What I'll Remember About Yankee Stadium

I've never been to that hallowed piece of ground in the Bronx that they call the House that Ruth Built.

I never got a chance to go see monument park or here the loud speakers blast "New York, New York" after a Yankees win.

I've never been to Yankees Stadium, but there is one moment that I'll remember for the rest of my life.

I was 12. People told me that the 1998 Yankees were a team of destiny. There's no way that my San Diego Padres, which have never won a World Series, was going to beat the greatest team in the history of baseball.

But there I was, watching Game 1 as a wide-eyed kid in a city that had gone bonkers for its baseball team (I had braces at the time and that entire season, the colors of the rubber bands on my teeth with Padres blue and orange).

And before my eyes I saw Kevin Brown pitch with efficiency. I saw Greg Vaughn hit two home runs. I saw Mr. Padre himself, Tony Gwynn, blast one over the right field wall and into the upper deck. I saw what many thought was unbelievable--the Padres had a 5-2 lead over this so-called team of destiny.

But the magic for the Padres was killed short thereafter. Tied 5-5, with the bases loaded, the count 2-2, Mark Langston on the mound, with Tino Martinez at the plate in the bottom of the 7th, with two outs, Langston threw what Padres pitching coach Dave Stewart has since said was a "pretty good pitch."

The pitch was covered the plate, it came by Martinez right at the knees, but Rich Garcia called it a ball. The count now was 3-2 and the next pitch Martinez blasts it for a grand slam. The Yankees never looked back in the series, sweeping my Padres.

I'll never forget that moment. I'll never forget screaming at the television, feeling let down by the system and this American League umpire screwing San Diego. I'll never forget how I felt after that game. It was as if we all knew that the Padres' one and only chance of stealing this series went by as fast as Martinez's ball left the park. We all knew San Diego wasn't going to win the World Series after one game. Because it was the Yankees and only shit like that happens to a team like that--a "team of destiny."

I know I wasn't the only one who felt like that or still feels like that.

So, I say good riddance Yankee Stadium. I never met you, but I never wanted to know you--especially after that game.

By the way, here's a YouTube clip of that very moment: