The Final 9

By Christian Wiessner

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Say it ain't so. An era ends on Sunday when the curtain comes down on baseball in storied Yankee Stadium, scene of more moments that will live in sporting history than any other place in America.

Strangely, in Sunday night's final contest between the New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles, nothing more than pride is at stake. The Yankees have had a rare down season and will not be adding to their championship record this year.

Wrecking balls and sledgehammers, not baseballs and bats, will soon be the equipment of choice as the stadium is demolished in coming months, although there may yet be a "closing ceremony" featuring big name rock stars before the wrecking crews move in.

Next season, the Yankees will take their bats, balls and fabled pinstriped uniforms to a brand new Yankee Stadium nearing completion across the street from the current one.

Americans have always been wistful about their National Pastime. Many cherish memories of playing catch with their fathers and of their first childhood visits to ballparks.

"This field, this game. It's a part of our past. It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again," James Earl Jones's character said in the film "Field of Dreams."

Through baseball history, no venue came closer to capturing that mystical quality than Yankee Stadium.

Yankee Stadium to host last game before demolition....