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| Page 2: Yankee Stadium Renovated |
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FAST FACTS
Year Opened: 1923; rebuilt in 1976
Capacity: 56,546
Architect: Osborn Engineering
Dimensions: 318L, 399LC, 408C, 385RC, 314R
Playing Surface: Grass
Last Visit: 2005
Ticket Prices (2005): Field Championship $95; Loge Championship $95; Main Championship $75; Main Boxes MVP $65; Field Boxes $55; Loge Boxes MVP $55; Main Reserved MVP $50; Main Boxes $45; Loge Boxes $45; Tier Boxes MVP $45; Main Reserved $40; Tier Boxes MVP $40; Tier Reserved $19; Bleachers $12; (all ticket prices are quoted for advance ticket sales).
League: American League
Parking: Most of the available parking is located south and west of the stadium on either side of Major Deegan Expressway (I-87); smaller surface lots are located along River Ave. south of 158th St. and north of 162nd St. Rather than driving, use of the #4 subway line out of Manhattan to the 161st St. stop at Yankee Stadium is highly recommended.
Directions: E. 161st St. and River Ave., the Bronx, NY. From Manhattan and other points south, take the Major Deegan Expressway (I-87) heading north to Exit 3 (138th St. and Grand Concourse), or Exit 4 (149th St.), or Exit 5 (E. 161st St.), or Southbound at Exit 6 (E. 153rd St. and River Avenue).
Written by: Jim Robins
Yankee Stadium and the cast of characters that come with it will provide you with a unique New York experience. Obviously, the die-hard baseball fan will drink in every facet of the visit (possibly literally), but the experience will be equally entertaining for the novice and casual observer, as well.
The most storied stadium in major-league baseball, Yankee Stadium has served as home to the legendary New York Yankees teams of the 20th century as well as most of the brightest stars in baseball, including Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Ron Guidry, and Reggie Jackson. Known world ’round as "The House That Ruth Built," the stadium opened in April 18, 1923 with Babe Ruth as the marquee player. Appropriately, the opponent that day was Ruth’s previous team, the Boston Red Sox.
Yankee Stadium was conceived out of dire necessity in 1921 after the team was booted from its shared home at the Polo Grounds by the New York Giants. With the Yankees and Ruth outdrawing their counterparts, Giants management informed the Yankees that the team must leave the Polo Grounds as soon as possible. So the team went out and bought 10 acres in the Bronx from the estate of William Astor.
Flush with box-office revenues thanks to Ruth, Yankees management originally planned a massive stadium seating over 100,000. The first plans for Yankee Stadium were on the imposing side: a triple-decked, roofed stadium. This design was scaled back to the current design: three decks in the horseshoe, with bleachers and scoreboards in the outfield. The price was a then-astronomical $2.5 million. At one point Yankee Stadium could house 80,000, but eventually that number decreased to 70,000; the 1976 remodeling brought the number down to the current 57,546.
Some definite quirks existed in the original Yankee Stadium. For instance, in 1932 the Yankees placed a monument to manager Miller Huggins in the spacious center field that originally measured 490 feet. As the years went by and more Yankees notables passed away, the team constructed additional shrines in Monument Park. This was a live area, and more than once a center fielder was frustrated as a deep shot bounced around among the monuments.
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