As I watch the Tiger Stadium daily demolition updates on media outlets in Detroit, seeing this rips away at my heart.

I can only imagine what New York Yankees fans will feel like when the wrecking ball reduces their treasured landmark to rubble and it becomes part of the redevelopment process.

On September 14, I fulfilled a lifelong dream to add Yankee Stadium to a long list of venues which I’ve been fortunate enough to witness a sporting event both as a fan as well as an accredited member of the media.

New York’s 8-4 win over the eventual American League Champion Tampa Bay Rays added more history to a building filled with plenty of it.

Shortstop Derek Jeter tied Lou Gehrig for most hits with 1,269 at Yankee Stadium while third baseman Alex Rodriguez hit a grand slam homer which enabled him to reach 100 RBIs for the 11^th straight season. It was Rodriguez’s 34^th homer of the year and gave him 100 runs in 13 consecutive seasons.

David Price, the top pick in the 2007 draft, made his major league debut and would go on and play a large role in enabling the Rays to reach their first trip to the World Series against the Champion Philadelphia Phillies.

When I arrived at Yankee Stadium at 11 am, I felt at home as six Metro Detroiters wearing Tigers hats along with attire from the Michigan Wolverines and MSU Spartans made their inaugural trips to the Bronx.

As I took pictures and spoke to fans, there were many seeing Yankee Stadium for the first time as 54,279 showed up on a muggy & cloudy day with the temperature 83 degrees.

I met a mother of an FAU student who lives in Kentucky, another guy that lives an hour south of Louisville, KY, that followed the Cardinals when Howard Schnellenberger was the coach. There was a 16-year old girl from Abilene, Texas, whose friend bought her a ticket for her birthday.

Throughout the day, I had to pour water on my face, arms and down my shirt to stay cool. But it was worth it!

As I told my Cousin Monique Leshman, who I stayed with that weekend, if this was any other place other than Yankee Stadium, I would have left by the fifth inning. But there was no way I was going to depart early. If I had, I would have missed out on “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” and “God Bless America” in the bottom of the seventh inning. I would have also missed Yankees legendary closer Mariano Rivera earn his 35^th save which lifted him into a tie with Lee Smith for second on the career list with 478.

I saw so many cooperative people take photos of others so they could cherish their memories at Yankee Stadium. What will be easy about seeing the new Yankee Stadium is that I won’t have to visualize where The House Babe Ruth Built was. What baseball fans do know is that there were 26 World Championships, 39 American League pennants won at the old shrine that Joe DiMaggio & Mickey Mantle immortalized.

What can we expect to see at the new Yankee Stadium? We’ll see more World Championships, players reaching 3,000 hits and if Rodriguez stays healthy, there is a good chance that he’ll be able to overtake Barry “Asterisk” Bonds 762 homers.

But what made this entire weekend special was hanging out with Monique at the World Trade Center sight 24 hours before going to “The Cathedral.” It was a historical weekend!

When the Yankees lost to my Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001, I understood how important winning that World Series would have meant to this community. But I have to admit, it meant more to my community because it was our first major championship in any sport.

As much as I enjoyed Yankee Stadium, Tiger Stadium still is at the top in my heart, then again, it should be because it’s home! But for $168, it was the best money I’ve ever spent because for the rest of my life, I’ll never have any regrets about not making it to the “Greatest Venue in North American Sports History!”

Reach Scott Morganroth at scottbullm33@comcast.net.

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