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Yankee Stadium
On February 6, 1921, the New York Yankees announced the purchase of ten acres of property in the west Bronx. The future home of Yankee Stadium was purchased from the estate of William Waldorf Astor for $675,000. On April 18, 1923, "The House That Ruth Built" opened for business.
Yankee Stadium was a gigantic horseshoe shaped triple-decked ballpark that was the first to be called a stadium. Countless articles have been written by countless historians bringing forth every aspect of the stadium's history. Harvey Frommer even once described its seat parts in great detail, "There were 10,712 upper-grandstand seats and 14,543 lower grandstand seats were fixed in place by 135,000 individual steel castings on which 400,000 pieces of maple lumber were fastened by more than a million screws."
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"I'd give a year of my life if I can hit a home run in the first game in this new park (Yankee Stadium)." - Babe Ruth (who went deep in the third inning of the Opening Day game on April 18, 1923) |
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Click Logo To Visit
Yankees Main Page
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First Game
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04-18-1923
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Last Game
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09-30-1973
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First Game
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04-15-1976
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Last Game
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09-21-2008
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Capacity Changes
(Yearly Attendance)
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1923
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58,000
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1926
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62,000
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1927
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82,000
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1928
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67,113
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1929
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62,000
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1937
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71,699
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1942
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70,000
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1948
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67,000
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1958
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67,205
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1961
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67,337
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1965
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67,000
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1971
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65,010
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1976
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54,028
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1977
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57,145
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1980
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57,545
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| Data |
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Backstop
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1923
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82'
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1953
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80'
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1976
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84'
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Left Field
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1923
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280.58'
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1928
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301'
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1976
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312'
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1988
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318'
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Left Field (Short)
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1923
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395'
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1928
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402'
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1976
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387'
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1985
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379'
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Left Field (Deep)
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1923
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500'
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1924
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490'
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1937
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457'
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1976
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430'
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1985
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411'
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1988
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399'
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Center Field
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1923
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487'
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1937
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461'
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1967
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463'
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1976
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417'
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1985
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410'
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1988
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408'
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Right Field (Deep)
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1923
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429'
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1937
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407'
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1976
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385'
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Right Field (Short)
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1923
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350'
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1937
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367'
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1976
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353'
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Right Field
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1923
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294.75'
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1930
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295'
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1939
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296'
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1976
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310'
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1988
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314'
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| Right Field Poem by Steve Sears |
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Right Field
"Centerfield," "Centerfield,"
Everyone wants to play centerfield
in Yankee Stadium
Just like Joe D and The Mick
As for me, I'll play right field
in the old Stadium,
protecting the short porch gallantly
the way Ruth, Henrich and Maris did
At bat, those seats would be my "home,"
my upper deck wallops landing in the
shadow of the ancient facade
or
blooping a liner just over the "296 ft" sign
Huggins, McCarthy, Casey and Houk
would welcome me back to the dugout
Poem © by Steve Sears (March 11, 1996).
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Monuments:
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468' Home Plate to Wall In Back
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Owned By:
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1923
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New York Yankees
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1971
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City of New York
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Field Surfaces
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1923
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Merion Bluegrass
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Yankee Stadium
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The architect who designed "The Yankee Stadium" (which was its original name) was Osborn Engineering (1923) and Praeger-Kavanaugh-Waterbury (1976). The construction was done by White Construction Company in 1923at the cost of $2.5 million and the renovation in 1976 cost $160 million.
In the first Yankee Stadium (pre-1976) there were actually three centerfield monuments in fair territory; Lou Gehrig on the left, Miller Huggins in the middle and Babe Ruth on the right. Since the 1976 renovation the New York Yankees have added many plaques and the comprehensive chart below includes all plaques and dedications:
Monument Park
Did you know that underneath second base in Yankee Stadium there was (removed in 1976) once a brick vault fifteen feet wide that contained electrical, telephone and miscellaneous equipment for boxing events?
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