Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium | |
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"The House That Ruth Built" The Big Ballpark in the Bronx The Stadium |
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Location | E. 161st Street and River Avenue Bronx, New York 10451 |
Coordinates | |
Opened | April 18, 1923 reopened April 1976 |
Closed | 1974-1975 (renovations) |
Owner | City of New York |
Operator | New York Yankees |
Surface | Grass |
Construction cost | $2.5 million (1923) $167 million (1976) |
Architect | Osborn Engineering (1923); Praeger-Kavanaugh-Waterbury (1976) |
Tenants | |
New York Yankees (MLB) (1923-1973, 1976-2008 [projected]) New York Yankees (NFL) (1926-1928) New York Yankees (AAFC) (1946-1949) New York Yanks (NFL) (1950-1951) New York Giants (NFL) (1956-1973) New York Generals (USA/NASL) (1967-1968) New York Cosmos (NASL) (1971,1976) Gotham Bowl (NCAA) (1962) |
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Capacity | |
58,000 (1923) • 62,000 (1926) • 82,000 (1927) 67,113 (1928) • 62,000 (1929) • 71,699 (1937) 70,000 (1942) • 67,000 (1948) • 67,205 (1958) 67,337 (1961) • 67,000 (1965) • 65,010 (1971) 54,028 (1976) • 57,145 (1977) • 57,545 (1980) |
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Dimensions | |
Left Field - 318 ft Left-Center - 399 ft Center Field - 408 ft Right-Center - 385 ft Right Field - 314 ft |
- This is about the stadium the New York Yankees currently play in. For the Yankees' new stadium see: New Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium in New York City that is the home of the New York Yankees, a Major League baseball team. Located at East 161st Street and River Avenue in the Bronx, it has hosted Yankees home games since 1923. It was formerly the home of the New York Giants football team, and once hosted dozens of boxing's most famous fights.
Yankee Stadium is one of the most famous sports venues in the world, due to its primary occupants having won more World Series championships than any other team. Its nickname, "The House that Ruth Built", comes from the iconic Babe Ruth, the baseball superstar whose prime years coincided with the beginning of the Yankees' winning history. Many Yankee fans refer to it as simply "The Stadium".
In 2006, the Yankees began construction on a new $1.3 billion stadium in public parkland adjacent to Yankee Stadium. The Yankees are expecting to open the 2009 season in their new home. Once the new stadium opens, most of the old stadium, including all of the above ground structure, will be demolished to become parkland.[1]
History and design
Upon its opening, Yankee Stadium soon came to be known as "The House that Ruth Built", a play on the nursery rhyme "The House that Jack Built", and in reference to the Yankees' star player, Babe Ruth. Ruth's power as a drawing card had enabled the Yankees to build their own stadium in the Bronx after their rivals across the Harlem River, the New York Giants, were threatening to evict them. In the first game at Yankee Stadium, April 18, 1923, Ruth hit the first home run at the Stadium, a three-run shot to help defeat his former team, the Boston Red Sox, 4-1. Boston Red Sox 1st baseman George Burns, got the first hit ever in Yankee Stadium that opening day. The Yankees also won their first World Series during the Stadium's inaugural season, a rare coincidence that would not occur again until the St. Louis Cardinals did it in 2006.
When Tillinghast L'Hommedieu Huston and Jacob Ruppert, the team's owners since January 1915, footed the bill for construction of a $2.5 million stadium, they did so at considerable financial risk and speculation. Baseball teams typically played in 30,000-seat facilities. Huston and Ruppert invoked Ruth's name when asked how the Yankees could justify a ballpark with 60,000 seats. Many people felt three baseball teams could not prosper in New York City, but Huston and Ruppert were confident the Yankees could outlast the more established Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants of the National League. This doubt was amplified by baseball's sagging popularity after the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, in which eight Chicago White Sox players were expelled for conspiring with gamblers to fix that year's World Series.
Huston and Ruppert were undeterred, and they also had little choice but to relocate. In 1920, Ruth's first with his new team, the Yankees drew 1.3 million fans to the Polo Grounds--outdrawing the Giants. In 1921, the Yankees won their first American League pennant (they lost to the Giants in the World Series). This exacerbated Giants owner Charles Stoneham's resentment of the Yankees and precipitated his insistence that the Yankees find another place to play their home games. The Giants derisively suggested that the Yankees relocate "to Queens or some other out-of-the-way place."
Huston and Ruppert explored many areas for Yankee Stadium. Of the other sites being considered, the Hebrew Orphan Asylum, at Amsterdam Avenue and 137th Street in Manhattan, nearly became reality. Consideration was also given to building atop railroad tracks in Manhattan (an idea revived in 1998) and to Long Island City, in Queens.
The area Huston and Ruppert settled on was a 10-acre lumberyard within walking distance from, and in sight of, Coogan's Bluff. The Polo Grounds was located on the Manhattan side of the Harlem River, at 155th Street and Eighth Avenue. Huston and Ruppert purchased the site from William Waldorf Astor for $600,000. Construction began May 5, 1922, and Yankee Stadium opened to the public less than 11 months later. When it did, Fred Lieb of the New York Evening Telegram dubbed it "The House That Ruth Built". (Critics of its cozy right field dimensions would sometimes call it "The House They Built for Ruth", although Ruth also lost many homers to the cavernous left and center field area.) New York Governor Alfred E. Smith (who would become the Democratic Party's candidate for president in 1928) threw out the first pitch. John Philip Sousa led one of his famed marching bands.
As originally built, the stadium seated 58,000. For the stadium's first game, the announced attendance was 74,217 (with another 25,000 turned away); however, Yankees business manager Ed Barrow later admitted that this number was likely heavily overestimated. Regardless of what the figure was, it was undoubtedly more than the 42,000 fans who attended game five of the 1916 World Series at Braves Field, baseball's previous attendance record. However, during the 1920s and 1930s, the Yankees' popularity was such that crowds in excess of 80,000 were not uncommon. It was referred to as "The Yankee Stadium" (with the "s" in "stadium" sometimes lowercase) until the 1950s.
Yankee Stadium was the first three-tiered sports facility in the United States and one of the first baseball parks to be given the lasting title of stadium. Baseball teams typically played in a park or a field. The word stadium deliberately evoked ancient Greece, where a stadium was unit of measure--the length of a footrace; the buildings that housed footraces were called stadiums. Yankee Stadium was one of the first to be deliberately designed as a multi-purpose facility. The field was initially surrounded by a (misshapen) quarter-mile running track, which effectively also served as a warning track for outfielders, a feature now standard on all major league fields. The left and right field bleacher sections were laid out at right angles to each other, and to the third base stands, to be properly positioned for both track-and-field events and football. The large electronic scoreboard in right-center field, featuring both teams' lineups and scores of other baseball games, was the first of its kind.
All of these luxuries came to life during a dark period for baseball. Popularity was very low following the Black Sox scandal a few years earlier. With his ability to transform the game by the might of a swing, the Sultan of Swat attracted more fans than ever to baseball. Combined, it could be argued that Ruth, the Yankees, and Yankee Stadium saved baseball.
As Yankee Stadium owed its creation largely to Ruth, its design partially accommodated the game's left-handed-hitting slugger. Initially the fence was 295 feet from home plate down the right-field line and 350 feet to near right field, compared with 490 feet to the deepest part of center field, nicknamed Death Valley. Because bleacher fans in left-center field were considerably farther away from home plate (460 feet) compared with the right-field bleachers, those who sat in the former were considered "out in left field", another phrase that originated at Yankee Stadium. The right-field bleachers were appropriately nicknamed Ruthville. As of 2006, Yankee Stadium has hosted 33 World Series, far more than any other baseball stadium. The Stadium has also hosted the major-league All-Star Game three times: 1939, 1960, and 1977. As part of its curtain call, Yankee Stadium is scheduled to host the 2008 All-Star Game.
Yankee Stadium underwent major renovations from 1936 through 1938. The wooden bleachers were replaced with concrete bleachers, shrinking the "death valley" area of left and center substantially, although the area was still much deeper than in most ballparks; and the second and third decks were extended to short right center. Gradually, all of the outfield bench seats were replaced with chair seats in the 1930s and 1940s. In the 1966-67 offseason, the stadium's green exterior was painted white, and the interior was also repainted.
1974-75 renovation
By the late 1960s, Yankee Stadium's condition had badly deteriorated, and the surrounding neighborhood had gone to seed as well. In 1971, CBS, which owned the Yankees at the time, proposed extensive renovations to Yankee Stadium. However, this would require the Yankees to play their home games at Shea Stadium in Queens, the regular home of the New York Mets. The Mets, as Shea's primary tenants, refused to sign off on letting the Yankees play there as well--effectively delaying the renovations. CBS then gave serious thought to building a stadium in the New Jersey Meadowlands before selling the Yankees to George Steinbrenner in 1972.
Finally, in mid-1972, Mayor John Lindsay stepped in and announced the city would buy Yankee Stadium for $24 million (by comparison, it cost only $2.4 million to build in 1923) and lease it back to the Yankees. Since the city owned Shea Stadium as well, the Mets had little choice but to agree. Yankee Stadium closed on September 30, 1973 for the two-year facelift; the Yankees played the 1974 and 1975 seasons in Shea Stadium.
A significant portion of the stadium was gutted and rebuilt, leading many to consider the rebuilt Yankee Stadium a different facility from the pre-renovation stadium. For example, the ESPN Sports Almanac considers the renovated stadium to be "Yankee Stadium II," and the pre-renovated facility to be "Yankee Stadium I." The most noticeable difference resulting from the renovation was the removal of the 118 columns that reinforced each tier of the Stadium's grandstand. The Stadium's roof, including the distinctive, 15-foot copper frieze that circled its interior, was replaced by the new upper shell that now exists and new lights were added. A white replica of this frieze was built at the top the wall behind the bleachers. The playing field was lowered by about seven feet and moved forward slightly.
Yankee Stadium installed the first instant-replay display in baseball. All seats in the old stadium were replaced with wider, more modern plastic seats, and the upper deck was expanded upward by approximately nine rows, as modern building techniques allowed them to do this. There appears to be an extra guardrail in the upper seating of the modern stadium where the original runways to the upper level concourse once ran.
A new upper concourse was built above where the old concourse existed and the old exits were closed in by new seating. The old, closed-in upper-deck concourse still exists to this day and is used by stadium employees for transport. A new "loge/ middle-tier" section was also built for the new stadium with far fewer seats to create a larger press box and 16 luxury boxes. About half of the bleachers seats were eliminated; the middle portion was converted to what is today called "the black," a dark, unused area that serves as the batter's eye. A wall was built behind the bleachers, preventing strap-hangers from watching the game perched on the elevated subway platform above River Avenue. All told, the Stadium was reduced to a listed capacity of 57,545. The Stadium's dimensions were narrowed, leaving the monuments and plaques that today comprise Monument Park behind an inner fence (they had been in fair territory). Several new restrooms were added throughout the stadium, along with three elevators. The southern border of the Stadium, 157th Street, was closed to cars and became part of the Stadium's property. The city also seized property on the southern side of this street for a four-story parking garage (about 2,300 parking spaces) to suit the increasingly suburban crowd who the Yankees were hoping to attract. No money was spent to help the residents and business owners of the neighborhood, fueling the sometimes uneasy relationship between the Yankees and their neighbors.
Some Yankee fans, as well as baseball purists, criticized the decision to reconfigure the field, believing that the Yankees could have made necessary renovations and still kept the pre-1973 dimensions; however, many of these aforementioned critics do not realize that the playing fields of the "old" and "new" stadiums are, in fact, different.
The cost of the 1970s renovations, $160 million, was originally borne by New York City and is now being paid off by New York State. At the time, many referred to Yankee Stadium as the House That Lindsay Rebuilt, because the costly renovations were approved by New York City's Board of Estimate based on the insistence of Mayor John Lindsay. Lindsay had orchestrated the city's purchase of Yankee Stadium from Rice University (the university in Houston, Texas owned the stadium thanks to a bequeathment from John William Cox '27) and the nine-acre parcel of property the Stadium occupies from the Knights of Columbus, also the recipients of a gift by Cox.
The Stadium reopened on April 11, 1976. More than 54,000 fans saw the Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins, 11-4, and the "new Stadium" hosted its first playoff and World Series games that October.
Boxing at Yankee Stadium
When Yankee Stadium opened in 1923, the Polo Grounds continued to host boxing matches. But Yankee Stadium soon encroached on that territory. Benny Leonard retained the lightweight championship in a 15-round decision over Lou Tendler on July 24, 1923, in front of more than 58,000 fans. It was the first of 30 championship bouts to be held at the Stadium. (This excludes dozens of nontitle fights.) The boxing ring was placed over second base; a 15-foot vault contained electrical, telegraph, and telephone connections. In July 1927, the aging former heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey came from behind to defeat heavily favored Jack Sharkey by delivering several questionable punches that were deemed illegal. Sharkey had similarly bad luck in a July 1930 heavyweight championship bout at Yankee Stadium, when his knockout punch to Max Schmeling was ruled illegal; Schmeling won by default. In July 1928, Gene Tunney upheld the heavyweight title against Tom Heeney at Yankee Stadium, and then retired as champion.
Perhaps the most famous boxing match ever was held at Yankee Stadium on June 22, 1938, when Joe Louis, a black American, squared off against Schmeling, a German. With his Nazi Party on the verge of taking over much of Europe, Adolf Hitler followed the rematch carefully, imploring Schmeling to defeat Louis, whom Hitler publicly berated. This left some with a moral predicament: root for the black fighter or for the Nazi. Schmeling had defeated Louis in 1936, but in defense of his title Louis knocked out Schmeling in the first round. This was one of eight championship fights the Brown Bomber fought at Yankee Stadium.
On July 1, 1939, Max Baer defeated Lou Nova at Yankee Stadium, the first televised boxing match in the United States. The event was broadcast by television station W2XBS, forerunner of WNBC-TV. (The World Series was not televised until 1947.) On September 27, 1946, Tony Zale knocked out New York native Rocky Graziano for the middleweight crown; it was the first of three bouts between Zale and Graziano.
On June 25, 1952, middleweight champion Sugar Ray Robinson sought his third title against light-heavyweight champ Joey Maxim at Yankee Stadium. More than 47,000 saw Robinson outfight Maxim but lose due to heat exhaustion in round 14 (due to the 104-degree weather). The referee who declared Maxim the winner was the second that night; the first had left the fight due to heat exhaustion.
After its 1970s renovation, Yankee Stadium hosted only one championship fight. On September 28, 1976, a declining Muhammed Ali defended his heavyweight crown against Ken Norton. To that point, Norton was one of only two boxers who had beaten Ali (in 1973); this was their third and final meeting. Norton led for most of the fight, but Ali improved in the later rounds to win by unanimous decision.
College football at Yankee Stadium
When an ill Ruth could not lead the Yankees to the World Series in 1925, college football took center stage at Yankee Stadium that fall. The fiercely competitive Notre Dame-Army game moved to Yankee Stadium, where it remained until 1947. In the 1928 game, with the score 0-0 at halftime, legendary Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne gave his "win one for the Gipper" speech (with reference to All-American halfback George Gipp, who died in 1920); Notre Dame went on to defeat Army, 12-6.
Notre Dame played 24 games at Yankee Stadium, going 15-6-3. Army played 38, compiling a 17-17-4 record. New York University played more games there than any other school, 96, using it as a secondary home field from 1923 to 1948, with a record of 52-40-4. Nearby Fordham University played 19 games there, going 13-5-1.
Eight college football games were played at Yankee Stadium on Thanksgiving Day, the first seven by New York University. NYU beat Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon University) in 1931 and 1932, defeated Fordham in 1936, lost to Oregon State in 1928, lost to Carnegie Tech in 1929, and lost to Fordham in 1934 and 1935. In the eighth game, in 1963, Syracuse University beat Notre Dame, 14-7. This was a rematch following the teams' controversial 1961 game won by Notre Dame, 17-15.
The Gotham Bowl was scheduled to premiere at Yankee Stadium in 1960, but was canceled when no opponent could be found for Oregon State University. The 1961 game was moved to the Polo Grounds, and when just 6,166 people came to Yankee Stadium for the 1962 game, in which the University of Nebraska defeated the University of Miami, 36-24, the Gotham Bowl was never played again.
Starting in 1971, the Stadium hosted the Whitney M. Young Urban League Classic, a game between historically black colleges, often featuring Grambling State University of Louisiana, coached by Eddie Robinson, the first college coach to win 400 games. The Classic helped to spread the fame of Grambling and other similar schools. Yankee Stadium hosted its final Classic during the 1987 season, also the last time a football game was played there. Grambling lost to Central State University of Ohio, 37-21.[2]
The Classic has been held at Giants Stadium in New Jersey's Meadowlands Sports Complex ever since, though the Yankees remain a supporter of the event.
Professional football at Yankee Stadium
The New York Giants of the National Football League played their home games at Yankee Stadium from 1956 to 1973. On December 28, 1958, Yankee Stadium hosted the National Football League championship game, frequently called "the greatest game ever played." The Baltimore Colts tied the Giants, 17-17, on a field goal with seven seconds left. Led by quarterback Johnny Unitas, the Colts won in overtime, 23-17. The game's dramatic ending is often cited as elevating football to one of the United States' major sports.
In 1971 and 1976, the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League played their home games at Yankee Stadium. In the latter year, the team's star attraction was Pele. The Brazil native, known as the King of Football, was considered the best player in the world. Bringing Pele to the United States was a move intended to try to increase the popularity of soccer in America, the same reason the high-profile player David Beckham was brought to the USA 30 years after that initial effort.
All-Star Games at Yankee Stadium
On July 11, 1939, Major League Baseball held its seventh All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium, in concert with the World's Fair being held at Flushing-Meadows in Queens. Yankees manager Joe McCarthy loaded his American League team with pinstripes: Bill Dickey (catcher), Joe DiMaggio (outfield), Joe Gordon (second base), Red Rolfe (third base), George Selkirk (outfield), and Red Ruffing (pitcher) were all in the starting lineup. Reserve players included Frankie Crosetti (shortstop), Lou Gehrig (first base), Lefty Gomez (pitcher), and Johnny Murphy (pitcher). The American League won, 3-1, behind a home run by DiMaggio, in front of more than 62,000. This was the second All-Star Game held in New York; the Polo Grounds hosted the event in 1934.
From 1959 to 1962, Major League Baseball held two All-Star Games. On July 13, 1960, Yankee Stadium hosted baseball's second All-Star Game in three days. The National League won both games. In the latter game, Whitey Ford was the starting pitcher. Yogi Berra (catcher), Mickey Mantle (outfield), Roger Maris (outfield), and Bill Skowron (first base) were in the starting lineup; Jim Coates (pitcher) and Elston Howard (catcher) were reserves. The National League won the Yankee Stadium game, 6-0, tying a record with four home runs, including one by hometown favorite Willie Mays. The 38,000 fans who attended the game saw Ted Williams in his final All-Star appearance.
Showcasing its new renovation, Yankee Stadium hosted the All-Star Game on July 19, 1977. With the Yankees defending their 1976 pennant, Billy Martin managed the American League team in his home field. The National League won its sixth consecutive All-Star Game, 7-5, in front of more than 56,000 fans; the senior circuit's streak would reach 11. Reggie Jackson (outfield) and Willie Randolph (second base) started for the American League; Sparky Lyle (pitcher), Thurmon Munson (catcher), and Graig Nettles (third base) also made the team. Jim Palmer was the game's starting pitcher because Nolan Ryan refused to play when Martin asked him.
Yankee Stadium is scheduled to host its final All-Star Game in 2008 in honor of its last year before the club moves to New Yankee Stadium.
Other events at Yankee Stadium
Beginning in 1950, the stadium began holding religious conventions of the Jehovah's Witnesses. The first convention attracted 123,707 people, more in a single day than any other stadium event up to that time.[3] These conventions would continue on until the late 1980s. When room ran out in the stands, the ladies were asked to remove their heels, and people were brought in to sit in the outfield. There was also a makeshift camp nearby where the program was broadcast for hundreds others to listen to.
Francis Cardinal Spellman (1957), Pope Paul VI (1965), and Pope John Paul II (1969 as a cardinal, 1979 as pope) all celebrated Mass at the ballpark. On June 21, 1990, a rally was held at Yankee Stadium for Nelson Mandela upon his release from prison following the end of apartheid in South Africa. On September 23, 2001, Yankee Stadium hosted a memorial service for victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City.
The first concert ever held there was an ensemble show on June 21, 1969 put together by the Isley Brothers; the first rock concert held at the stadium was on June 22, 1990 by Billy Joel. It was also the site of two dates of U2's ZOO TV tour in 1992. During one song, Bono paid tribute to the show's setting with the line "I dreamed I saw Joe DiMaggio/Dancing with Marilyn Monroe...". Pink Floyd also performed two sold out shows at this venue on their 1994 tour in support of The Division Bell album.
National Hockey League (NHL) executives had inquired about the possibility of using the field for a Heritage Classic type event with a New York Islanders vs New York Rangers ice hockey match during the 2006-07 NHL season. A similar event took place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, in which the Edmonton Oilers played against the Montreal Canadiens.[4] Such a game did not take place during the 2006-07 season, and while again considered for 2007-08, it seemed to fall by the wayside as the league began looking to other markets, perhaps to boost ratings or ensure cold weather. Based on the initial rumors, such a game would likely have been played on New Year's Day and serve as the kickoff for NBC's NHL coverage for that season.
On March 10, 2006, Yankee Stadium saw its first and only wedding at home plate. Blind sportswriter Ed Lucas, who has been a member of the Yankee family for over 40 years, got special permission from the Yankees, the City of New York, and Major League Baseball to exchange vows with his fiancée, Allison Pfieffle, on the same spot where Lou Gehrig made his famous farewell speech, among the many notable events. Over 400 people, including present and former members of the Yankee family were in attendance to see the happy couple united, and the ceremony was broadcast on ESPN, the YES Network, NBC's Today show and other national media outlets. Ed and his bride were introduced years before by longtime friend and baseball Hall of Fame Member Phil "The Scooter" Rizzuto. During the reception at the Stadium Club, Yankee owner George Steinbrenner surprised the crowd with an announcement that he would be picking up the entire tab for the wedding and honeymoon.
The World Series at Yankee Stadium
"Why is it called the World Series when it's always played in the Bronx?"-Anonymous
Due to the Yankees' frequent appearances in the World Series, Yankee Stadium has played host to more postseason games than any stadium in baseball history.
Since its 1923 opening, 37 of 83 World Series have been played at Yankee Stadium, with the Yankees winning 26.
Sixteen of those World Series were clinched at Yankee Stadium:
- New York Yankees, in 1927, 1938, 1947, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1977, 1996, and 1999
- St. Louis Cardinals, in 1926 and 1942
- Brooklyn Dodgers, in 1955, their only World Championship won in Brooklyn before moving to Los Angeles.
- Milwaukee Braves, in 1957, the only World Series won by a Milwaukee team.
- Cincinnati Reds, in 1976
- Los Angeles Dodgers, in 1981
- Florida Marlins, in 2003
Distinguishing characteristics
Monument Park
Monument Park is a section of Yankee Stadium which contains the Yankees' retired numbers, a collection of monuments and plaques pertaining to the New York Yankees and other events to take place at the stadium and in the city.
The facade
One of the most distinguishing characteristics of Yankee Stadium was the copper frieze (painted white in the 1960s) that ran around the roof of the grandstand's upper deck. However, the renovation of the 1970s greatly scaled back the roof, and the facade was removed. A white replica was run along the bleacher billboards and scoreboard, where it stands to this day. In the new stadium, the facade will return to the upper deck roof.
"The Facade," as it is called, is used as an icon for both the stadium and the team. This can be clearly seen in its major use in graphics for the YES Network.
While it is called "the Facade" by fans, broadcasters, and Yankees officials, the correct term for the feature, "frieze," is used very sparingly. Even more technically, as these features served to cover up the ends of cantilevered beams that projected out towards the field from the outer walls of the stadium, they comprise a fascia.
The Big Bat
Outside the stadium's main entrance gate, stands a 138-foot tall exhaust pipe in the shape of a baseball bat, complete with tape at the handle that frays off at the end. It is sponsored by Louisville Slugger, which leads to many people referring to it as "The Louisville Slugger". The bat is designed to look like a Babe Ruth model. The bat is also often used as a designated meeting spot for fans to meet their ticket holding friends before entering the stadium.
Asymmetry inside and outside
Yankee Stadium was built on a five-sided, irregular plot of land. This gave it a very distinctive asymmetrical shape. For many years, and even today after remodeling, left field and center field were and are much more difficult areas to hit home runs than right field. The designers' plans to extend the right field upper tiers compelled a short right field area. There would have been ample room for a "normal" right field if that design element had been omitted and the bleachers had been made much narrower. Nonetheless, this feature is one of many that makes Yankee Stadium fairly intimate, despite its size.
Bob Sheppard
Since 1951, Bob Sheppard has been the public address announcer at Yankee Stadium. His distinctive voice (Yankee legend Reggie Jackson has called him "the Voice of God"), and the way he announces players for over half a century has made him a part of the lore of the stadium and the team. Before a player's first at-bat of the game, Sheppard announces his uniform number, his name, his position, and his number again. Example: "Number 2... Derek... Jeter... Shortstop... Number 2..." For each following at-bat, Sheppard announces just the position and name: "The shortstop, Derek Jeter." Sheppard's long-term back-up is Jim Hall.
Hammond Organ
The Hammond Organ was installed at Yankee Stadium in 1967, and was primarily played by Eddie Layton from its introduction until his retirement after the 2003 season. The playing of the organ has added to the character of the stadium for many years, playing before games, introducing players, during the national anthem and the rendition of "Take me out to the ball game" during the seventh inning stretch. After Layton's retirement, he got to pick his replacement, Paul Cartier.[5] In recent years, the use of the organ has been decreased in place of recorded music between innings and introducing players. Since the 2004 season, the national anthem has rarely been performed by the organists, opting for military recordings of the Star Spangled Banner. In 2005, a new Hammond Elegante was installed replacing the Hammond Colonnade which Eddie Layton played for all those years.
The Owner's Box
The Owner's Box is a personal suite belonging to New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. It is located behind home plate on the second deck along with the two broadcasting both of the YES Network and WCBS Radio 880/Yankees Radio Network, the Press Box, and some other luxury suites. The owner sits in the box along with guests and occasionally Yankees GM Brian Cashman. Yogi Berra is known to watch Yankees games from there.
"God Bless America"
After the September 11 terrorist attacks, all American Major League Baseball stadiums started playing God Bless America during the seventh-inning stretch for the remainder of the 2001 season. Many teams ceased this practice the following season, although it has continued in post-season events at many cities and become a tradition at Yankee Stadium alongside Take Me Out to the Ballgame. Usually, a recording of the song by Kate Smith is played, although sometimes there is a live performance by Irish tenor Ronan Tynan. For part of the 2005 season, the Yankees used a recording of Tynan, but the Kate Smith version was reinstated due to fan complaints. Dick Cheney, in attendance at a game, was once booed when shown on the scoreboard during a performance of the song.
"New York, New York"
Another tradition for Yankee Stadium is that after each home game, the classic song "New York, New York" is played over the loudspeakers; Frank Sinatra's version regardless of a win or loss. (In the past, Liza Minnelli's version was played after a loss.)
Westminster chime
When the Yankees score a run, a version of the Westminster chime plays as the last player to score in the at-bat gets to home plate. The version of the chime is the beginning of Workaholic by the music group 2 Unlimited. The only time the chime is not played is if the Yankees score a game winning run, thus "Theme from New York, New York" by Frank Sinatra is played.
Other characteristics
While some elements of the Stadium are decidedly modern, its asymmetry, monuments in left-center field and exterior arches give fans a reminder of the Stadium during its most golden period. Even the blue YANKEE STADIUM letters over the main gate are longtime features; they're the same letters that first appeared there in the 1950s; the letters were originally white before being painted blue in the 1960s. The proximity to the 4 train makes it a part of the stadium, and there is a large gap in the walls behind the right field bleachers where fans and commuters can get a peek at each other.
Roll call
After the first pitch is thrown at the top of the first inning, the "Bleacher Creatures" in Section 39, usually led by a man nicknamed Bald Vinny, begin chanting the names of every player in the defensive lineup (except the pitcher and catcher, with some rare exceptions), starting with the center fielder (ie: "JOH-nee DA-mon, clap, clap, clap clap clap"). They do not stop chanting the player's name until he acknowledges the Creatures (usually with a wave or a point), who then move on to the next player. Other names called out during roll call from time to time have included Yankee broadcasters John Sterling and Michael Kay, or Aaron Boone, Bucky Dent, and Babe Ruth when the Yankees host the rival Boston Red Sox. Sometimes, after a long rain delay, the Creatures start another Roll Call for comedic effect. Often when a player is replaced in the field, their replacement is also welcomed with a chant.
Access
Yankee Stadium can be reached via the 161st Street–Yankee Stadium station of the New York City Subway, along the IRT Jerome Avenue Line (4) and IND Concourse Line (B D).
Since the 1970s renovation, there has discussion to add a Metro-North station on the Hudson Line tracks that run behind the Stadium's south parking garage, but the Yankees have never been willing to pay for the station. In 2006, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) said it plans to pay for a station after the Yankees relocate to a new stadium north of 161st Street in 2009. The station will cost $45 million. The MTA said it will use money that had been earmarked to explore a subway expansion to La Guardia Airport in Queens.
The MTA also has buses that run to the stadium. Lines Bx1, Bx6, and Bx13 all have stops near Yankee Stadium.
Yankee Stadium has 15 official parking lots around the stadium for those wishing to travel by car. The main auto route to the stadium is the Major Deegan Expressway (I-87).
NY Waterway runs a ferry service to Yankee Stadium from various piers in Manhattan and New Jersey. This service is called "The Yankee Clipper" and serves food and alcohol while fans enjoy New York skylines.
Outfield dimensions
Since it opened, Yankee Stadium has changed its dimensions several times. This chronology is derived from a variety of sources. Green Cathedrals, by Phil Lowry, is a good basic reference. Baseball annuals, starting with editions in the 1920s, routinely gave dimensions of the major league ballparks. Photos are also a good source, as the Yankees were among the first to post distance markers on the outfield walls. Among the many book sources of photos are Yankee Stadium: Fifty Years of Drama, by Joseph Durso; and Yankee Stadium: 75 Years of Drama, Glamour and Glory, by Ray Robinson and Christopher Jennison.
Year | Left Field Line | Straightaway Left Field |
Left Center | Straightaway Center Field |
Right Center | Straightaway Right Field |
Right Field Line | Backstop |
1923 | 285 ft. | 395 ft. | 460 ft. | 490 ft. | 425 ft. | 350 ft. | 295 ft. | 82 ft. |
1937 | 301 ft. | 402 ft. | 457 ft. | 461 ft. | 407 ft. | 344 ft. | 296 ft. | 82 ft. |
1976 | 312 ft. | 387 ft. | 430 ft. | 417 ft. | 385 ft. | 353 ft. | 310 ft. | 84 ft. |
1985 | 312 ft. | 379 ft. | 411 ft. | 410 ft. | 385 ft. | 353 ft. | 310 ft. | 84 ft. |
1988 | 318 ft. | 379 ft. | 399 ft. | 408 ft. | 385 ft. | 353 ft. | 314 ft. | 82 ft. |
The team's magazines indicate that there may still be an area of center field as deep as 417 feet. If so, it is unmarked. The most recent field dimensions were reached primarily by moving the Yankee bullpen to left-center from right and making a few other changes so as to bring the left-center field wall in. The left-center field wall locations from earlier years of the remodeled stadium can still be seen in a few spots, although the walls are not covered with blue padding as the current one is.
Photo gallery
Monument Park, the LF bleachers, the bullpens, and the retired numbers |
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The New Stadium
A new stadium for the Yankees is currently under construction on part of the former site of Macombs Dam Park. The new stadium's design will incorporate the design of Yankee Stadium from its original 1923 exterior as well as from the 1970s renovation. As for the current stadium, The above-ground portion will be completely demolished, with the existing clubhouses, which are underground, remaining in use for replacement park facilities. [5] Three baseball fields will be built atop the Yankee Stadium field after the Yankees' new stadium opens.[6] These new recreation facilities were designed to alleviate the loss of parkland to the Yankees' new stadium. Monument Park will be relocated in the new stadium.
Before building their $1.3 billion stadium, the Yankees secured $425 million in public subsidies and permission to tear down 400 trees and take over 22 acres of public parkland north of the team's East 161st Street home; New York City retains ownership of the Yankees' new tract of land. The public costs include acquiring land for the stadium, building parking garages, tearing down Yankee Stadium, lost rent and parking revenue from Yankee Stadium, and tax breaks. It does not include a $91 million Metro-North station, which will be paid for entirely by the public (with money shifted from other parts of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's capital-spending budget). Of the stadium's remaining cost, up to 40 percent may be subsidized through reduced revenue-sharing contributions. The Yankees' $200 million payroll is consistently the highest in baseball, making them the largest contributor to the league's revenue-sharing pool. It has been estimated that the Yankees will contribute one-third of their new stadium's cost.
The Yankees' stadium and free-parkland acquisition were proposed in June 2005 without input from the community but with preapproval from pertinent legislative bodies. The plan was approved within days of its announcement, setting underfunded community groups and parks advocates back from the beginning. Even as fierce opposition mounted, they were left with no room to maneuver to save the neighborhood's parkland. One year after the Yankees' new-stadium news conference, the team cleared all legislative, financial, procedural, and legal hurdles. Construction began in the summer of 2006. The Yankees expect to begin the 2009 season in their new stadium. As part of Yankee Stadium's last trip around the block, it will host the 2008 All-Star Game.
References
- ^ http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/nyy_stadium/html/nyy_redevelopment.html
- ^ [1]
- ^ Yankee Stadium History [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ Yankee Player Photo Template [4]
Ray Robinson and Christopher Jennison, Yankee Stadium: 75 Years of Drama, Glamor, and Glory (Penguin; 1998)
External links
- Yankee Stadium Facts, figures, photos and more
- Ballpark Digest Visit
- Brief History of Yankee Stadium
- History of Yankee Stadium - About.com
- Yankee Stadium history
- Virtual Tour of Yankee Stadium
- Yankee Stadium in Google Maps
Preceded by Polo Grounds 1913–1922 |
Home of the New York Yankees 1923–1973 |
Succeeded by Shea Stadium 1974–1975 |
Preceded by Shea Stadium 1974–1975 |
Home of the New York Yankees 1976– |
Succeeded by New Yankee Stadium (beginning in 2009) |
Preceded by Polo Grounds 1925–1955 |
Home of the New York Giants (NFL) 1956–September 30, 1973 |
Succeeded by Yale Bowl October 14, 1973–1974 |
Preceded by Crosley Field |
Host of the All-Star Game 1939 |
Succeeded by Sportsman's Park |
Preceded by Municipal Stadium |
Host of the All-Star Game 1960 2nd Game |
Succeeded by Candlestick Park |
Preceded by Veterans Stadium |
Host of the All-Star Game 1977 |
Succeeded by San Diego Stadium |
Preceded by AT&T Park |
Host of the All-Star Game 2008 |
Succeeded by Busch Stadium |
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National League | AT&T Park · Busch Stadium · Chase Field · Citizens Bank Park · Coors Field · Dodger Stadium · Dolphin Stadium · Great American Ball Park · Miller Park · Minute Maid Park · PETCO Park · PNC Park · RFK Stadium · Shea Stadium · Turner Field · Wrigley Field |
American League | Angel Stadium · Comerica Park · Fenway Park · Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome · Jacobs Field · Kauffman Stadium · McAfee Coliseum · Oriole Park · Rangers Ballpark · Rogers Centre · Safeco Field · Tropicana Field · U.S. Cellular Field · Yankee Stadium |