Baseball says goodbye as Yankee Stadium retired

By Christian Wiessner

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Baseball said goodbye to Yankee Stadium on Sunday, ending 85 years at America's most storied sports venue with a celebration of its past and a postgame salute that players and fans didn't want to leave.

The New York Yankees defeated the Baltimore Orioles 7-3 in what was practically an inconsequential game, but a sellout crowd electrified "The House That Ruth Built."

The team will play next season in a $1.3 billion Yankee Stadium nearing completion across the street.

The Yankees won all 26 of their World Series championships since the stadium opened in 1923, and the venue has hosted Masses celebrated by three popes, great boxing matches, and a rally for Nelson Mandela shortly after his release from prison.

The stadium was gutted and renovated after the 1973 season.

Fans stood throughout the final inning, which concluded when Yankees relief star Mariano Rivera got Brian Roberts of the Orioles to ground out to first baseman Cody Ransom.

Players greeted fans who lingered after the game was over, and athletes from both teams scooped up dirt from the infield as souvenirs.

"I'm going to get a bucket," Rivera said.

Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, who will take a place among the team's legends after he retires, addressed the fans from the middle of the infield, recalling the stadium traditions and memories.

"We are relying on you to take the memories from this stadium and add them to the new memories that come with the new Yankee Stadium and continue to pass them on from generation to generation," Jeter told the crowd.

Starting pitcher Andy Pettitte was almost in a daze, saying, "It's very surreal. You can't believe this place isn't going to exist next year."

GEHRIG AND DIMAGGIO RETURN

The pregame ceremony was befitting of Broadway, conjuring up past Yankee greats.

Old-timers returned and actors in replica uniforms appeared as deceased greats including Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio.

One man dressed as Babe Ruth, the famed home run hitter who enabled the Yankees to build what was a gargantuan stadium in 1923.