Free Republic

New $1 billion Yankee Stadium is on deckBy KAREN MATTHEWS, Associated Press Writer August 16, 2006 NEW YORK (AP) -- No tears were shed Wednesday for the historic stadium where Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio played out their storied careers. Politicians and baseball officials who gathered to break ground on a new Yankee Stadium shared memories of the old ballpark but said the new one would be even better. "Yankee Stadium is an iconic stadium, a place where Ruth and (Lou) Gehrig played, where popes and presidents have spoken," Gov. George Pataki said. "But so, too, will the...

<p>Granted, there is upheaval in the world and there are battles where a great deal is at stake -- life itself. All the more precious, then, the minor skirmishes on the home front that mean a great deal in a small way and remind us of how lucky we are to feel innocent hatreds, from summer to summer, at the ballpark.</p>