As the Yankees finish the season, and the time rapidly approaches for the lights to go out the final time in the house that Ruth built, I, like most people, am spending time reflecting on all the memories the stadium holds for me;  enjoying games with my father, reveling in a '96 world series victory from the bleachers, cheering Don Mattingly from first base field -level box seats, attending opening day celebrations, cheering the joy of late October wins, and countless others over the years.  

But one that sticks out, perhaps above all, is a simple tradition created among four friends. 

After a tragic September day that changed the world, three of my college friends and I realized the importance of our connection and the precious nature of our time together. So every summer since that season, we make sure we take time away for ourselves -  a 'boy's day out' to keep our connection. Now in its seventh year, our tradition is a lock on our calendars.

 We organize it as a team.

Early each summer, emails start circulating to determine which mid-week game works best. After agreeing on the day game, one of us sends an outlook calendar invite to block the day from frivolous business meetings.  Accepting that invitation provides us with a break from our daily routines, a respite from the challenges of the five day work week  and creates time together among four college cronies to catch up and enjoy America's true pastime – friendship.   

It's not about the competition. 

Our decision never comes down to who the Yankees are playing; in fact it is rare we remember who won the game.  Rather the decision  is purely based upon our availability and making sure the tradition lives.  And sure, some years, one of us may have missed, but most years, and including this one, the last year for the stadium, we all made sure we made the game.

On a July morning, we met up early for a proper breakfast of Jackson Hole burgers and beer to fuel us for our journey to the stadium.  We travelled the 4 train to 161st in the Bronx, our first stop, as always, was Stan's.   

Strangely, none of us can imagine any other bar to start the day. Here the bottles of beer seem to disappear like water on a Sahara desert trek. .  First beer conversation always starts with more serious aspects of our lives; moving to suburbia, changing jobs, relationships, politics, and then to drifts with each round to discuss more of our dreams.

This year the selected game was sold out at the box office.  It seems the final year of the stadium improved ticket sales for the day games. So in the seller's market scalpers preyed on the 'last year of the stadium' mantra and prices were four times face. We waited to till after the first pitch to purchase at twice face for scattered seats in the upper tier.  But if there is one thing I enjoy about the stadium, upper tier seems to be open seating, so we found four seats together.

Even with a high scoring game affair, father time seemed to push the fast forward button.  Time flew by. We spent the game laughing and reliving memories from prior games and creating new ones.  Some  favorites include;  declining invitations to the Blockbuster Awards in LA, demanding "free" beer (beer vendors were busted by security for illegally selling us 'refill' cups), discovering the power of Skoal Longcut, and calling our other college friends to place bets on how many bottles of beer were in their fridge (usually way lower than expected).  All were trivial, but all remain treasured memories shared at the stadium.

This year, with the Yankees slipping out of the play-off picture and time running out on the season, I recall the prediction from a local newspaper article after the mid-summer classic (all star game) was played, "The all star game may be the last meaningful game played at the stadium." 

That may be the case for the sports journalists, but not for us.   As we walked out of the stadium for the last time listening to Frank Sinatra's Theme from New York, New York, we could not disagree more. The stadium holds memories for us all, and this game was no exception. Any time you can spend a day enjoying the company of lifelong friends, well that seems quite meaningful to me.

So, with the new Yankee Stadium opening next year, change will happen. But one item will not change. Next summer, one mid-week afternoon my college friends and I will take a day off to see a game. We will once again toast our friendship and celebrate  our tradition - a tradition that Yankee players, baseball fans, and lifelong friends can all take pride in.