Yankee Stadium

Located at East 161st Street and River Avenue in The Bronx, it has hosted 6,581 Yankees home games since 1923 and has a capacity of 57,545. It was also the former 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 America, having hosted a variety of events and many historic moments during its existence.

Its primary occupants, the Yankees, have won far more World Series championships (26) than any other major league club. The stadium's 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.
In 2006, the Yankees began construction on a new $1.6 billion stadium in public parkland adjacent to Yankee Stadium.

Once the new stadium opens, most of the old stadium, including the above-ground structure, is to be demolished to become parkland.


History and design


Main entrance during the 1920s

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 in Manhattan, the New York Giants, were threatening to evict them from The Polo Grounds.

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 first baseman George Burns got the first hit ever in Yankee Stadium.

Huston and Ruppert invoked Ruth's name when asked how the Yankees could justify a ballpark with 60,000 seats. The doubt over the Yankees' lasting power 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).In 1971 the city of New York forced (via eminent domain) Rice to sell the stadium for a mere $2.5 million. In the 1966–67 offseason, during the period in which Rice owned the stadium, the concrete exterior was painted white, and the interior was repainted blue. The copper frieze circling the upper deck was painted white.
1974–75 Renovation/"Yankee Stadium II"


Yankee Stadium undergoing renovations, 1975.

By the late 1960s, Yankee Stadium's condition had badly deteriorated, and the surrounding neighborhood had gone downhill as well.

The Mets, as Shea's primary tenants, refused to sign off — effectively delaying the renovations. Since the city owned Shea Stadium as well, the Mets had little choice but to agree.

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". Textbooks on the subject, such as Green Cathedrals, make no such distinction, since much of the original structure was retained and re-used, in contrast to the total demolition of facilities such as Cleveland Stadium or Wembley Stadium, whose in-place replacements were totally new structures.

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. Also, deep center was significantly reduced to a distance more consistent with modern parks.
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 whom 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.


Yankee Stadium's current exterior, after the 1970s remodeling

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. 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 15, 1976 .

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. Schmeling had defeated Louis in 1936, but in defense of his title Louis knocked out Schmeling in the first round.

On September 28, 1976, a declining Muhammad Ali defended his heavyweight crown against Ken Norton. The fiercely competitive Notre Dame–Army game moved to Yankee Stadium, where it remained until 1947.

The 1929 game between the two teams had the highest attendance in the series at 79,408. The 1946 Army vs. 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.

Grambling lost to Central State University of Ohio, 37-21.
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
In 1926, after negotiations failed with the fledgling NFL and the Chicago Bears, Red Grange and his agent C.C. They played at Shea Stadium in 1975, before relocating to their current home, Giants Stadium, in 1976.
Soccer at Yankee Stadium
In 1971 and 1976, the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League played their home games at Yankee Stadium.

The American League won, 3-1, behind a home run by DiMaggio, in front of more than 62,000. It was also the site of two dates of U2's ZOO TV tour in 1992.Usually, a recording of the song by Kate Smith is played, although sometimes there is a live performance by Irish tenor Ronan Tynan. The version of the chime is the beginning of Workaholic by the music group 2 Unlimited.

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. In 2008, centerfielder Melky Cabrera booted a routine grounder while attempting to wave to the fans.
Access


The view of Yankee Stadium from the 161st Street–Yankee Stadium station.

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 been 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.

Connections to I-95, I-278, and several other major highways are within a few exits of the stadium.
NY Waterway runs a ferry service to Yankee Stadium from various piers in Manhattan and New Jersey.