For longtime Yankee fans, today’s home opener marks the beginning of the end.
This season is the long goodbye to the House That Ruth Built, that Reggie remodeled and that Derek resurrected, and Yankee diehards like Dan McCourt, 59, say they are not sure how to feel.
“It’s going to be sad, because if it were my choice, we would never move – even if it’s only across the street,” said McCourt, a regular at the Stadium since 1959 who has not missed an Opening Day in 25 years.
Emotions High for Final Opener in Ruth’s House
Old Parks Gotta Spawn New Arms
“Some Opening Days have been bitter cold, but this one is bittersweet. I don’t really need all the new amenities – this is hallowed ground, and it will be sorely missed,” he said.
McCourt, a Bronx native now living in Port Chester, Westchester County, said he was too young to appreciate what had been lost when the Stadium was renovated before the 1976 season.
“They knew how to build them in the 1920s. The old Stadium really was a cathedral, but we have grown deeply attached to this Stadium, even if when you walk around the outside, it is all 1970s aluminum siding,” he said.
Overall, McCourt said that he has a record of 21-4 at home openers, but some have been far more memorable than others.
“In 1996, there was a blizzard, and they played through it all the way to the seventh inning,” he said. “They announced that fans in attendance would be able to get a free ticket to a future game, and we went on May 14th, which turned out to be Doc Gooden’s no-hitter.”
But there will be more cheers than tears today.
Opening Day is all about the new and the possible, said McCourt, who runs a fan site, TakeHimDowntown.com.
“I can’t wait for the first ‘charge’ call, to scream from the bottom of my very being,” he said.
While fans will be out of luck trying to nab a seat through the box office, there are still plenty of ways to score a ticket in time for the game.
Over the weekend, the tickets were selling on Web sites like StubHub for an average price of $154, but as the 1:05 p.m. first pitch approaches, scalpers outside the Sta dium may charge much closer to face value, which ranges from $14 to $400.
Die-hard fan Jorge Vasquez, 23, has his ticket, and wants to be the first one to enter the ballpark and the last to leave.
“I plan on being there at 2 a.m. to be the first Yankee fan to enter the Stadium for the final home opener,” Vasquez said. “I want to have it go down in the records.”
leonardo.blair
@nypost.com