Original Yankee Stadium Gone in 1973
The Bronx Ballpark That Closed In 2008 Was A Remodeled Version
The House that Ruth Built is no more.
The New York Yankees said goodbye to its famous home since 1923 on Sunday night with a tearful farewell that included reminders of its famous past, which included former Hall of Fame players, managers and coaches that were part of some of the team’s 26 World Series championships.
Yankee Stadium has had a good run. But there are lingering questions about whether a new Yankee Stadium being built across the street was really necessary.
Baseball traditionalists will point out that the real Yankee Stadium was torn down in 1973.
And the closing of the original Yankee Stadium had virtually no ceremonial tributes.
That was the year that the cross-town New York Mets won the National League pennant four years after winning the World Series in 1969.
The Mets owned the town then.
The Yankees 1973 season ended with long-time manager Ralph Houk resigning under pressure from then new owner George Steinbrenner.
The Yankees were not a contender in those days. That changed when the rebuilt stadium opened in 1976. The team went on to win six more World Series.
Original Yankee Stadium gone
The stadium that closed in 2008 is really a remodeled 1970’s version of the original Yankeee Stadium. And some say it was still in good shape.
Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig would not recognize the Yankee Stadium of today. The one they, and players like Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle played in, was completely gutted and rebuilt over 30 years ago.
Older Yankee fans remember the days when their team played two seasons, 1974 and 1975, at Shea Stadium. sharing that ball park with the Mets.
Steinbrenner made a threat to move the team to New Jersey, just like the football New York Giants, who also played at Yankee Stadium.
The city and the state of New York did not want to lose the Yankees, so Steinbrenner got his wish.
The new Yankee Stadium opened in 1976 and was in every sense of he word, a brand new park. But it also lost some of the charm of the old stadium.
Yankee Stadium façade and monuments
The old Yankee Stadium was short down the lines, less than 300 feet down each foul pole, but had a huge center field and left center field that extended out to 450 and 470 feet.
The place was a paradise for left-handed hitters like Ruth and Gehring.
Monuments dedicated to Gehrig, Ruth and manager Miller Huggins, along with the flag pole, were in the field of play in deep center field.
Fans still remember center fielder Bobby Murcer , in the early 1970's, crawling through the headstones to retrieve a ball hit over his head.
The old stadium also had a unique façade that lined the top of the stadium.
All of that was gone in 1976 when the Yankees returned from their two-year hiatus at Shea Stadium,
The Yankees created at monument park beyond a shortened outfield, put a replica façade across the outfield scoreboard wall. It also had an animated message board like the modeern stadiums of the day, plus the fist ball park with a giant televison screen. -- in black and white.
New clubhouses, dugouts, escalators and some private boxes were built.
Because of that, the re-built stadium was not in the class of Wrigley Field and Fenway Park, which still have their same basic looks, even though those venues went through changes.
The new Yankee Stadium will have some of the old features back.
But it will never be the House that Ruth Built.
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