A Bronx Tale

I witnessed one of the great American Love stories last night when they closed down the House That Ruth Built. Against the chants of “Der-eck-Jee-ter” and “Mar-ee-ahh-no,” and of course Francis Albert singing New York, New York (over and over and over and…) the ghosts of bygone Bronx Bombers; Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle and Dimaggio circled the bases for one last dance.

Yankee Stadium

Even though I was born in LA and grew up a huge Dodgers fan, (trust me I wept more times than I like to remember to this call by Vin Scully … “and Andy Kosko pops up to 2^nd to end the rally”) my connection to the Yankees was forged by the early 60s lineup of Maris and Boyer, Stottlemeyer and Ford, Kubek and Richardson, Skowron, Howard and Tresh and don’t forget Pepitone and the mighty Mick. Or maybe it was the stories my father told me of growing up on Walton Avenue, 2 blocks away from the stadium, where he could simply catch a game from the rooftop of one of the surrounding apartments with the kids of Ruth’s teammates, or the time that Lefty Gomez stopped in mid pitch to watch a plane pass overhead in stunned amazement. So I had the best of both worlds; east and west coast teams, except when they met in the 1963 World Series – that was kind of weird.

Tommy Lasorda Audio Stew

But then Lasorda sealed the deal (he always struck me as a blowhard and a phony) and to the dismay of my high school friends, I finally gave up my allegiance to Dodger Blue and rooted wholeheartedly for the 70’s incarnation of Murderer’s Row; Chambliss, Munson, Pinella, Nettles, Mickey Rivers, Roy White, Randolph and Dent, Reg-Gee, Catfish, Goose and Louisiana Lightning. And it never stopped, even through the horror of the late 80s/early 90s where it was Mattingly on an island of mediocrity. Wow! What memories.

Foregoing the aforementioned, brilliant but overplayed, New York, New York, here’s The Last Dance which ESPN also made use of in last night’s program as exit music. Written by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen for Come Dance With Me, Sinatra’s last Capitol album in 1959, Frank rerecorded it when he signed with Reprise in 1960. With a faster paced arrangement by Nelson Riddle, “the voice” is in fine form here.  This one’s got a lot of balance to it; laced with smoke and carmel colors, it’s perfect for the late night mix; probably begs for a bourbon, but you could probably get away with a tawny port.

“It's the last dance, we've come to the last dance.

They're dimming the lights down, they're hoping we'll go.”

The Last Dance

And next year?  Well, the “New Yankee Stadium” is just across the street. It actually looks more like the original than the refurbished one they’ve been playing in for the past 30 years, but it’s anyone’s guess if the ghosts will settle in along with the monuments they’ll cart over next month.  Staples is great, but it ain’t the Fabulous Forum. So long Cathedral!