As a Yankees fan, I was thrilled when a gorgeous new coffee table book, “The Final Season: The Official Retrospective” by Alfred Santasiere III and Mark Vancil came across my desk.
The book details the final season at the original Yankee stadium–from Pope Benedict XVI’s visit, holding mass for tens of thousands of Catholics to the final Old Timers’ game and the many other events in between that took place over 2008. The photography is bright and beautiful and the written, first person accounts, by President Barack Obama, Rudy Giuliani, George W. Bush, Edward Cardinal Egan and Yankees greats from throughout history, give us a intimate look at the team and the ballpark they’ve called home since 1923.
Towards the end of the book, a familiar quote, from Yankees captain Derek Jeter jumped off the page at me and I teared up, remembering him speak these words during the final game at the stadium:
“We’re relying on you to take the memories from this stadium, add them to the new memories that come at the new Yankee Stadium, and continue to pass them on from generation to generation. So, on behalf of the enture organization, we just want to take this moment to salute you, the greatest fans in the world.”
While I will certainly do my part to help make memories at the new stadium, I’m happy to have such a wonderful book to remind me of the last days of such an awe-inspiring landmark.