For New York Yankee fans such as I, it is hard to believe it has already been five years since outfielder Bernie Williams retired. Williams, an integral part of four world championship clubs, is now eligible for consideration for the Hall of Fame.

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Yankees minor league manager Luis Sojo has had many unexpected visitors in his office, including late New York owner George Steinbrenner and one-time teammate Bernie Williams.

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Yankees minor league manager Luis Sojo has had many unexpected visitors in his office, including late New York owner George Steinbrenner and one-time teammate Bernie Williams. After a recent game involving his Class-A Tampa Yankees, Sojo had his most unique guest. Sitting on the couch as he entered his office was a raccoon.

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The 3,000 Hit Club is an elite group of baseball's greats. Musial. Ripken. Cobb. Mays. Not one of the 27, though, joined while wearing a Yankees uniform. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig never did it. Neither did Joe DiMaggio or Mickey Mantle. Same for Bernie Williams and Don Mattingly. There's an All-Star roll call of Yankees who came up short for reasons that include illness, injury, wartime service...

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One by one, they've started to disappear. Bernie Williams was the first to go, then Andy Pettitte vanished after last season. Now just three of the New York Yankees' old guard remain in the oval clubhouse of the team's billion-dollar palace. And with Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada struggling, and Mariano Rivera nearing age 42, the end is coming for the generation that restored the...

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Bernie Williams was the first to go, then Andy Pettitte vanished after last season. Now just three of the New York Yankees' old guard remain in the oval clubhouse of the team's billion-dollar palace. And with Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada struggling, and Mariano Rivera nearing age 42, the end is coming for the generation that restored the pinstripes to prominence.

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Bernie Williams was the first to go, then Andy Pettitte vanished after last season. Now just three of the New York Yankees' old guard remain in the oval clubhouse of the team's billion-dollar palace. And with Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada struggling, and Mariano Rivera nearing age 42, the end is coming for the generation that restored the pinstripes to prominence.

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The list of the all-time home run leaders for the New York Yankees pays homage to some of the greatest players not only to wear pinstripes, but to play the game of baseball. When players like Bernie Williams, Alex Rodriguez (as a Yankee), Don Mattingly, and Roger Maris are in the...

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First, I’ll admit something.  I left early.

It just didn’t feel right.  All the Yankee greats coming back like it was old-timers day.  All the fans cheering like it was a playoff game…Yet the Yanks weren’t going to the playoffs.

It was like going to wedding for two people that you know just shouldn’t get married.  You saw it coming the night before as the bride was out a bit too late with the best man and the groom took two hours in the champagne room.  It all felt so wrong, but you were obligated to be there anyway.

As I’ve struggled for any kind of feeling on the close of Yankee Stadium, I begin to realize that it just should not have ended this way.  Numbers will tell you that the Yankees got a sweet ride off taxpayers for the new park when they could have upgraded for much less.  But if the Mets were getting a new toy…well, the Yanks would have to spend three times as much and get a more expensive toy.

The tragedy is that the Yankees could not send the Stadium off in style.  Or maybe the tragedy is that the Stadium is closing at all.  But it was an interesting night to say the least.  I was fortunate enough to see Willie Randolph before the game and to bump into Paul O’Neil in the hallway.

The pre-game introductions were nice, and Willie’s slide into second base was great.  Babe Ruth’s daughter was a good sport during her pitch and then later at the press conference.  Hal Steinbrenner followed Julia Ruth Stevens at the mic and sounded like a man who spent too many hours in economics classes and too few sitting with fans of the team he’s inherited.

Bernie Williams is missed.

And underneath it all was an empty feeling.  It was all so wrong…the Yankees were done in the regular season for the first time since 1993.  All the celebrities in the world couldn’t change it.

As for the game itself, no one I know was really watching.  I spent an hour or so walking around with the Bronx News’ Rich Mancuso as we took in the game from different gates.  First, behind home plate.  Then out in right field not far from where Jeffery Mayer helped send the Yankees into the ’96 series.  We tried the loge level for fun and then I started to look at my watch.  I didn’t really need to stay.  Someone could cover for me and I had to be up to teach at 6:30.  I didn’t feel like walking through the doors of my apartment at 3am.

So I left after the top of the sixth inning.

Spike Lee must have been feeling the same way because he was walking out of the press gate with his crew at the same time I was.  Spike went left and I took a right to the 4 train.

I looked back at the Stadium a few times and then over at the new one.  A wild rumor has it that the new one is so far behind schedule that the old one has had its lease extended one more year as an insurance policy.  It certainly looked far from done, but I’m sure it will somehow be ready for the new season.

The old Stadium has a ton of memories for me just like it does for a number of other people.  There were good memories for the most part like my first Yankees-Boston game taken in from the bleachers (in the days when one could drink out there).  I’ll never forget how the cops hogtied a Red Sox fan in the concession area as I stepped out to use the restroom.  Awesome.

So, thank you for those memories Yankee Stadium.  You weren’t given the sendoff you deserve, and your end may have come too soon.

But you were one hell of a place to catch a ballgame.

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