America's National Pastime

Tearing down stadiums for profit is also misguided. Owners may feel that replacing an old, historical stadium with a new one, perhaps named “Bank One Field,” will attract more fans, but it will not. Imagine if Yankee Stadium were torn down. Owners would miss out on all those fans willing to buy a ticket to see where “The Sultan of Swat,” became a homerun champion or where Lou Gehrig uttered those famous words, “Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” For further proof of historical appeal, look to the Roman Colosseum. While it is not a baseball stadium, it is one of the world’s oldest sporting arenas. Tourists to this day still flock to see where the emperors ruled and the gladiators fought, paying not only the price of admission, but also paying the huge travel expenses to get there. Missing out on such a “box-office draw,” would surely be a mistake.

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