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Fans Ready For Final Game At Yankee Stadium

BRONX (CBS) ― Yankees fans have one last chance to say good-bye to the famous Yankee Stadium where Babe Ruth hit his home runs and where they shared countless memories: catching fly balls, snacking on hot dogs, and enjoying America's favorite pastime.

Sunday night's game against the Baltimore Orioles is the last time fans will get to sit in the legandary stadium seats, and the last time the New York Yankees will get to hit fast balls and run the bases. Andy Pettitte has pitched some of the most important games at Yankee Stadium over the past 14 years, so it's fitting that he'll start for New York in what shapes up as the ballpark's grand finale.

After helping the Yankees to four World Series titles and six AL pennants from 1996-2003, Pettitte will get the ball Sunday night against Baltimore in a game dripping with nostalgia.

Barring an incredible charge to the postseason, New York will be playing its final game at the 85-year-old ballpark before a sellout crowd and a national television audience. The Yankees are on target to move next season into a $1.3 billion palace rising across the street.

"Like I've been saying the last few days, the Yankees wanting me to pitch that last game, that means an awful lot to me. I'm just extremely excited to be able to do it and it's just going to be a special night for me," Pettitte said.

"It's amazing how fast it goes," manager Joe Girardi said. "I'm interested to see all the emotions of the players tomorrow."

Fans will be permitted to walk on the field hours before a pregame ceremony honoring the stadium's rich history. Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Goose Gossage and Bernie Williams are among the former stars scheduled to participate in the festivities.

This weekend, several Yankees started collecting souvenirs and soaking up their final moments at the old place.

Girardi filled a few bags with dirt from behind home plate Saturday and plans to give keepsake containers to his kids and nephews.

He said he'd take his family to Monument Park after the game, then stroll Sunday toward the third base stands and find the approximate spot in foul territory where Charlie Hayes caught the final out of the 1996 World Series. Girardi, of course, was a Yankees catcher from 1996-99, winning three World Series rings.

In the clubhouse, rookie pitcher Phil Coke snapped a photo of his own cubicle.

"I've got proof," he said. "I actually have a locker."

Babe Ruth's granddaughter, Linda Ruth Tosetti, hung a wreath of blue carnations on the Hall of Famer's plaque in Monument Park. She also presented Derek Jeter with a sterling silver plate to commemorate him passing Ruth on the Yankees' career hits list.

Pettitte sat behind a microphone in the bowels of Yankee Stadium with his two oldest sons alongside. He secured 13 tickets for friends and family members Sunday night—no easy task.

"It's been weird just sitting there the last couple of nights, just thinking about it. It's going to be sad, there's no doubt," Pettitte said. "Anything special to you in your life and it's going to be gone—you're going to drive by here and see this place and it's not going to be here anymore, it's like driving by your first house that you lived in when you first got married or something like that. Just remember the memories."

Pettitte said he'd like to keep the pitching rubber, or at least some game balls and dirt from the mound.

The 85-year-old stadium, the house that Ruth built, will soon be torn down, but the memories of historic games and the legendary players will live on. Next season, the Bronx Bombers take the field next door in their new state-of-the-art ballpark, an updated version of the classic design.

And across the street, a brand-new mural was painted, immortalizing the men that made the Bronx field a field of dreams.

(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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