What happened to the “House that Ruth Built?”

My guess is something akin to what was once home of the Broad Street Bullies.

They will close the doors to the Spectrum one final time Saturday night, after the last of a series of farewell concerts by Pearl Jam.

The Sixers and Flyers no longer play there. They now play at the massive, sprawling edifice across the parking lot now called the Wachovia Center.

It has always struck me that it appears as if you could take the Spectrum and fit it inside the Wachovia Center.

You just couldn’t get the passion inside.

The same now seems equally true for the new home of the New York Yankees. It’s still in the Bronx, it’s still called Yankee Stadium, but it seems to have lost its heart and soul. Maybe they still reside in the shell of the original, which is slowly but surely being dismantled next door.

During the first two games of the World Series, I was shocked at how quiet the place was. This was not the place that once instilled fear in opponents’ hearts. It seemed almost antiseptic.

Then came the killer. With the Phils leading 6-1 late in Game 1, the evidence of the change was clearly evident: lots and lots of empty seats.

I am thinking these are not the same people who inhabited the joint next door.

Just as many of the folks who showed up at the Core States-First Union-Wachovia Center were not those same orange faithful. These people were wearing suits, talking on cell phones. They were conducting business.

There was a time when NHL opponents would come down with a case of the Philly flu, rather than subject themselves to the ordeal of appearing in the Spectrum.

Likewise NBA players would tell you how they could feel the fans’ breath on their shoulders. That’s how close, intimate the old place was.

All of that is gone now. Soon the Spectrum will be, too. Just as Yankee Stadium, the original one, is now just a memory.

They say you can’t go home again. I’m guessing Yankees fans would agree.