SI: Yankee Stadium is Dying

Yes, the dimensions of Fenway have changed - outfield fences, exclusive of left field, have slowly come in, and as the wall has changed in left, even it has changed. Truth is, the original Fenway is about as recognizable in contemporary Fenway as the original Yankee Stadium is in the reconstruction that gets abandoned this week - Fenway was renovated in 1933/34, and has continued to evolve ever since. The key to a ball park lasting nearly 100 years is not that it hasn't changed, but that it has
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Other than putting the bullpen in RF, how have the outfield dimensions changed (other than the LF corner going from 315 to 310 one offseason)? I'm pretty sure the wall in CF has been that way since the complete overhaul in the 30's.

 

Just asking, but does it all still count as the same mound Larsen pitched from, and the same outfield Mantle and DiMaggio roamed, if it was all torn up and replaced during the 70s renovation?

 

Hard to see in this photo, but at least it gives somewhat of a picture. When it opened, Fenway was monstrous -- similar to old Yankee Stadium. (488 feet to dead center, 520(!) to that little CF corner, 405 in right-center where the bullpens are now, etc.)

After the 1933-34 renovations, other changes included: moving the right-center fence in another 25 feet from 405 to 380 by 1943 (for Ted Williams, of course) ... installing what is now known as the Pesky Pole area in RF (the dimensions changed from 358 in 1933 to 334 in '34 down to 302 in '42 -- again, largely for Williams.) ... And, of course, the Green Monster dimensions have been, umm, "corrected" from 320 to 315 to 310.

 

Haven't read the story yet, but the cover photo is spectacular.

Went to a game at Yankee Stadium in 1966, and then again in 1996. It's old. The new stadium will be welcomed, just as new stadiums in Denver and Seattle that replaced outdated relics (albeit witout YS's amazing history) were, because they were such an improvement over the predecesor.

Amazing that when the new Yankee and Shea stadiums open, Dodger Stadium and whatever the hell they call Anaheim Stadium these days will be the third- and fourth-oldest ballparks in MLB, behind Fenway and Wrigley.

 

Speaking of which, Dodger Stadium is pretty dingy, too.

 

Well, damn, that was good.

In lesser hands, of course – and many will be inspired by that – it would be not so good.

 

Speaking of the cover photo -- and I agree that it is great -- does anyone know why this game would be so sparsely attended? The stands are like 10 percent filled.

It also seems odd to me that the headline is "It's gone," with a picture of Mantle swinging ... as if to say he hit that one out. The double-meaning thing is pretty cool. But it looks like Mantle really was swinging and missing. The infielder, umpires and third-base coach are all looking toward home. If he even made contact, it seems like there would be some action there.

No biggie. Still a great photo. Just a couple things I was wondering.

 

Good observations on the photo, Ira.

As for the attendance ... it's hard to believe today in this era of 2-3M attendance, but even Yankee Stadium played host to dozens of games in the 1960s with just a few thousand people.

Case in point: Opening Day, 1960. The Yanks were at Fenway in front of 35,000. The next two days? 11,000 apiece. The Yanks' home opener against Baltimore a day later had 36,000 in the Bronx. The next two games? ~19,000 each. Later in that homestand, they played in front of 3,500 for a Wednesday game against Washington.

3,500 ... at Yankee Stadium! Can you believe it? Opening Day 1961, fresh off a pennant, drew 14,000 against the new Minnesota Twins at the Stadium.

Hard to say what the reason was for the crowd being so sparse that day. Could have been the weather. Could have been a random Wednesday matinee. (The A's and Senators drew especially bad crowds at the Bronx in those years.) Could have been the day after Bat Day, who knows. But it's not surprising, that's for sure.

 

Thanks for the info Buck. 3,500 REALLY??? That is incredible. 14K for an opener too. Had no idea.

 

When I went in June, Rivera blew a save for only the second time to that point in the season. Weird.

As for Lambeau, they sort of have blown it up. The modernized Lambeau is different from the very utilitarian Lambeau of my youth, aside from the field itself.

 

There was a game in the late 1960s when the Yankees were terrible that drew about 600, I believe.

The game on the cover is against the A's, I think, if I can read the oppising jersey right. So it figures it would be a bad draw.

 

I went to Yankee Stadium for the first time last season with my father, who isn't nearly as big a baseball fan as I am. I loved the experience, but I was worried I was just dragging my football-fan father along.

About a month ago, I got a call from my dad. "I was just watching the Yankees game on TV, and I'm so glad we got to go see the stadium before it's time was up."

It made my day.