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.

Mariano Rivera is arguably the best closing pitcher of all
time. He is a 9 time All Star player, a 4 time World Series Champion in almost
as many years, and stands a great chance of becoming one of the only closers to
be inducted into the hall of fame.

However, things haven’t always been so magnanimous for
Rivera. The son of a fisherman, Rivera grew up in Panama City, Panama,
playing baseball with his friends. Lacking the necessary equipment, they made
use of cut up milk cartons for gloves, and used tree branches for bats.

In 1990, a 21 year old Rivera would be picked up at a local
Panama Oeste game by a Yankees scout, and the rest is history. Over the years
Rivera moved his way up through the minor leagues to his first major league
appearance in 1995. He slowly made the transition from starter to set-up to
closer, where he found his chance to shine. He has battled slumps and injuries,
but still always managed to impress fans and other athletes alike with his calm
and perseverance.

In most recent news, Rivera has teamed up with Michael C.
Fina and Hearts on Fire for an engagement promotion with the New York Yankees.
The promotion benefits his youth foundation, which seeks to provide the
necessary support and equipment for underprivileged children to have the
opportunity to play baseball. $1 for every entry
to the contest (which is free), will go to his fantastic foundation to help
children of all ages.

The winner of the competition gets to propose to their
significant other in Yankee Stadium on September 18^th, with a
$40,000 engagement ring from Hearts on Fire, The World’s Most Perfectly Cut
Diamond.

This seems fitting to me because just like Mariano’s career,
any relationship takes a dream, dedication and a willingness to overcome
difficulty or hard times. And, in the end, the reward is indescribable and
worth every moment of the struggle. Enter to win the chance to ask the person
you love to marry you in these incredible circumstances, and at the same time
support a great cause. All entrants need to do is fill out a form, and write a
250 word essay explaining why they think they should win.

Resting at the intersection of East 161^st & River Ave in The
Bronx sits one of baseball’s most sacred crown jewels: The House That Ruth Built.
Although George Herman Ruth, Jr. was certainly responsible for bringing
national recognition to the best ball team of all time, the credit for building
this treasured American icon doesn’t rest solely in his hands. It rests with
all of the great players who have made Yankee Stadium their home, and with the
millions of fans who have celebrated the wins, and mourned the losses, over the
course of the last 85 years.

Walking through the halls of Yankee Stadium, the sense of
history that fills this place seems to seep from the very walls themselves. It
was here that the likes of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford,
Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle and so many others tested their mettle against some
of the other greatest baseball players of all time. But it’s not just the
players that have made this place what it is today. It’s all of the Sunday
afternoons spent by fathers and sons, the first dates, the comradeship between
strangers based on nothing other than the mutual love of an incredible team. These,
perhaps more than the players, are what have carved a place for Yankee Stadium
in the hearts and minds of baseball fans all across the country.

The end of Yankee Stadium will be a flagstone in the path
that Baseball has forged through American History. It represents the end of one
era, and the beginning of another. Fittingly, the Yankees, Michael C. Fina and Hearts On Fire
have teamed up with Mariano Rivera to run a “Final Engagement” contest. True
Yankees fans are invited to enter the contest by writing a 250 word essay. The
winner gets the chance to make some history of their own by proposing to the
woman they love, live on the screen, in front of a full house. The kicker is:
you get a $40,000 ring to do it with….It’s The Most Perfectly Cut Diamond In The World, now that’s amazing!  This will be the first and last public
proposal in Yankee Stadium.

Almost 70 years ago, on July 4^th, 1939, Lou
Gehrig emotionally told a packed house that he considered himself “The luckiest
man on the face of the Earth.” Here’s your chance to tell her that you feel
exactly the same way.