Times They Are A' Changin'

Last night Derek Jeter took over the No. 2 position on the Yankees list of most hits. He passed Babe Ruth's record, and now is 201 hits behind Gehrig, who had 2,721 career hits with the Yankees. For some reason it always makes me feel a bit melancholy when someone breaks a record from one of the baseball greats, but I suppose that things always continue on, and records are made to be broken.

Despite Jeter's hit to surpass Ruth last night, and an excellent performance by rookie Alfredo Aceves, the Yankees are still 9.5 games back from the wildcard spot. One can certainly hold out hope that their last season in this stadium will prove a successful one. Perhaps it is fitting though, that one of this country's most famous stadiums, "The House that Ruth Built," will fade out just as one of his records did last night. A new era has come, and times are changing.

There will be plenty of fanfare around the end of this era, and rightfully so. Baseball, more than any sport, has been around to watch all of the ups and downs of the last century, and will continue to be there long into the next. Despite wavering support and criticism, there has been a continual bond between baseball and the American people. In many senses it has been a marriage of sorts. This is why it is fitting that Michael C. Fina and Hearts on Fire are sponsoring an engagement event for one lucky Yankees fan. You can have the chance to propose to the woman you love in Yankees stadium before a packed house: a prize in and of itself. But, even better is that you will get to do it with a ring from Hearts on Fire, which is valued around $40,000.

Regardless of how the season ends, Yankee Stadium will go out instilling the promise of hope in new beginnings. And it is my firm belief that that promise will hold true not only for next baseball season, but for many to come.