety factor is very important. Your hunger is great (as you very well know from experience) but you must fuel yourself with nutrient-rich hunger stoppers. Peanut butter is one of those foods. It is a runner's friend. Full of B-vitamins to fight off illness and give you energy. Full of healthy mono-unsaturated oil to keep you full. And, a good source of protein. The additional noodles, of course, help with carbohydrate loading and replenishing your glycogen stores. Lastly, the addition of some sweet peppers, kicks the recipe up a notch and makes it a very good source of Vitamin C.



Truth be told, this works better as a good snack. Who wants peanut butter and crackers? That is for people who go to the gym and run 30 minutes on the treadmill. We need real food for real mileage. Take a cup of this recipe--eat it slowly with a piece of fruit to add additional fiber, vitamins, and carbohydrates and, voila! You have a perfect 460 calorie snack. Think that sounds like a large amount? Absolutely not! When you are running the miles that you are running--that is the minimum.


Serving Size: 1 cup

For peanut dressing
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup warm water
2 tablespoons chopped peeled fresh ginger
1 medium garlic clove, chopped
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons Asian sesame oil
2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes


For noodle salad
3/4 lb dried linguine fini or spaghetti
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/8-inch-thick strips
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1/8-inch-thick strips
3 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

Make dressing:
Purée dressing ingredients in a blender until smooth, about 2 minutes, then transfer to a large bowl.

Make salad:
Cook pasta in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water until tender. Drain in a colander, then rinse well under cold water.
Add pasta, scallions, bell peppers, and sesame seeds to dressing, tossing to combine, and serve immediately.

Click here to access the nutrition analysis and to receive more information on this wonderful recipe.

My New Shoes

Today, I took my new shoes out for a run. I've done really well in the ASICS Nimbus 8s and Nimbus 9s so I figured I'd give the Nimbus 10s a try as well. I was a little surprised when I took them out of the box. The first thing that struck me was the asymetrical lacing system. I'm not quite sure what to make of it or what purpose it serves. All I know was it was it difficult to secure my Polar 200SD Footpod to the shoe because of the new lacing system. The second thing that struck me was the color. I'm usually pretty traditional when it comes to shoe colors, blue, black, maybe red, but GOLD???? This is so unlike me!

Once I got over the color, I put them on and liked how they felt. I not an expert on running shoes so I will not give a detailed review. They felt good when I went out for my lunchtime run today. MCM is 5 weeks away so I felt this was a good time to get my new shoes and get some miles under them before Oct. 26. I did buy 2 pairs so I can rotate them and hopefully they will last longer.

I Thought Summer Was Over?

I arranged to meet the same group that I met up with last week. The original plan was to once again run loops of Central Park. I recommended we change the plan becuase of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure was scheduled today on CPW and in CP. We decided to start on the NJ side of the GWB then go over the bridge and down the West Side. Since I ran 20 last week I was going to run 15 this week.

A light mist was falling as we started over the bridge. I prayed that the rain would not get harder because me running and the rain do no agree. Anytime I run in the rain, I get sick. Fortunately, that mist stopped and the skies remained overcast (at least for now). There were some steep hills between the bridge and the Hudson River Greenway. I tried not think about having to run up those same hills at the end of my run.

At the 7.5 mile mark (around 79th St.) I turned around and started to head back to the bridge. That's when the sun came out and made the rest of the run very uncomfortable. After a brief pit stop at 145th st., I began my final approach to the bridge. At one point after a tough climb up one of those dreaded hills, I noticed a runner sitting down on the ground and in some discomfort. Someone on a bike had stopped as well. We both offered her water and asked if she needed help. For reasons I don't know, she didn't answer until we asked if we should leave her alone. To that question she nodded her head. The cyclist and I shrugged our shoulders and went on our way.

I crossed the ramp to 181st St and began the climb from Plaza Lafayette to Fort Washington Ave. When I got to the top, I seriously considered throwing in the towel and hopping on one of the Jitneys back to my house. I pushed on, down 178 St. and began the climb up to the bridge. By the time I got to the top, my legs felt like jello and I didn't have much left in me. Somehow I made it to the end and drained the remainder of my Gatorade.

The heat was a real factor in today's run. It was hot as hell out there! I thought the temps were supposed to get cooler not warmer. Here are the mile splits from today's run:
Mile 1: 9:47
Mile 2: 11:02 (we got a little lost finding our way to the greenway)
Mile 3: 9:21
Mile 4: 9:00
Mile 5: 9:01
Mile 6: 8:41
Mile 7: 8:57
Mile 8: 9:20
Mile 9: 8:18 (what the hell happend here?)
Mile 10: 8:35
Mile 11: 8:56
Mile 12: 8:52
Mile 13: 9:92
Mile 14: 10:21 (this is where I stopped to help the fellow runner)
Mile 15: 9:07 (this last mile felt a lot longer)
Avg. Pace: 9:14/per mile