The Last Batter in the House That Ruth Built: Brian Roberts’s Game-Worn Cleats and Locker Tag From the Final Game at Yankee Stadium

On September 21, 2008, more than 54,000 fans packed the old ballpark in the Bronx for its final game, a 7-3 Yankees win over the Orioles. It was the last game in the stadium’s 85-year history, which began with a Yankees win over the Red Sox on April 18, 1923. The details are a quick tour of baseball lore. Jose Molina hit the last home run in the stadium’s history, and in the ninth, Mariano Rivera took the mound. After he retired the first two batters, Derek Jeter was called off the field to a huge ovation and took a curtain call. Then came the next hitter. Rivera threw a 93-mph cutter to Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts, who grounded out to first for the last out ever made in the building. Roberts stepped into the box right after Jeter’s farewell, with the whole stadium watching, and he was the last batter in Yankee Stadium history.

These Nike baseball cleats were worn by Roberts in that game, and they come with his locker tag. Roberts spent his career as the Orioles’ second baseman, a leadoff man and a longtime fixture in the lineup, and the Yankees and Orioles had a long shared history in that building, which made Baltimore a fitting opponent. The Yankees and Babe Ruth both came from the city of Baltimore, and the final game ended with a Baltimore player at the plate.