The Golden Ticket
Here it is:
Yes, that’s the actual size.
What you cannot tell from the photo is that the background on the tip of the ticket – where it reads “THE FINAL REGULAR SEASON GAME*” – is a bright reflective silver color (and not black as it appears here).
And, on the actual ticket, where it reads “THE FINAL SEASON” (under the ’1923-2008 Yankee Stadium Logo’) and where the date reads “SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2008″ the fonts are also in silver.
I have to share…it’s a strange feeling to have this ticket.
I’ve been going to Yankees games since 1973. And, I’ve been to this Yankee Stadium over 150 times.
But, I’ve been a season ticket holder now since 2001. And, over the last eight seasons I’ve probably been to (somewhere around) 50 games at this Stadium…sitting in the same seat (probably 99% of the time). Honestly, I can only recall one game in the last eight years where I was at a Yankees game and not sitting in my season ticket seats.
Now, on Sunday, I will sit in that seat for the very last time. Heck, on Sunday, I will be the last person, ever, to sit in that seat to watch a baseball game at Yankee Stadium.
After Sunday, for baseball purposes, that seat will no longer exist. My Yankee Stadium “home” for the last eight years, will be gone…forever…poof!
If I close my eyes, and reach out with my hand, and think about, I can feel the metal seat railing that sits just in front of my season ticket seat…it’s dull, but smooth, and usally cool…and it’s loose, just as it’s always been loose, for the last eight years, where it has maybe a quarter of an inch of play (back and forth) to it when you shake it…
Actually, the railing became a ritual…every year, following that first season in 2001, when I went to my first game of a given season, I would give the railing a rattle and say “Yup, it’s still loose. These are my seats!”
Man, I gotta give that baby one last shake when I leave the Stadium, forever, on Sunday night…or will it be Monday morning by then?
You know…I’m sure, sometime in my life, somewhere, I’ll have a chance to rattle some railing some place else…maybe even in the new Yankee Stadium…but, it won’t be the same as the one that I’ve been rattling for the last eight years.
Good-bye railing. Good-bye seat. Good-bye Stadium.
Stay with me forever, memories.
Hmmm…Steve’s had season tickets since 2001 and the Yankees last won the World Series in 2000…the curse of Steve????…haha just kidding Steve! Enjoy the game!
Steve,
You could save those hard tickets and e-mail yourself TicketFast tickets through your Yankees.com account.
For a couple of bucks each, you can save these in perfect condition and still get into the game.
Last night was my final trip. Hope you get a Mo-saved victory as well.
Paul
if the railings are still movable in the new yankee stadium, theres a serious problem
For a couple of bucks each, you can save these in perfect condition and still get into the game.
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These can be saved as well; Yanks use barcode scanners for entry.
Paul – thanks for the idea. Raf is right. They don’t rip the tickets anymore…in fact, I was going to do an entry on that…and probably still will…soon.
antone – don’t laugh. I think about that. Also, I bought a fitted Yankees cap in 2003 with the 100th anny logo on it. It’s the cap I still wear today. And, 2003 was the last time they reached the series…and I wonder about that too…if I’m the curse.
I wonder about that too…if I’m the curse.
———
Yes you are. I think the only way to break the curse is for you to give me your ticket to tomorrow’s game.
Thanks in advance
LOL. Nice try Raf.
Of course, I know, the best way to break the curse is to have 4 SP in your rotation who give you 30+ GS, 180+ IP, and an ERA+ of 100+ all in the same season…
[...] like to watch a game in the Letterbox World of the Loge of Yankee Stadium – in the seats that I’ve been sitting in for the last 8 years. (These are just the photos – more to come later today in terms of “the story” of my [...]