REPORTING FROM ...
THE LAST GAME AT YANKEE STADIUM

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It's over, Johnny.

[Ed.'s Note: Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon leaves Yankee Stadium with a unique perspective—he played there built as both a member of the pinstripes and their arch-rival Red Sox. Here, he shares his memories and thoughts on his final day at the House that Ruth built.]

Forget about it. That's what I told people who asked me for tickets to the last game here. I gave my tickets to the band Rascal Flats, so they owe me a favor in the future. They've taken care of me in the past, so we're even.

What makes Yankee Stadium so special is definitely the history: The great players who have played here, who have shared this locker room, who sat in the same dugout, played on the same field with a lot of pride. I am going to miss the short right-field porch the most, but we're just taking it right across the street. I'm going to try and take what I can. I would love to have the foul poles. I would love to have my locker. I would love to have a bunch of things. I don't know what I will actually take with me though. I think everything is going into auction here, so we'll see.

Something I can tell you that only a player would know about the stadium is which way the wind blows with the weather vane that's out there with the bat [the bronze bat, reported to be Lou Gehrig's, attached to the flagpole]. The direction that points in is where the wind is suppose to go. At least that's what they tell us. We've learned not to follow the weather vane. Before they used to say it was a hundred percent accurate, now, who knows. The ghosts are flying everywhere now.

When I think about my good and bad memories here, I'll start with when I was with the Sox. Aaron Boone's walk off home run [in 2003] is my worst memory at Yankee Stadium. I remember how close we were to getting to the World Series. Unfortunately, and fortunately for me, I was still dealing with the concussion [sustained in ALDS]. So, I knew we lost, but my brain and my body were just beat up. It was hard to process everything.

The best memory as a Red Sox player here was the next year, in Game 7 of the ALCS. We went to the postseason as underdogs, but we actually felt that, as soon as we got there, we were going to win that year. I hit a grand slam in that game. I just knew [then teammate] Orlando Cabrera had a great at-bat before me. He drew a walk. Joe Torre came out and made a pitching change. And I was ready to jump on the first pitch.

As a Yankee, my worst memory at Yankee Stadium is losing in the postseason last season with Paul Byrd throwing. He came out and threw a great game. If we would have won, we would have gone back to Cleveland with a chance to eventually take on the Red Sox for the pennant. But my favorite memory here as a Yankee is definitely hitting home runs in the postseason, helping the team take the lead or even win certain games, that's pretty special.

The craziest thing I ever saw here was a fan jumping on the screen by home plate from the upper deck. As a visiting player, you would get coins sometimes thrown at you. But I think the way I play the game, a lot of the fans respect that, so they tried to stay, somewhat civilized. And you know, it took me almost two years to realize we're allowed to wear shorts to the ballpark here. I thought that was part of our dress code. The first two years I was wearing jeans to the ballpark. So, It's not as strict here as people think it is.

Thinking more about it, another memorable night here was the night Derek Jeter dove into the stands to catch that ball when I was with the Red Sox. It was an incredible game. I know I was running from second to home on that one. Just the fact that he stayed in the game—I was thinking he'd be out. I wanted to see the next night if he'd be playing, and he was. He's a tough cookie. I think from that day on, as much respect as we had for him then, we had a lot more afterwards. I would think Mariano [Rivera] and Jeter and [Jorge] Posada are going to miss this place the most. They've got a few more memories than the rest of us here.

And one final thing: They better bring roll call over to the new stadium.

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