Quite a site

To those who watched, to those who played, to any sports fan, Yankee Stadium has been more than a host for games

it has been a venue where American history has been made

"It's just sad, you know," said Larsen, who will attend today's finale. "They have had some very successful times there.

"I mean, Yankee Stadium had a career of its own."

The finale

Tonight: Orioles

@Yankees, 8:05

TV: ESPN

Radio: 105.7 FM

Pre-game

ceremonies: 7:05

memories

Jim Palmer

When Hall of Fame pitcher and former Oriole Jim Palmer remembers his first experience at Yankee Stadium, the iconic American he thinks about isn't Mickey Mantle or Yogi Berra.

It's comedian Billy Crystal.

Because Palmer's first time walking through those hallowed tunnels in the Bronx mirrors Crystal's soliloquy in the movie City Slickers about his best day ever.

Crystal's character describes walking into the stadium at age 11 holding his father's hand and seeing baseball live and in color for the first time. He remarked about how green the grass was, that the Yankees won and Mantle homered.

"I am one of those kids," said Palmer, who lived in suburban New York City at the time. "My dad first took me to Yankee Stadium when I was 9 years old."

For Palmer, it wasn't Mantle who homered on that special day. It was Yankee outfielder Irv Noren. The Yankees won, beating the Cleveland Indians, 4-3.

And the infield grass?

"It was raining," Palmer said. "So the grass was even greener."

Jim Abbott

Although he had a lengthy major league career, left-hander Jim Abbott is particularly proud of his no-hitter against the Indians on Sept. 4, 1993.

Not only was it during a pennant race, but it was also at Yankee Stadium. And it further resonated with the home crowd because of what Abbott had overcome - he was born without a right hand but persevered and became a major leaguer.

He never really understood his imprint on Yankees history until a few years later when he was back for an old-timers' game. Afterward, he was in a club-level conference room, a place he had never visited as a player.

He was mesmerized by all the classic Yankees photos on the wall. And then Abbott was stopped in his tracks. His knees wobbled as he looked at the picture of the one-handed pitcher celebrating a no-hitter.

"I was just staggered by it," he said. "I was like, 'I can't believe that this is here, looking back at me."

Gino Marchetti

What should have been one of the most exciting moments of Gino Marchetti's illustrious football career was spent locked in a room in the bowels of Yankee Stadium.

Marchetti, the Hall of Fame defensive end, made the key tackle on the Baltimore Colts' final defensive play of regulation that forced the New York Giants to punt and eventually led to the Colts' game-tying field goal with seconds to play in "The Greatest Game Ever Played" on Dec. 28, 1958.

On the play, Marchetti broke his ankle when his teammate, Big Daddy Lipscomb, fell on him. Marchetti wanted to watch the rest of the game from the sideline on a stretcher, but when sudden-death overtime began - the first in NFL history - police said Marchetti had to be moved inside and out of harm's way.

So Marchetti, without radio or TV, listened to a constant roar above, but had no idea what was happening until Colts linebacker Bill Pellington entered.

"Pellington was the first one in and he said: "We're the world champions. And then, all of the sudden, my leg felt a lot better."

Dan Connolly