Yankee Stadium (1923)
New York Yankees (MLB ) ( 1923-1973, 1976-2008 ) 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 )
Yankee Stadium was a baseball stadium in the South Bronx, New York, NY, located on 161st Street. It was the home of the New York Yankees.
The first game took place on 18 April in 1923 (Yankees against the Boston Red Sox 4-1), the last on September 21, 2008 ( Yankees against the Baltimore Orioles 7-3). After the games the Yankees were held in the new Yankee Stadium, which was built next to the old and whose appearance is strongly oriented to it. It was inaugurated on 16 April 2009.
From March 2009 to May 2010 was the demolition of the venue and on the site of a Heritage Field -called green space was created.
Last summed up the stadium 57 545 spectators.
History
On February 6, 1921, the Yankees issued a press release to announce the purchase of land in the Bronx. The country was compared with the previous stadium the Yankees, the Polo Grounds, which they shared with city rivals New York Giants since 1913. It was previously part of the estate of William Waldorf Astor, and was bought for 675,000 dollars.
The plan was a capacity of 70,000 spectators on three covered decks audience. The offices of the club's management were moved to the stadium of Midtown Manhattan. The offices were located since then between the main deck and steerage and were connected by an elevator installation with the main entrance.
The construction contract was awarded on May 5, 1922, the New York firm White Constructions Co. at a fixed price of 2.5 million U.S. dollars, with the addition that the stadium should be ready for the season opening 1923. After 284 working days of construction, the Yankee Stadium was ready for the opening game on April 18, 1923 against the Boston Red Sox.
The opening game was sold out with 74,200 fans, thousands more fans were denied admission. Babe Ruth sealed with a Three Run Homerun in the fourth inning to a 4-1 victory over the Red Sox. Since Ruth's throwing power and clout were not the least of which had made the stadium possible, the stadium was known as " The House That Ruth Built". At the end of the season, the first World Series games were played in the stadium and the Yankees won their first championship against arch-rivals, the New York Giants.
In 1928, the stadium was expanded for the first time. The upper deck in the audience behind the leftfield foul pole was expanded. The upper spectator stands in right field in 1937 expanded and thus made Upper Deck homeruns ( German: Upper Tier - homers ) on both sides of the stadium possible. 1946 the stadium received a floodlight system and 1959 the first electronic scoreboard. In the winter of 1966 the entire plant was modernized by the new owner CBS for 1.5 million U.S. dollars. Most of it was invested in color (90 tons). The brown concrete facade was painted white and from the green seats of the grandstand were blue.
On August 8, 1972 after years of debate on the aging ballpark, the Yankees signed a lease for 30 years with the City of New York, which meant for the stadium, that it should be completely modernized by the year 1976. After the 1973 season, the Yankees moved for two seasons in Shea Stadium, while the stadium was almost completely demolished and rebuilt. During the renovation of the playing field was lowered, so that the view of the lower courts was better. After the old roof of the stadium has been removed, the old façade has been rebuilt and ten more rows of seats added on the top deck viewer. The renovated stadium reopened on April 17, 1976 game against the Minnesota Twins, which the Yankees won with 11:4.
Yankee Stadium was also the venue for other sporting and cultural events. While the Yankees were playing away or the baseball season paused, there was at Yankee Stadium college and pro football, football, political events, concerts and even circus performances. On July 24, 1923 Benny Leonard won a 15 -round boxing match against Lou Tendler for the lightweight title. Until Muhammad Ali won his fight against Ken Norton on September 28, 1976 30 boxing matches were held. One of them was on June 22, 1938 for the title in the heavyweight division, as Joe Louis by a first-round KO won against Max Schmeling, when he had lost two years earlier at the same place against Schmeling.
The football team New York Giants played from 1956 to 1973 at Yankee Stadium. On December 28, 1958 at the NFL Championship Game, saw 64 185 spectators, as the Baltimore Colts outweighed the game against the Giants seven seconds before the end of the 17:17 by a field goal by Steve Myrha. In the eighth minute of the first sudden-death extension, which was played in the NFL, the Colts Alan Ameche the fullback from the 1 -yard line struggled through to finish the game. The Giants lost "The Greatest Game Ever Played" with 23:17.
On October 4, 1965, 80,000 people came to the stadium to Pope Paul VI. to see. 14 years later, Pope John Paul II made also stop at Yankee Stadium on his journey through the United States. Benedict XVI also. celebrated on April 20, 2008, thousands of people a Mass at Yankee Stadium.
Great Moments in Yankee Stadium
- The MLB All- Star Game was held in the years 1939, 1969, 1977 and 2008.
- Babe Ruth hits his 60th home run of the season on September 30, 1927, thus setting a new record.
- Don Larson creates a Perfect Game in the World Series on October 8, 1956.
- Roger Maris hits his 61st home run of the season on 1 October 1961 and thus surpasses Ruth's record.
- Mickey Mantle hits his 500th home run on May 14, 1967.
- David Wells creates a Perfect Game on May 18, 1998.
- David Cone creates a Perfect Game on July 18, 1999.
- Roger Clemens wins 300th game of his career, creating his 4000th strikeout on June 13, 2003.