Collection Bases First Pitch Hit Home Run at New Yankee Stadium 2009 Opening Day Program

A Collection of Bases First Pitch Hit Home Run at New Yankee Stadium 2009 Opening Day Program

By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com  04/16/09 8:50 PM ET NEW YORK

The first home run at the new Yankee Stadium was appropriately hit by a Yankee, as Jorge Posada christened the building with a line drive over the center-field wall in the fifth inning, plopping onto the netting that protects the relocated Monument Park.

Posada watched the ball soar toward the restaurant windows that double as a batters eye, but it was not until he reached the Yankees' dugout that the 37-year-old catcher realized he'd done something special. Posada doffed his helmet for a curtain call, an acknowledgment that history had been made.

"It's going to set in a little later," Posada said. "I'm going to remember the home run, no question about it. I'm going to remember it's a great thing. I'm happy about it, but right now it's a little disappointing on our part."

Opening Day New Yankee Stadium 2009

The last time Yankee Stadium opened, Babe Ruth starred and the ballpark quickly became the house he built. Eighty-six years later, a new Yankee Stadium was ready to make its debut.

Appropriately, the first official pitch at America’s most expensive stadium will be thrown by the pitcher with the richest contract, CC Sabathia.
From Sabathia’s fat deal to single-game ticket prices of $2,625, everything about New York’s home opener Thursday says wealth or comfort or both.

Sunshine was forecast and frail owner George Steinbrenner was expected to be on hand to personally watch New York play Cleveland in the first official game at the house he built. The Hard Rock Cafe and new steakhouse in the right-field corner figure to be filled, along with the stadium club in left, the sports bar in the center-field batters’ eye, the Bleachers Cafe above it, the 67 suites ringing the field, and the three clubs and lounges for the spectators in the first nine rows around the infield.