Yankee Stadium Facts
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Left-center field
monuments and
plaques:
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Yankee Stadium
(I): monuments
in fair
territory: Lou
Gehrig on the
left, Miller
Huggins in the
middle, Babe
Ruth on the
right.
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Yankee Stadium
(II): monuments
beyond the fence
same as Yankee
Stadium I, plus
the addition of
Joe DiMaggio and
Mickey Mantle.
Plaques beyond
the fence of Ed
Barrow, Jacob
Ruppert, Joe
DiMaggio, Mickey
Mantle, Casey
Stengel, Joe
McCarthy, Pope
Paul VI, Thurman
Munson, Pope
John Paul II,
Billy Martin,
Whitey Ford,
Lefty Gomez,
Roger Maris,
Allie Reynolds,
Elston Howard,
Phil Rizzuto,
Bill Dickey,
Yogi Berra,
Reggie Jackson
and Don
Mattingly.
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A ball hitting the
foul pole in the
1930s was in play,
not a homer.
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"Death Valley" in
left-center.
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Green curtain in
center is sometimes
raised and lowered
like a window shade
to force visiting
batters to face a
background of
white-shirted
bleacher fans while
allowing Yankees
hitters to face a
dark green
background.
Sometimes removed in
World Series play to
sell more seats.
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Hosted the 1977,
1960 (II) and 1939
All-Star games.
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Bleachers in
right-center often
called Ruthville and
Gehrigville.
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Warning track made
of red cinders,
later of red brick
dust.
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Underneath second
base in Yankee
Stadium (I) there
was a 15-foot-deep
brick-lined vault
containing
electrical,
telephone, and
telegraph
connections for
boxing events.
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As originally
constructed, from
May 5, 1922, to
April 18, 1923,
three concrete decks
extended from behind
home plate to each
corner, with a
single deck in
left-center and
wooden bleachers
around the rest of
the outfield.
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In the winter of
1927-1928 second and
third decks were
added to left-center
and several rows of
box seats were
removed in left,
extending the foul
pole from 281 to 301
feet.
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During the 1936
season, the winter
of 1936-1937, and
continuing through
the 1937 season, the
wooden bleachers
were replaced with
concrete ones.
During the 1937
season second and
third decks were
added in
right-center. The
bleacher changes
shortened
straightaway center
from 490 to 461 feet
and reduced seating
capacity from the
80,000s to the
70,000s.
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As the outfield
bench seats were
gradually replaced
with chair seats in
the 1930s and 1940s,
the seating capacity
gradually dropped
from over 70,000 to
about 67,000.
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"Bloody Angle"
between bleachers
and right-field foul
line in 1923 season
was very
asymmetrical and
caused crazy
bounces. Eliminating
this in 1924 caused
the plate to be
moved 13 feet and
the deepest
left-center corner
to change from 500
to 490 feet.
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Auxiliary
scoreboards were
built in the late
1940s, which covered
up the 367
right-center sign
and the 415
left-center sign.
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Minor modifications
were made in the
winter of 1966-1967.
During this work, a
new 463 sign and a
433 sign appeared in
the power alleys,
and the exterior was
painted blue and
white.
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A 500 pound steel
joint fell from the
upper deck in April
1998 prompting the
Yankees to play a
home game at Shea
Stadium and trade
three home games
with the Detroit
Tigers.
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