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The New York Yankees

Yankee Stadium Background Information

"The House that Ruth Built"

The grounds the future Yankee Stadium would be built on was purchased just one year after they acquired Babe Ruth in one of the greatest trades in baseball history. Before the big buy, they were using the Polo Grounds in Manhattan, a field they shared with the National League team the Giants. The Yankees and the Giants were not pleased that they were sharing the field, and the relationship finally disintegrated after the Yankees' game attendance grew to be over 100,000 over the attendance of Giants' games in the 1920 season. The Yankees' high attendance can be attributed to Babe Ruth now playing for the club. In 1921, the Giants' gave the Yankees' their vacancy notice. They purchased 10 acres of land from William Waldorf Astor directly across the river from their old Polo Grounds. Their goal was to make a spectacular ballpark, better than that of the Polo Grounds. They set out to build a triple-decked ballpark, with a supposed capacity of 70,000. This would also be the first park to be actually called a "stadium".

Some links to stadium facts and history:

http://mlb.mlb.com/nyy/ballpark/stadium_history.jsp

http://www.ballparks.com/baseball/american/yankee.htm

http://espn.go.com/travel/stadium/_/s/mlb/id/10/yankee-stadium

 

Stadium Facts

  • Originally triple decked and roofed all around
  • Stadium favored left-handed hitters
  • Stadium was completed on time and within budget; done by Opening Day 1923 for 2.5 million dollars.
  • Was scaled back eventually, the triple deck did not reach either foul pole.
  • Executive offices were moved into the stadium
  • Babe Ruth credited with the need for the new stadium being built
  • Later that season, the Yankees hosted its first World Series and beat ironically their former ballpark mates the Giants.

 

 

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