The Stadium at 100

 

You never forgot the first visit.

Walking up the ramp and emerging to colors that were so vibrant. The view exploded in front of the eyes. The smells popped. The sound reverberated.

Yankee Stadium opened its doors for the first time on April 18, 1923. One-hundred years ago today.

I first saw it in 1972.

It can't be overstated just what a palace it was. It was truly, as writer Fred Lieb wrote, "The House that Ruth Built."

Opening Day, Apr 18, 1923

Yes, of course. G.H. "Babe" Ruth. Who better than George to hit the first wallop in the new place. It was The Babe who looked around Yankee Stadium 100 years ago and reportedly said, "Some ballyard."

That it was.

Ruth also added: “I'd give a year of my life if I could hit a home run on opening day of this great new park.”

Yankee Stadium went from "an overrated right fielder" in Ruth to "an overrated shortstop" in one D.S. Jeter. In between went a who's who of faces who played for and against the Yankees.

You name it, they all basically played there. It took Hank Aaron getting to the World Series but he got to play in Yankee Stadium. Others took the All-Star Game route as the building hosted the midsummer classic in 1939, 1960, 1977, and 2008.

Think about the historic moments: Gehrig's speech. DiMaggio's streak. Larsen's perfect game. Maris's 61st. Mantle's 500th. 

All of the World Series. Whitey, Yogi, Ellie Howard, Bill Dickey. They just keep rolling. Names aplenty.

So far, we're only talking about the years from 1923-1973 before the old girl closed for two years to remodel. In essence, the building was gutted and rebuilt.

The latter version of the stadium was the one I came to know down to the details.

Then from the reopening in 1976 until the final out in 2008 came more World Series and Reggie's three home runs and Nettles' defense and Billy getting ejected and Guidry's 18 strikeouts and Righetti's no-hitter and, after the drought, Donnie Baseball's playoff home run and perfect games from Wells and Cone and 125 wins and Tino's grand slam and Mr. November and Boone's pennant winner.

We're simply touching the surface of the things that happened over 85 years.

We saw the most profound first pitch in history when President G.W. Bush stepped to the mound in 2001.

We saw the saddest collection of days after Thurman Munson died in 1979 capped by a heroic five RBI performance from a certain Mr. Bobby Ray Murcer on the night of his friend's funeral.

The Stadium also served as the site for Babe Ruth's public wake in 1948 as thousands passed by his casket.

But there's more. So much more.

Think of the Stadium and you might think of the football Giants and that "Greatest Game Ever Played." 

Pope Paul VI held a Mass at the Stadium in 1965. In fact, three Papal Masses were celebrated in old Yankee Stadium. Billy Graham is said to have preached to 100,000 people there in 1957. Over 91,000 Jehovah's Witnesses filed in for a convention in 1953.

Notre Dame and Army played there for years with the 1946 matchup being pegged as "The Game of the Century."

"Win one for the Gipper" happened where? Yankee Stadium, of course.

The New York Cosmos -- with Pelé -- played there.

When New York needed a place for a prayer service following Sep 11, 2001, people flocked to Yankee Stadium.

And the Joe Louis/ Max Schmelling fights of 1936 and 1938 were there also. The sporting significance was large but the social importance was larger. The German Schmelling was used as propaganda by Hitler while the American Louis was a hero to many, especially African Americans. Schmelling's 1936 upset shocked fans. In fact, only 45,000 turned out for that fight as Louis was a 10-to-1 favorite. Over 70,000 returned for the rematch with the now heightened political background as war tensions grew. 

It was no contest this time, as Lewis unleashed a barrage of haymakers. The fight was over in two minutes and four seconds.

Some ballyard indeed.

Musically, Shea Stadium got The Beatles. Yankee Stadium hosted a few shows as well. Just not The Beatles. But Paul McCartney rooted for the Yankees in The Bronx.

The Stadium appeared in myriad TV shows, movies, and commercials.

Yet when the palace opened in 1923, radio was still in its infancy so there were only the words of the writers and the reported attendance that stretched from 60,000 to 74,200 or more. Yet radio was there in October 1923 when the Yankees beat the Giants for their first championship.

It was a place of myth and legend.

Mystique and aura, of course.

Tonight -- 100 years after opening those glorious gates for the first time -- I'll be across E. 161st St at the new Stadium that opened in 2009. The building is supposed to recall the 1923 place and, in some ways, it does.

It's not the same. It will never be the same. But it's nowhere near as bland or bad as many make it out to be.

Family movie screenshot, 1972

I'll be proud to spend the 100th anniversary of sports' most famous address near the site where all of the magic happened.

I'll glance at that land that was once a lumberyard and owned by William Waldorf Astor with a perfect view across the Harlem River to the Polo Grounds, then home of the New York Giants. The Giants -- the baseball team -- were the landlord to Jacob Ruppert and Tillinghast L'Hommedieu Huston's former New York Highlanders.

The Yankees, of course.

The Giants wanted the Yankees out by the early 1920s so Ruppert and Huston moved across the river and the Giants spent the next 34 years watching the Yankees win and fans head to the turnstiles.

A place that cost $2.5 million and took 284 days to build. The first triple-deck sports arena in the U.S. The first place to be called "Stadium" and thus became "The Stadium."

John Philip Sousa led a band on its grand opening day.

Bob Shawkey threw the first pitch and was the winning pitcher as the Yankees -- now, the Bronx Bombers -- beat the Red Sox 4-1.

Of course, as I said, Babe Ruth hit the first home run. It was a three-run shot in the third inning off Howard Ehmke. Of no shock is that Ruth was the first to take advantage of the "short porch" in right field.

Right field, which became known as "Ruthville."

While my memories aren't perfect I'm deeply proud to have visited the "original" stadium pre-renovation, first visiting in 1972. I saw that magnificent façade (the frieze) and it became an obsession.

My picture after the final Friday night game, 2008

It became a home.

A House.

I mourned it when it closed. So did many others.

Today, we celebrate its 100th birthday.

Happy birthday, Yankee Stadium.