With the first season of the new Yankee Stadium providing endless amounts of conversational fodder, there hasn't been an overwhelming amount of attention to the dismantling of its predecessor. One group is trying to step in to make sure that the whole thing doesn't disappear without anything more than a plaque to remind people that there used to be a stadium there.
The group, which formed off a message board, wants to see Gate 2 of the old stadium preserved as a gateway into the new parkland that will be installed where Ruth, Di Maggio and Munson once played. They've chosen Gate 2 because it was the least touched during renovation in the mid-70's, which gives it a connection to the entire history of the stadium.
There are computer rendered images of the way the gate would look, and there's a certain Arc de Triomphe quality to the way it looms in front of the grass. It speaks to the things that happened through these gates, which isn't something you can say for every pile of concrete in the city.
The group told Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports that they've spoken to the city and gotten a positive response, although there haven't been any promises. They haven't spoken to the Yankees, something that they should rectify because this is exactly the kind of idea that fluffs the oversized egos of the Yankee brass. They already think they are worthy of monuments to their magnificence, so you'd think they'd be quick to get on board with keeping part of the old stadium as an actual landmark.
Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds are now apartments with no link to the things that happened there in the past. Such is the way of progress. That won't happen in the Bronx, though, and there's a place for history among the ball fields that will soon be built. Heritage Park can and should be more than just a name.
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com.
