On April 18th, 1923 Yankee Stadium would open for play against the Boston Red Sox, the ballpark would be home for the New York Yankees for 85-years.
The original Yankee Stadium has home to Major League Baseball's the New York Yankees for 85-years. In that eight-plus decade span the stadium also was home to dozens of football games and boxing matching along with bicycle racing.
"The Cathedral of Baseball".
The original Yankee Stadium hosted 6,581 regular season home games for the Yankees. The stadium would see over 20 World Series and countless hall of fame players and unforgettable plays. The stadium became the most famous stadium in the world mainly due to it being home for the Yankees organization, nevertheless everyone knew and continues to know about Yankee Stadium today.
One of the most distinguishing characteristics of Yankee Stadium was the facade, which consisted of a green frieze that originally ran along the front of the roof of the triple-decked grandstand. Moving after a renovation, it ran atop the bleacher billboards and scoreboard. Being made of copper the frieze developed a green patina over time. The green look would stay until it was painted white during the 1960s.
An Era Ended
It was announced that a new stadium would be built across the street for the Yankees, replacing the historic relic that stood for almost a century. The new stadium would keep the famous 'Yankee Stadium' name as the ground broke for the new baseball team's home in August of 2006.
Yankee Stadium II would open up on April 2nd, 2009, after its 2.5-year construction worth $2.3 billion. In comparison the old Yankee Stadium only had a pice tag of $2.4 million (34.4M in 2022 dollars).
With that the old Yankee Stadium had the demolition begin in March of 2009, an end to an era that will forever be cemented into baseball history.
Still Around Today
The original Yankee Stadium can still be found today in the form of a baseball field in a public park. Heritage Field is a 10-acre park complex where the original stadium lied, accounting for 40% of the original parkland. Second base on Heritage Field stands in place of the original home plate where names where made and careers ended.
The field pays homage to the original stadium by having a lowered piece of the well known facade in the outfield. With the field being in the same spot of the now torn down stadium, it keeps the history alive in a way.
Despite the field being part of the original stadium, it has seen periods of poor maintenance since its opening in 2012.
The field has had several empty grass patches along with poor dirt quality.
Overall the field continues to stay playable condition, paying homage to the great stadium many players called home.
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