The New York Yankees have had their fair share of dramatic exits throughout the illustrious history of the franchise.
Alex Rodriguez will say goodbye to baseball when the New York Yankees host the Tampa Bay Rays tonight. With an exit of this magnitude, the opportunity remains that the 41-year-old will have a flare for the dramatic.
A packed Yankee Stadium crowd will pay witness as one of the most prolific power hitters in baseball history concludes a storied career.
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With that said, this may not be the first time each of those fans have witnessed a significant exit. To take it a step further, this may not be the first time plenty of them have seen a dramatic exit.
Throughout a history filled with excellence, the Yankees have been fortunate enough to field great players year in and year out. With those greats comes storybook beginnings and conclusions. Now, the potential is present for another ending that can go down in history.
With that said, let’s take a step back and evaluate the greatest farewells in the history of the franchise.
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5. Fans Say Goodbye To Paul O’Neill
Game 5 of the 2001 World Series — the Yankees’ final home game of the season — made its way to the ninth inning.
Many fans, knowing it would be Paul O’Neill’s last game in pinstripes, cherished the final time seeing him man right field in the Bronx. 56,018 fans came together on a November night and chanted the heck out of “Paul O’Neill.”
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Knowing that it was a World Series game, one in which the Yanks were trailing 2-0, he kept his composure throughout the duration of the frame. Waiting until he was jogging back to the dugout, O’Neill tipped his cap, drawing a thunderous roar at the stadium.
To make things even sweeter, the Yankees rallied to win that game 3-2 in 12 innings to take a 3-2 series lead back to Arizona.
Next: Babe Ruth
4. Babe Ruth Takes The Mic
This was not exactly your typical on-the-field performance farewell yet a significant one nonetheless. Why? Babe Ruth, plain and simple.
After igniting the game of baseball for 22 years, the ‘Great Bambino’ came back to the Bronx 12 years later, in a battle with cancer, to give his final words to the great Yankee fans.
On April 27, 1947, 58,339 eager fans packed into the ‘House That Ruth Built’ to bid farewell to a baseball icon. Not only were his numbers off the charts throughout his career but he made the game an attraction for years to come.
This one meant a great deal to the sports landscape.
Next: Exit Sandman
3. Enter Sandman One Last Time
Unquestionably the greatest closer in baseball history, Mariano Rivera took the stadium mound one last time.
After recording the first out of the ninth inning, long-time teammates, and half of the ‘Core Four’, Derek Jeter and Andy Pettitte came out of the dugout to make the call to the bullpen.
A truly emotional farewell, Mo cried on Pettitte’s shoulder for quite some time before moving over to Jeter.
Soon thereafter, he made his way to the dugout as he received a loud ovation from the Bronx faithful. It all ended with repetitive “Mariano” chants and an eventual curtain call which capped off a magnificent night.
Next: The Captain
2. The Captain Finishes The Script
A much anticipated final home game started with the expectation of rain, and not one drop fell to the ground. The Yanks were trailing 5-2 in the ninth, drawing doubt of how of how the ending would be managed, and somehow the Baltimore Orioles tied the ballgame.
The night was magical and had the makings of a brilliant closure to an even more brilliant career.
Stepping up in the bottom of the ninth inning in a tie game with a runner on second, Derek Jeter had a chance to put a dramatic finish on his storied career.
Yes, Michael Kay, he is, “Where fantasy becomes reality.” The Captain singled through the right side to win the game for the Yankees.
If you did not get the chills from this game, perhaps you should reconsider your fanhood.
The Greatest Farewell
1. Lou Gehrig’s Farewell Address
Battling a horrific disease (ALS) which was incapable of being won over, the ‘Iron Horse’ took the podium to tell the Yankee Stadium crowd how lucky he was.
Sometimes it is incredible to wonder what he could have accomplished if the disease did not get in his way. His career was already one for the record books.
Utilizing the courageous mystique he always possessed, he delivered one of the single greatest speeches in sports history:
“Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.
Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn’t consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day? Sure, I’m lucky. Who wouldn’t consider it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert? Also, the builder of baseball’s greatest empire, Ed Barrow? To have spent six years with that wonderful little fellow, Miller Huggins? Then to have spent the next nine years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology, the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy? Sure, I’m lucky.
When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift – that’s something. When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in white coats remember you with trophies – that’s something. When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter – that’s something. When you have a father and a mother who work all their lives so you can have an education and build your body – it’s a blessing. When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed – that’s the finest I know.
So I close in saying that I might have been given a bad break, but I’ve got an awful lot to live for.”
Tremendous.
Now, it is simply a matter of what A-Rod has in store this evening. Will he crack this exclusive list? Get your voice heard in the comments section below.