Really there’s no question what the top Yankee moment of 2008 was – it was the closing of Yankee Stadium.
There’s hundreds of records set there. Two home run records were set there by Babe Ruth and Roger Maris.
There were thousands of important moments in baseball. There was Lou Gherig’s unforgettable farewell speech. Three perfect games were thrown there and more than a few no-hitters. The Yankees clinched nine world series there. Reggie Jackson hit three home runs in one World Series game to help the Yankees win the World Series in 1977. And that’s just the beginning of a very long list.
It wasn’t just baseball either. The greatest game in NFL history was played there. Boxers Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali fought and won there. Four times Popes had visited there.
But it wasn’t just those things that made it so special. It was going with my family to watch the Yankees play. Whether we were in the upper upper deck or six rows back from homeplate it was always an amazing experience. I’ve seen MLB played in many different fields now, but none can really compare to Yankee Stadium (with maybe an exception for Wrigley Field). There was the familiar facade (or the frieze), hearing Bob Sheppard call the players names. There was seeing Monument Park, the huge NY symbol behind home plate and the short right porch that make Yankee stadium special. No other stadium would make me want to travel halfway across the country to visit in it’s final season.
It wasn’t just being at the game either. It was watching it on the television with family, friends and roommates. Watching them win world seriess, watching them lose regular season games. Listening to Phil Ruzzuto, Bobby Murcer and Michael Kay.
The final game at Yankee Stadium couldn’t have been any closer to perfect with the Yankees winning 7-3. Who better to have thrown the last pitch than Mariano Riveria. Derek Jeter’s speech said exactly the right words. And of course what would it have been without greatest fans in the world.
If the New Yankee Stadium is half as special as the Old one, it’ll make it one of the greatest stadiums ever, but it has some pretty big shoes to fill.
In 2008, the Yankees played host to the All Star Game with the most unforgettable moment coming from a non-Yankee player. It was the incredible home run performance by Josh Hamilton in the first round of the derby.
In an impressive show of power, Hamilton hit 28 home runs, setting a record for the most home runs in a single round in the home run derby and hitting the baseball some amazing distances. It’s not every day that you see any hitter knocking home runs 504 feet and into the upper deck out in right field. Not to mention that the guy was a former heroin addicted, out of the game for several years and has an amazing story of recovery from addiction.
I re-watched it last night on the MLB Network and it was just amazing as seeing it for the first time. He may have not won it technically, but he was the real winner of the night.
With time running out before Yankee Stadium closed his doors, Derek Jeter recorded his 1270th hit at the Stadium on 161st and River Avenue. With that he replaced Lou Gherig for the most hits in Yankee Stadium. It was amazing to see one of the players that I grew up watching, beat one of the records held by one of the all time Yankee greats. I had a feeling all along that he would do it, he’s Derek Jeter, but when he finally got that record breaking hit, you had to cheer.
The tie breaking hit came on Septemeber 16th in a game against the Tampa Rays. It was a homerun hit of Ray’s pitcher David Price. The record setting hit came two days later when he got a hit off the Chicago White Sox’s pitcher Gavin Floyd.
In 2008, Joe Girardi took over as manager, replacing Joe Torre. I remember some of the managers before Joe Torre, but Joe Torre is the stoic manager that made everything alright in the Yankee dugout. As a Yankee fan, I was a Joe Girardi supporter, but he had some huge shoes to fill. Shoes that would take more than a season to completely feel.
Joe Torre spent 12 years with the Yankees, by far the longest time a manager has spent with the Yankees while George Steinbrenner. He won four World Series with Yankees and brought them to the playoffs every year he was managing. He had a very impressive 1173 regular season wins and only 767 losses.
In December the Yankees picked up three brand name free agents – two pitchers C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Brunett and a bat by the name of Mark Tiexeira. The Yankees are hoping that it’ll guarantee them a place in the World Series, while some may say that the Yankees are hoping to buy a championship.
The Yankees picked up Sabathia from the Milwaukee Brewers. However, most Yankee fans probalbly remember him as a dominating opponent with some memorable victories in the post season for the Indians. The Yankees gave him a $161 million dollar contract, the largest contract ever given to pitcher.
Right behind Sabathia in the rotation will be A.J. Brunett, a free agent from the Toronto Blue Jays. Another pitcher that the Yankees didn’t want to face. The Yankees signed him for 82.5 million.
Then to replace the aging Jason Giambi at first base, the Yankees picked up Mark Teixera for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for $180 million. He’s a life long fan of Don Mat tingly and wore the number 23 his whole career, but since Mattingly’s number is retired he’ll be switching to number 25.
It sounds like a guaranteed spot in the World Series but you never know how the players will fair in the bright lights of the New York media. There’s always a chance that they won’t make it – Randy Johnson. A.J. Brunett also has a history of injuries and the Yankees only hope that he won’t end up being another Carl Pavano who the Yankees paid $40 million to start in just 26 games.
For the first time since 1993, the Yankees didn’t make the playoffs. I’m thinking right about now that I should’ve called this series the Yankee Moments Of 2008 and skipped the “top” part. This definitely wasn’t a top Yankee moment, but it is hopefully a reminder how amazing it was when the Yankees did make the Playoffs every year.
There’s really not much that you can say about this. You can blame a lot of different sources for the “failure” – new manager, sub par pitching, injuries, etc. But either way, I think it came to a shock to most Yankee fans that the Yankees weren’t going to be playing in October.
I remember going to games when Yankee Stadium was mostly empty. Back then you almost knew that the Yankees weren’t going to make it to the playoffs. Then after 1993 and especially after 1996, you just knew the Yankees were going to find a way to make it into the post season. However, this year there was no last minute playoff run, no pennant race with the Red Sox. It was weird not seeing them play in October, makes you appreciate how amazing the World Series victories and makes you look forward to next season.
The good news is that the rest of the moments on my list are of a more positive note.
The passing of Bobby Murcer was definitely one of the low points of 2008. I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s listening to him announce the Yankee games. Listening to some of the video clips after his death, his voice just sounded like what I remember the Yankee games sounded like.
I may have known him more as a broadcaster than a baseball player, but his achievements as a player were more than noteworthy.
He was an all star five times and had one golden glove award.
With his 252 homeruns in his career, he’s tied with Brett Boone and Joe Torre for 185th most homeruns in major league history.
But what I might remember Murcer for is the game the day after Thurman Munson’s funeral. Yankees manager Billy Martin wanted to give Murcer the day off, but Murcer insisted on playing. He didn’t just play, he practically won the game for the Yankees. The Yankees were losing in the seventh inning, but Munson brought them back from a 4–0 deficit with a 3-run homer, then hitting a walk-off 2-run single down the left-field line in the bottom of the 9th.
Bobby Murcer tribute video from Youtube:
From doing a little research for this post, I found out that he wrote an autobiography – “Yankee for Life: My 40-Year Journey in Pinstripes.” I’m definitely adding that to my list of books to read soon.
Chien-Ming Wang has been the Yankees ace in 2006, with two years of 19 win seasons. However, in 2008 his season was cut short with just 8 wins.
On June 15th, in an interleague game against Houston, Wang suffered a season ending injury while running the bases. Never had interleague play seemed like such a bad thing.
According to Wikipedia, Wang was diagnosed with a torn Lisfranc ligament of the right foot and a partial tear of the peroneus longus of the right foot.
I don’t know exactly what that means, but it does sound painful.
It didn’t require any surgery, but he did have a cast on his foot until the end of July. However, rehab would keep him out for the rest of the season. It may have been a fatal blow to the struggling Yankees.
On a more positive note. On April 22, Wang recorded a win against the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field. The victory, in Wang’s 85th career start, made him the fastest Major Leaguer to record 50 wins as a starter since Dwight Gooden, who won his 50th game in his 82nd start on June 29, 1986, at Chicago for the New York Mets. Wang also became the quickest Yankee to 50 wins since Ron Guidry who accomplished this in his 82nd start.
Even in the turbulent seasons since their last world series win, there were a few names that were always there, holding the team together. One of them was Jorge Possada, who for the first time in his career ended up on the DL. He was part of the Yankee heart who’s reliable bat you could count on, his mind behind home plate was counted on and when he was injured so was the rest of the team.
In late July, Jorge was placed on the disabled list with a shoulder injury. A week later, he put the mask down for the season, he would have surgery and not be able to play for the rest of the season. However, before the final game at Yankee Stadium he did catch the ceremonial first pitch from the daughter of Babe Ruth, Julia Ruth Stephens. He’s expect to be back behind the plate this spring tranning.
Maybe it’s not the most important moment in 2008, but when the Yankees signed Billy Crystal signed to a one day contract it was definitely a feel good moment.
In Spring Training, the Yankees signed the comedian to a one day contract. He was the lead off hitter, playing the DH role in a game against the Pirates. He fouled off a pitch, took three balls but eventually struck out. Not bad for a rookie that was about to turn 60 the next day.
Maybe, I still have a chance of playing for the Yankees after all.
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Really there’s no question what the top Yankee moment of 2008 was – it was the closing of Yankee Stadium.
