Legends attend Yankee Stadium's farewell party

"We come every Sunday," Emily Bartow said.

This Sunday was the very last.

Visitors touched the 24 plaques and six monuments, posed next to them for family photos. Under the kind of cloudless sky that made people recall summer days of yore, they slowly circled the warning track. Those who could not walk were pushed along in wheelchairs. Parents brought strollers to make sure toddlers got to experience the great ballpark before it is dismantled.

Jeter, likely to get a plaque of his own years from now in the new Yankee Stadium, said Saturday was the first time he looked around and tried to soak in the memories - the three big decks filled with fans, the sign in the tunnel from the clubhouse to the field with the Joe DiMaggio quote: "I want to thank the Good Lord for making me a Yankee."

"Just driving in, I think it really starts to hit you, that this is the last time," he said. "When you take the field, you're constantly reminded of the history that's been here before you."

Yankees manager Joe Girardi went onto the field early to sign autographs. Mike Mussina and Alex Rodriguez posed for photos with rooters. Joba Chamberlain even took fans' cell phones and shouted messages to their family and friends.

Williams had his car circle the ballpark one last time before he walked in.

"All the memories that I have here, I know that I'm going to have to keep them in my head because this place is not going to be any longer," Williams said. "There is a part of me that feels very sad about watching the stadium go."

Berra, a 10-time champion often considered the greatest living Yankee, didn't really need any more souvenirs -- although he said he wouldn't mind leaving with the final home plate of the ballpark he loved.

"I hate to see it go," he said. "It will always be in my heart."