Remembering Yankee Stadium: 21ST CENTURY!

(For your reading pleasure adapted from REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM: AN ORAL AND NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE THAT RUTH BUILT, on sale everywhere, buy it now)

21ST CENTURY!

“I believe we have some ghosts
in this stadium that have helped us out."
- - - DEREK JETER

The greatest baseball team of the 20th century began the 21st century and their 77th season at Yankee Stadium with a tip of the cap to tradition and to history.
BOB SHEPPARD: The Yankees called me to give me the news that they were going to hold a “Bob Sheppard Day.” And frankly I was speechless. That rare honor, started in 1932, had been reserved for Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle, Berra and a select few others, not for the public address announcer.
The day arrived: May 7, 2000. The Stadium was packed. My family, including my wife Mary, was there. I delivered the lineups from out of doors for the first time since September 30, 1973.
That I should have a plaque out in Monument Park in centerfield . . . It was an incredible, memorable moment in my life.
My saddest moments have been the eulogies that I had to write for those who died and had been Yankees in their time.
They’ll say: “We lost Thurman Munson. Write something about it before the anthem is played.” And I'll sit down and write something briefly and I hope touchingly. And deliver it sincerely.
I go to Yankee Stadium two hours before game time and check the lineups. At one o'clock or seven o’clock, I get a signal from the sound man and he says: “Mr. Sheppard, the lineups.” And that starts it.
I know every name and uniform number and work diligently to pronounce each name correctly. My favorite name to pronounce? Mickey Mantle. For many reasons. It is a great name for a baseball player and for a speech professor to say. “Mickey Mantle” -- it has alliteration. It has the good quality of “M” and “N” and “T” and “L” It runs very nicely.
BROOKS ROBINSON: Doing Baltimore’s games on television from ‘78 to ‘93, I made a lot of trips to Yankee Stadium and got to know Bob Sheppard. “Bro oks Rob in son” is how he said my name.
PAUL DOHERTY: Bob would pronounce it, "Brooks RobINson." However, if Frank Robinson was also in the lineup with Brooks (which he usually was from 1966 to71) Sheppard may have pronounced it, "BROOKS RobINson" to differentiate it from "Frank RobINson." That's the sort of careful attention Bob paid so the fans could differentiate between the players who shared the same last names.
ROLLIE FINGERS: He pronounced my name "RAW-lee Fin-gers." It was a great to hear your name on the loudspeaker there – that’s for sure.
BOB SHEPPARD: For years and years, nobody knew my face and I could walk around the stadium with 50,000 people and never be recognized. But after a few television shows and movies, such as Billy Crystal’s ‘61*,’ wherein my voice was heard, I became better known.
On July 8, 2000 , the Yankees and Mets met in an unusual day and night doubleheader. Game one was at Shea Stadium, and the second game was scheduled for Yankee Stadium.
In the second inning, Rogers Clemens beaned Mets’ catcher Mike Piazza in the head, sending him to the ground with a concussion and onto the disabled list. That turned up the heat in an already heated New York-New York baseball rivalry.
Clemens-Piazza was topic “A” for fans of both teams as the Yankees and Mets met for the first time ever in the World Series. It was the first Subway Series in New York City since 1956. Billy Joel sang the national anthem before Game One on October 21st at Shea Stadium, and Don Larsen threw out the first pitch. The Yankees won in 12 innings, 4-3. The next day, Robert Merrill sang the national anthem, and Phil Rizzuto and Whitey Ford threw out the first pitches.
Roger Clemens started Game two. With what happened earlier in the season between him and Piazza, the media buildup made the mood at Yankee Stadium electric with anticipation as to what would happen when they faced each other.
Clemens versus Piazza. Two quick inside strikes on the Mets’ catcher. The next pitch was also inside – backing Piazza off the plate. The noise level rose throughout the Stadium.
Clemens threw again and Piazza fouled off the ball, shattering his bat. The ball skipped into the Yankee dugout. Piazza, unaware of where the ball had gone, began to run down the first base line. Clemens picked up a piece of the shattered bat and threw it, it seemed, at Piazza. The wood almost made contact with an angered Piazza, who headed slowly toward Clemens.
--GARY COHEN(WFAN)
Broken bat, foul ball off to the right side. And the barrel of the bat, came out to Clemens and he picked it up and threw it back at Piazza! I don't know what Clemens had in mind!!
RUSS COHEN: Met fans screamed that Clemens threw at Piazza. Yankee fans screamed that he didn’t. People were pretty charged up. There was a moment when I looked at my wife and thought I hope nothing happens here. Tempers were going in the bleachers. But nothing did happen.
The Yankee and Met benches cleared. There was some cursing, some milling about, some posturing. No fighting. Later, Piazza said he approached Clemens. “I kept asking him, ‘What’s your problem; what is your problem?' I didn’t get a response. I didn’t know what to think.”
Clemens later said he was "fielding" the broken bat, that he had mistaken for the baseball.
The umpires ruled that there was no intent on the part of Clemens to hit Piazza and the game continued. Piazza grounded out.
Clemens and the Yankees ruled that night. “The Rocket” wound up hurling eight scoreless innings. The Mets did rally for five runs in the ninth inning against the Yankee bullpen, but came up just short. The home team were 6-5 winners and moved on to win the Series in five. The Yankees joined the 1972-1974 Oakland Athletics as the first team to be World Series victors three straight years.
The burly Clemens would be one of the big Yankee stories throughout 2001. He was salaried at $10,300,000.00, the third highest on a Yankee payroll for the season of $109,791,893. On August 15th he became the first hurler in 32 years to post a 16-1 record. Then on September 5th the “Rocket” won his fifth straight, setting a Yankee record and becoming baseball's first 19-1 pitcher in 89 years.
New Baseball Hall of Famer Dave Winfield, who had enjoyed his time in the spotlight, was honored at the Stadium on August 18, 2001; however, his number was not retired.
In one of those ironies of baseball, Mike Mussina took the mound on September 2nd against David Cone who had pitched a perfect game for the Yankees and now toiled for their hated rivals, the Red Sox. Through eight innings, the “Moose” was doing what Cone had done two years before -- pitch a perfect game. No hits, no walks. Just a lot of tension.
Top of the ninth, Mussina and the Yanks clung to a 1-0 lead. Troy O'Leary, hitting for Shea Hillenbrand, smacked a liner that Clay Bellinger, playing first base, dove for. The toss to Mussina. One out.
Later Mussina said, "I thought maybe this time it was going to happen considering that I thought that ball was through for sure."
Mussina then fanned Merloni. Carl Everett pinch hit for Joe Oliver. He was all that stood in the way of the perfect game. The moody vet fouled off the first serve. He swung and missed the second pitch. The third pitch was a ball. Everett lifted the fourth pitch, a high fastball, to left-center. Running at full speed Chuck Knoblauch and Bernie Williams did their best to try and catch it. But the ball dropped in – base hit.
Trot Nixon grounded out to end the game. And Mussina, with the one-hitter and the win, pumped his fist less than forcefully. His teammates ran out onto the field celebrating what he had done.
“I've never been part of a no-hitter before as an opponent,” Everett said. “It was very satisfying to get the hit. It was very satisfying to hit the high fastball.”
“It was just a phenomenal game,” said Mussina. “I was disappointed, I'm still disappointed. But the perfect game just wasn't meant to be.”

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Harvey Frommer is his 33rd consecutive year of writing sports books. The author of 40 of them including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball," his REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published September 1, 2008 as well as a reprint version of his "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball.". Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed. FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in excess of one million and appears on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.

Harvey Frommer "Dartmouth's own Mr. Baseball" Dartmouth Alumni Magazine HarveyFrommerSports.com/ Remembering Yankee Stadium http://www.hnabooks.com/images/sites/9/redirects/yankees/

"Outstanding"ROGER KAHN/"Spectacular"FOX SPORTS.COM/

"Essential keepsake"TIMEOUT NY/

"Stunning"NY ONE/

"A must.Grandslammer"ESPN/

"Frommer delivers."NY DAILY NEWS/

"One of the finest."BRONX BANTER/

"Glorious"WFAN/

"Best one."XM RADIO/

"Nostalgic"BOOKPAGE/

"Must Have"PINSTRIPE PRESS/

"Masterpiece."BOY OF SUMMER/

"Classic,Bible of Yanke Stadium books"CBS RADIO/

"Beats any Yankee Book hands down." "BEHIND BOMBERS.com/

"Brilliantly,beautifully documents."BLOG RADIO/

"Amazing"SPORTSOLOGY/

"Marvelous"NJ JEWISH NEWS/

"Definitive"ST.PAUL PIONEER PRESS/

"Rewarding prose"SPORTS ILLUSTRATED/

"Photopanorama" HISTORYWIRE/"

Best book by best writer."SARS.FM

"Spectacular."MSN/

"Frommer has outdone himself" BLEACHER REPORT/

"Most notable." OKLAHOMAN/

"Great gift Book"/RIVER AVE.BLUES/

"Definitive"DUGOUT CENTRAL/

"A holiday gift book of year"USA TODAY/

The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2009 and other sports reads

Its sub-title proclaims: “Timeless commentary. Innovative stats. Great Baseball writing.”
And as they say it ain’t bragging if you can back it up. And “The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2009” (Acta Sports, $21.95, 380 pages, paper) backs it up page after page with new articles (40 new essays), team by team stats and graphs, reports on some of the hottest issues in baseball, number crunching and more number crunching, and lots of attention paid to the Tampa Rays and rightfully so.

“The Hardball Times” started life as a website focused on baseball writing and lucky for everyone then evolved into this book format. For the long winter and into the spring, this a book to keep by your side, for reading, browsing, finding.

“Life Is More Than 9 Innings” by Frank Sullivan (Editions Limited,$18.00, 197 pages, paper) is a real winner focused as it is with honesty on the eight year career the 6’7” right-hander had with the Red Sox in the 50s. A two time All Star, a member of the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame, “Sully” can spin a tale very well. We are there with him on and off the playing field along with such as Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky, Jackie Jensen Mickey Mantle, Frank Malzone and a host of others. A signed book is $23.00 including postage. Checks to Frank Sullivan P.O. Box 1873 , Lihue, HI 96766.

Gridiron tomes abound at this time of year and a quartette of especially interesting ones include: “Passing Game” by Murray Greenberg, about how Benny Friedman helped to transform the game of football (Public Affairs, $26.95, 358 pages), “Giants Among Men” by Jack Cavanaugh (Random House,$26.00, 315 pages) and two on the 1958 championship game between the Giants and Colts – “The Best Game Ever” by Mark Bowden (Atllantic Monthly Press, $23.00, 272 pages) and “The Glory Game” by Frank Gifford with Peter Richmond (HarperCollins, $25, 95, 285 pages).

Taken together these four football books contribute insights, appreciations and new awarenesses of just a small part of the large and entertaining universe of the game of football.

Harvey Frommer is his 33rd consecutive year of writing sports books. The author of 40 of them including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball," his REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published in September as well as a reprint version of his "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball.".

Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed. FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in excess of one million and appears on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.

Remembering Yankee Stadium: THE TWENTIES

(For your reading pleasure adapted from REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM: AN ORAL AND NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE THAT RUTH BUILT, on sale everywhere, buy it now)
BOB SHEPPARD: I went a bit in my early teens to Yankee Stadium with a group of fellows from my neighborhood in Queens. And believe it or not the one player who played first base for the St. Louis Browns caught my eye – his name was George Sisler. Left-handed, graceful and a phenomenal hitter. And since I was a first baseman myself, I thought 'That’s my idol: George Sisler.'
The man who would become the idol of Japanese baseball fans, Babe Ruth gave some of their navy officers a thrill in the spring of 1927. Their ships were docked in New York harbor and some of the officers were invited up to the Bronx as guests of the Yankees. Babe Ruth popped two homers, one a bases-loaded job. The officers were much taken with the huge slugger; they had never seen anyone before hit a baseball the way the Babe did.

Seven years later when in 1934, the Sultan of Swat tooled about in Japan, he was a super hero. Some called him “Father of Japanese baseball." Others called him “Baby Roos!” And it all started at Yankee Stadium.

It all started for Bill Werber at Yankee Stadium, too.

BILL WERBER: The great Yankee scout Paul Krichell gave me a good deal to become a member of the Yankees after my freshman year at Duke in 1927. I had a uniform and a locker by myself. I stayed downtown at the Colonial Hotel with a coach by the name of O'Leary. I took the train uptown and got off across from the Stadium at the 161st Street stop. It was maybe a half an hour ride.
Yankee Stadium was enormous. It was immaculate. I was somewhat awed. I was told by Paul Krichell to stay as close to the manager Miller Huggins as I could. Sometimes I was very close . He was really hands on. He didn’t miss a trick.

The clubhouse didn't have any food, and there wasn't anything to drink other than water. The secretary Mark Roth used to come in and place an envelope on the seat in front of every player's locker. One of the players would usually get Ruth's envelope, slit it open, and paste the check which was for about $7500 on the mirror where the fellows combed their hair. The Babe was usually the last player to arrive for a game, and he would take the check off the mirror and put it in his pocket and take it out onto the field with him.

I was a stranger in their territory. They were rough, a hard-nosed, tobacco-chewing crew. If I got in at shortstop to field a ball in batting practice they would run me out. Some player would say: "Get out of here kid." When I would go to the outfield, some player would yell: "Get out of here kid." And I never had a chance to get into the batting cage.

The whole experience in 1927 was not that much of a thrill for me. After I was there for about a month, I told Mr. Barrow, the general manager, that I had made a bad decision and I was leaving the Yankees. One that I felt bad about leaving was Pete Sheehy; he was a good fellow, not much older than me, maybe younger.

RON SWOBODA: Pete Sheehy had started in the clubhouse as a boy working with the 1927 Yankees. He told me how Babe Ruth would come in and say: “Petey, give me a bi (bicarbonate of soda)."

A Yankee culture created by manager Miller Huggins was always in place. The little pilot was like a school teacher, training each member of the team. Players had to report for games at 10:00 at the Stadium - - to sign in, not to practice, a move designed to reduce late night ribaldry. Blackslapping was frowned upon as were flamboyant displays, noisemaking, razzing of opponents.

The 1927 Yankees were a symbol of their time – power and dash. But a rival to their throne was Charles Lindbergh, the daring aviator who had flown solo round-trip across the Atlantic.
On June 16th he was scheduled to be an honored guest at Yankee Stadium. Three field boxes were painted and primed for him and other dignitaries. Extra police patrolled the aisles all over the park. But game time approached, and there was no “Lucky Lindy.”

Fifteen thousand fans who'd come to see the game with St. Louis were antsy. Umpire George Hildebrand held up the first pitch for almost a half hour. Finally, at 3:55 P.M., he decided he could and would wait no more and yelled out: “Play ball!”

"I feel a homer coming on,” Babe Ruth said. “My left ear itches. That’s a sure sign. I had been saving that homer for Lindbergh and then he doesn't show up. I guess he thinks this is a twilight league."

First at bat of the game, the Babe hit his 22nd homer, half way up in the bleachers in left centerfield. It came off 31-year-old southpaw Tom Zachary. The Bambino would hit a much more significant shot late in the season off that same Zachary.

The Yankees romped, 8-1, over the sad sack Browns
The next day’s headlines in The Times declared :

“LINDBERGH GOT TO PARIS ON TIME BUT WAS MORE THAN AN HOUR LATE TO SEE BABE RUTH HIT A HOME RUN YESTERDAY” ….

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Harvey Frommer is his 33rd consecutive year of writing sports books. The author of 40 of them including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball," his REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published in September as well as a reprint version of his "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball.". Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed. FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in excess of one million and appears on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.

For this holiday season, give and get - - the best baseball gift book of the year:

For this holiday season, give and get - - the best baseball gift book of the year:

*Remembering Yankee Stadium(Definitive Book)

on Amazon, Barnes and Noble or autographed direct from the author

Harvey Frommer

The book has received raves from all over and from us:
http://www.hnabooks.com/images/sites/9/redirects/yankees/

"New & Notable" Amazon.com/
"Outstanding performance"ROGER KAHN/

"Spectacular"FOX SPORTS.COM/

"Essential keepsake"TIMEOUT NY/

"Stunning"NY ONE/

"A must.Grand slammer."ESPN/

"Frommer delivers."NY DAILY NEWS/

"One of the finest." BRONX BANTER/

"Glorious oral history."WFAN/

"Best one.Great book"XM RADIO/

"Absolute classic"CBS RADIO/

"Beats any Yankee Book hands down."BEHIND BOMBERS.COM/ "Brilliantly,beautifully documents."BLOG RADIO/

"Amazing"SPORTSOLOGY/

"Mother of all look backs."TBS SPORTS/

"Marvelous"NJ JEWISH NEWS/

"Definitive"ST.PAUL PIONEER PRESS/

"Must Have"PINSTRIPE PRESS/

"Rewarding prose." Sports Illustrated/

"Photopanorama"HISTORYWIRE.COM/

"Best book on best ball park by best writer." SARS-FM/

"Spectacular." MSN/

"Amazing,mesmerizing" MLB HOME PLATE XM

BOOK REVIEW"YANKEE FOR LIFE" & other reads

As we round third base in 2008 and head for home and 2009, there are all kinds of sports books out there vying for one's attention. Some are by big name authors and publishers; others are more modest entries. All have something of value."Yankee For Life" by the late Bobby Murcer with Glen Waggoner (HarperCollins, $24.95, 322 pages) is the bittersweet tale of a 17-year-major leaguer who was looked upon by many as the next Mickey Mantle.Murcer never met that promise but he was a fan favorite, especially Yankee fans. His post-career life was spent in the broadcasting booth where his sense of humor and Oklahoma drawl and knowledge of the game earned him three Emmys as one of the voices of the Yankees. Tragically, on Christmas Eve 2006, the affable Murcer was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. His recent passing saddened millions. "Yankee For Life" is his story told honestly, humorously and unflinchingly. Josh Hamilton's "Beyond Belief" with Tim Keown (Faith Words, $23.95, 257 pages) is the uplifting story of one of the most talented players n the big leagues today who came back from four years of struggle with drug addiction, suspensions, very down times. The book's sub-title is "finding the strength to come back" and that is what Hamilton is all about. Bill James is at it again and those into his kind of work will be elated. From Acta Sports, priced at $23.95, 506 pages, paper), the "Bill James Handbook" is a mother and father lode of relevant and up to date stats on every major league team, player and manager through 2008.From Triumph comes two books focused on similar approaches with different subject matter. "Then Bud Said to Barry Who Told Bob..." by Jeff Snook (Triumph Books, $22.95, 284 pages, includes CD) is a collection of Oklahoma Sooner gridiron tales. "Then Osborne Said to Rozier..." by Steve Richardson (Triumph, $22.95, 200 pages, includes CD) is a slimmer collection of stories - these about Nebraska Cornhusker football. For fans of these teams - the books are a must.

HIGHLY NOTABLE: For fans of basketball comes new film "The First Basket" that carefully evokes the history of Jews and basketball at the beginning of the 20th century. Ossie Schectman, a Jewish kid from Brooklyn , made the first basket for the New York Knickerbockers back in 1946 in a league that preceded the NBA. The film showcases this and all kinds of other little known facts and events showing the unusual connection between Jews and basketball. Director David Vyorst has done a brilliant job. There are screenings in New York City at: http://www.villageeastcinema.com/angelika_index.asp?hiD=166> EAST CINEMAIn Los Angeles: <http://www.laemmle.com/> Laemmle's Town Center,Encino <http://www.laemmle.com/viewtheatre.php?thid=8> LAEMMLE'S Fallbrook 7 in West Hills ======================================================================
Harvey Frommer is his 33rd consecutive year of writing sports books. The author of 40 of them including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball," his REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published in 2008 as well as a reprint version of his "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball." Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed. FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in excess of one million and appears on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.

Harvey Frommer "Dartmouth's own Mr. Baseball" Dartmouth Alumni Magazine/ HARVEYFROMMERSPORTS.COMREMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM (Definitive Book) "New & Notable" Amazon.com http://www.hnabooks.com/images/sites/9/redirects/yankees/

"Outstanding performance" ROGER KAHN/"Spectacular"FOX SPORTS.COM/"Essential keepsake"TIMEOUT NY/"Stunning oral history"NY ONE/"A must. Grand slammer."ESPN/"Frommer delivers."NY DAILY NEWS/"One of the finest."BRONXBANTER/"Glorious oral history."WFAN/"Best one.Great book"XM RADIO/"Absolute classic"CBS RADIO/"Beats any Yankee Book hands down"BEHIND.BOMBERS.COM/"Brilliantly, beautifully documments."BLOGRADIO "Dead solid perfect"/"Amazing details "SPORTSOLOGY/"Mother of all look backs."TBS SPORTS/"Marvelous"NJ JEWISHNEWS/"Definitive"ST.PAUL PIONEER PRESS/"Masterpiece."BOY OF SUMMER/"Must Have"PINSTRIPE PRESS/"Rewarding,grounded prose "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED"Photopanorama"HISTORYWIRE.COM/"Most excellent."EYE ON SPORTSMEDIA/"Spectacular"MSN/

YANKEE STADIUM FIRSTS (a very partial list)

As the days draw closer to a precious few for Yankee Stadium, herewith some “firsts” on the big ballpark in the Bronx that has been with us since 1923.
First regular season game at Yankee Stadium, April 18, 1923, a 4-1 win over Boston.
First pitch thrown in Yankee Stadium, Bob Shawkey, Yankees, April 18, 1923.
First batter at Yankee Stadium, Chick Fewster, Red Sox April 18, 1923.
First hit at Yankee Stadium, George Burns, Red Sox April 18, 1923, second inning single.
First Yankee hit at Yankee Stadium, Aaron Ward April 18, 3rd-inning single.
First error, Babe Ruth, April 18, dropped fly ball in 5th inning.
First home run in Yankee Stadium, Babe Ruth hits a two-run shot in third inning off Boston's Howard Ehmke in a 4-1 Yankee victory, April 18, 1923.
First Yankee winning pitcher in World Series, Joe Bush, October 14, 1923.
First loss at Yankee Stadium, 4-3 to Washington , April 22, 1923.
First World Series game in Yankee Stadium, first one heard on a nationwide radio network, October 10, 1923.
First World Series home run at Yankee Stadium, Casey Stengel of the New York Giants hit an inside-the-park shot in Game 1 of the 1923 World Series.
First player to have his number retired, Lou Gehrig, #4, on Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day, July 4, 1939.
First night game at Yankee Stadium, May 28, 1946, a 2-1 loss to Washington.
First World Series pinch-hit home run, Yogi Berra against the Brooklyn Dodgers, Game 3 of the 1947 World Series.
First rookie to get two hits in one inning, Billy Martin, in a nine-run, eighth-inning rally at Fenway Park, April 18, 1950.
First Yankee Stadium day game completed with lights, August 29, 1950.
First Yankees game behind the microphone for Bob Sheppard, April 17, 1951, New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox.
First home game outside of Yankee Stadium since 1922, April 6, 1974, as the Yanks begin playing the first of two seasons at Shea Stadium.
First home run at refurbished Yankee Stadium, Dan Ford of Minnesota, April 15, 1976.
First Yankee winning pitcher at refurbished Yankee Stadium, Dick Tidrow, April 15, 1976.
First home run by a Yankee at refurbished stadium, Thurman Munson, April 17, 1976.
First championship series game at Yankee Stadium, October 12, 1976, a 5-3 win over Kansas City.
First World Series game played by Yankees at night, October 17, 1976, at Cincinnati, a 4-3 loss to Reds.
First night World Series game at Yankee Stadium, October 19, 1976, a 6-2 loss to Cincinnati.
First team to host both the All Star Game and World Series in the same season, 1977.
First pitcher to throw a regular-season perfect game at Yankee Stadium, David Wells May 17, 1998.
First time a U.S. President visits Yankee Stadium during the World Series, George W. Bush, who threw out the first ball, Game 3, October 30, 2001
First November World Series Game, November 1, 2001, Yankees beat Arizona Diamondbacks, 3-2, at the Stadium.
First team in postseason history to win two straight games when trailing after eight innings, 2001 World Series, games four and five.

*Adapted from the just published REMEMBERING YANKE STADIUUM: AN ORAL AND NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE THAT RUTH BUILT

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Harvey Frommer is his 33rd consecutive year of writing sports books. The author of 40 of them including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball," his REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published September 1, 2008 as well as a reprint version of his "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball.".
Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed.

---

FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in excess of one million and appears on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.

Harvey Frommer "Dartmouth's own Mr. Baseball" Dartmouth Alumni Magazine/ HARVEYFROMMERSPORTS.COMREMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM (Definitive Book) "New & Notable" Amazon.com http://www.hnabooks.com/images/sites/9/redirects/yankees/

"Outstanding performance" ROGER KAHN/"Spectacular"FOX SPORTS.COM/"Essential keepsake"TIMEOUT NY/"Stunning oral history"NY ONE/"A must. Grand slammer."ESPN/"Frommer delivers."NY DAILY NEWS/"One of the finest."BRONXBANTER/"Glorious oral history."WFAN/"Best one.Great book"XM RADIO/"Absolute classic"CBS RADIO/"Beats any Yankee Book hands down"BEHIND.BOMBERS.COM/"Brilliantly, beautifully documments."BLOGRADIO "Dead solid perfect"/"Amazing details "SPORTSOLOGY/"Mother of all look backs."TBS SPORTS/"Marvelous"NJ JEWISHNEWS/"Definitive"ST.PAUL PIONEER PRESS/"Masterpiece."BOY OF SUMMER/"Must Have"PINSTRIPE PRESS/"Rewarding,grounded prose "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED"Photopanorama"HISTORYWIRE.COM/"Most excellent."EYE ON SPORTSMEDIA/"Spectacular"MSN/

Remembering Yankee Stadium: THE THIRTIES

(For your reading pleasure adapted from REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM: AN ORAL AND NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE THAT RUTH BUILT, on sale everywhere, buy it now)

The tradition of honoring their legends at Yankee Stadium started on Memorial Day of 1932 when a monument for Miller Huggins, the little manager who had passed away at age of 51 on September 25, 1929, was placed in deep center field, Its inscription reads "A splendid character who made priceless contributions to baseball.” Monuments would later be erected for Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth. Others would follow.

Located in straightaway centerfield, they were part of the playing field, standing near the flagpole about ten feet before the wall. There were times when long drives rolled behind the monuments, and retrieving the ball became an odd and “ghoulish” task for an outfielder jockeying around the “gravestones.”

On June 23, 1932 Gehrig had played in his 1,103rd straight game. Less than a year later the streak was at 1,249 straight when he and manager Joe McCarthy were tossed out of out of the game for arguing with the umpire. The Yankee manager was given a three game suspension. Gehrig played on. On August 17, 1933 Gehrig broke the record of playing in 1,308 straight games set by Everett Scott.

October 1, 1933 was the final game of the season. Attempting to draw fans for a meaningless contest in the depths of the Great Depression, the Yankees gave Ruth a pitching start. Babe’s appearance attracted 20,000 fans, more than doubling the attendance of the day before. The thirty-eight-year-old pitched a complete game, nipping his old Boston team, 6-5. He also batted cleanup, went 1-for-3 with a home run. It was the last game he pitched, his fifth since he joined the Yankees 13 years earlier.

During the 1934 season, Lou Gehrig’s failing health became evident to all. The problem was diagnosed as lumbago. On July 13, 1934, his pain became so severe in the first inning of a game against Detroit, he had to be assisted off the field. The next day, listed first in the Yankee batting order and penciled in to play shortstop, the "Iron Horse" singled in his first at bat but was then replaced by a pinch runner.

September 24, 1934 was the Babe’s last game as a player in “the “House That Ruth Built,“ a sad and poignant day for him and his many fans. Twenty-four thousand were there, including many youngsters in “Ruthville.” In three at bats, he went hitless. Disappointed and dejected that his fabulous career in pinstripes was over, he could never imagine how his name and legend would gain more and more luster as the years passed. Today a Google search for "Babe Ruth" results in millions of hits. A Sotheby's auction of his 1919 contract netted $996,000. . . .

Harvey Frommer is his 33rd consecutive year of writing sports books. The author of 40 of them including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball," his REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published in September 2008 as well as a reprint version of his "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball.". Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed. FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in excess of one million and appears on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.

---

Harvey Frommer "Dartmouth's own Mr. Baseball" Dartmouth Alumni Magazine/ HARVEYFROMMERSPORTS.COMREMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM (Definitive Book) "New & Notable" Amazon.com http://www.hnabooks.com/images/sites/9/redirects/yankees/
"Outstanding performance" ROGER KAHN/"Spectacular"FOX SPORTS.COM/"Essential keepsake"TIMEOUT NY/"Stunning oral history"NY ONE/"A must. Grand slammer."ESPN/"Frommer delivers."NY DAILY NEWS/"One of the finest."BRONXBANTER/"Glorious oral history."WFAN/"Best one.Great book"XM RADIO/"Absolute classic"CBS RADIO/"Beats any Yankee Book hands down"BEHIND.BOMBERS.COM/"Brilliantly, beautifully documments."BLOGRADIO "Dead solid perfect"/"Amazing details "SPORTSOLOGY/"Mother of all look backs."TBS SPORTS/"Marvelous"NJ JEWISHNEWS/"Definitive"ST.PAUL PIONEER PRESS/"Masterpiece."BOY OF SUMMER/"Must Have"PINSTRIPE PRESS/"Rewarding,grounded prose "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED"Photopanorama"HISTORYWIRE.COM/"Most excellent."EYE ON SPORTSMEDIA/"Spectacular"MSN/

THE BOOK REVIEW: SPAHN, SAIN and TEDDY BALLGAME & other intriguing reads

The prolific Bill Nowlin is at it again. "Spahn, Sain and Teddy Ballgame" edited by the Boston baseball sage (Rounder Books, paper) is focused on a corner of Boston baseball history - a season when the Braves won the pennant and the Red Sox lost a one game play-off game to the Indians and missed out on meeting their cross-town-rival in the World Series.

Filled with information, many photographs never before seen, with bios and insights into legends like Ted Williams, Warren Spahn, Johnny Sain, Dom DiMaggio and other not so well known figures who played for the Sox and Braves, SPAHN, SAIN and TEDDY BALLGAME is must reading for Hub baseball fans and will provide lots of hours of top reading for all sports fans. It is a special book about a special summer.

An exquisite look at the last game of Craig Biggio "The Final Game" (photographs by Michael Hart, Bright Sky Press, 106 oversized pages) is a fitting tribute to the long time Houston baseball star. Fans of the Astros superstar will want this book as a keepsake. "Benchclearing" by Spike Vrusho (Lyons Press, $16.95, 298 pages, paper) is a survey of battles, pushing, shoving and spitting matches through the years in major league baseball.

With the NYC Marathon upon us - -what better book to have than "A Rave Like no Other" by Liz Robbins (HarperCollins, $24.95, 336 pages). In depth, weaving her carefully crafted narrative with the stories of so many diverse runners, The New York Times sportswriter tells in splendid prose the exciting tale of the 26.2 mile journey that thousands and thousands through the years have taken through the streets of the Big Apple. Highly recommended.

"How Football Explains America" by Sal Paolantonio (Triumph, $24.95, 211 pages) is an interesting attempt focusing on many known items but packaging them in such a way that a lively little tome has been created shedding light on the gridiron sport's grip on all of us. If you want Paolantonio's up close and personal ruminations of why we love football so much this is the book for you.

More football reading but more biographical is "The Genius" by David Harris (Random House, $26.00, 385 pages). At once a personal story and also as the sub-title proclaims a book about "How Bill Walsh Reinvented Football and Created an NFL Dynasty" - this work is a winner especially for fans of the 49ers. The team has fallen on hard times but to read "The Genius" is to be transported into another era, a golden one.
=========================================================================
Harvey Frommer, now in his 33rd consecutive year of writing sports books, is the author of 40 of them including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Red Sox Vs Yankee: The Great Rivalry." Frommer's REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) an oral/narrative history was published in September 2008 as a reprint version of his SHOELESS JOE AND RAGTIME BASEBALL.
Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed.
FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in the millions and appears on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.

Harvey Frommer "Dartmouth's own Mr. Baseball" Dartmouth Alumni Magazine/ HARVEYFROMMERSPORTS.COM
REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM (Definitive Book) "New & Notable" Amazon.com http://www.hnabooks.com/images/sites/9/redirects/yankees/

"Outstanding performance" ROGER KAHN/
"Spectacular"FOX SPORTS.COM/
"Essential keepsake"TIMEOUT NY/
"Stunning oral history"NY ONE/
"A must. Grand slammer."ESPN/
"Frommer delivers."NY DAILY NEWS/
"One of the finest."BRONXBANTER/
"Glorious oral history."WFAN/
"Best one.Great book"XM RADIO/
"Absolute classic"CBS RADIO/
"Beats any Yankee Book hands down"BEHIND.BOMBERS.COM/
"Brilliantly, beautifully documments."BLOGRADIO "Dead solid perfect"/"Amazing details "SPORTSOLOGY/
"Mother of all look backs."TBS SPORTS/
"Marvelous"NJ JEWISHNEWS/
"Definitive"ST.PAUL PIONEER PRESS/
"Masterpiece."BOY OF SUMMER/
"Must Have"PINSTRIPE PRESS/
"Rewarding,grounded prose "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED"
Photopanorama"HISTORYWIRE.COM/
"Most excellent."EYE ON SPORTSMEDIA/
"Spectacular"MSN/

Remembering Yankee Stadium: THE NINETIES

(For your reading pleasure adapted from REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM: AN ORAL AND NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE THAT RUTH BUILT, on sale everywhere, buy it now)

Back when he assumed principal ownership of the New York Yankees on January 3, 1973, Steinbrenner had said, "We plan absentee ownership as far as running the Yankees is concerned. I won't be active in the day-to-day operations of the club at all. I've got enough headaches with my shipping company.”

As things turned out, however, he was anything but hands off. That is, until July 30, 1990, when he was forced to surrender control of the Yankees. He was banned from baseball for life by Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent for alleged payments he made to a gambler in New York City seeking to gain damaging info on outfielder Dave Winfield.

When the news of the banning reached the fans that day in Yankee Stadium, they chanted: “No more George.” They had had enough of “the Boss” for a while. Denied access to his spacious office at Yankee Stadium where a favorite pillow proclaimed: “Give me a bastard with talent,” Steinbrenner in exile was “the Big Guy in the Sky,” the man who wasn’t there but who really was watching things play out through the 1990 season.

His presence or absence seemed to make little difference to the 1990 team whose season was largely a disaster. There were some high points like the time during an August 2nd game when rookie first baseman Kevin Maas hammered his 10th home run in just 77 at bats, the fastest any player reached that mark. The Stadium's short right-field porch seemed tailor-made for the southpaw swinger, and Maas finished 1990 with 21 home runs in only 254 at-bats. But he was the exception for that squad rather than the rule - -the team finished dead last in batting average, a pathetic .241.

The 1990 Yankees had but one starting pitcher who won more than seven games, nine-game winner Tim Leary. But he also lost 19 before Stump Merrill showed some pity and took him out of the rotation. When the season mercifully came to a close, the Yanks wound up 21 games behind Boston in the AL East, the first time during Steinbrenner’s time that his team finished in last place. One had to go back to 1913 to find a Yankee team with a lower winning percentage. Only the Yankees of 1908 and 1912 lost more games. Ironically, the Stadium box office registers just kept on ringing. The Bombers drew a healthy 2,006,436 to the big park in the Bronx.
A survivor, “Stump” Merrill lasted through 1991 as field boss of the Yankees. Among the dubious and memorable moments of the season was the 479 foot homer Seattle's Jay Buhner hammered over the left-field bullpen, the shelling of Oakland outfielder Jose Canseco by Yankee fans who pelted him with assorted objects like an inflatable doll‚ a cabbage head, and a transistor radio among other objects, and the honoring of Joe DiMaggio on the 50th anniversary of his 56 game hitting streak.

RICH MARAZZI: During the pre game introductions players were brought out to the first and third base lines, and I, as one of the four umpires working the Old Timers’ game, was called out to the home plate area. I remained there through the introductions. When the national anthem ended, I walked over to DiMaggio.
“Joe, thanks for the memories,” I said.
Whenever DiMaggio saw me with a press tag around my neck, he was tentative. But whenever he saw me in my umpire’s uniform, he would put his hand out to me, like we were old buddies. And that's what he did this day.
I met my childhood heroes - Ned Garver, Mickey Mantle, Mike Garcia -- the former top pitcher. I always wanted to meet Mike. I found him in a locker stall, giving himself dialysis treatment. He was half the size he was when he pitched. I had a nice interview with him.
I umpired second base most of the time but did get to umpire the plate three times. I made sure my son would warm me up during the week so my arm would not turn on me when I had to throw the ball back to the pitcher.

The 1991 Yankees finished with a 71-91 record, 20 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays, in fifth place. The team results were less pathetic than the ’90 season, but still underwhelming. Attendance at the Stadium dropped to 1,863,733, placing the Yankees 11th out of 14 American League teams. Average attendance per game was just 23,009.

By 1992, Stump Merrill was gone, replaced by 36-year-old Buck Showalter. He had progressed from “Eye in the Sky” to third base coach to hitting coach to manager. The losing ways continued for the fourth season in a row. Ten games below .500, the Yanks finished 20 games behind first place Toronto in the AL East, but there was some incremental progress - for the first time since 1987, they finished (tied) in fourth place. . . .
=========================================================================
Harvey Frommer is his 33rd consecutive year of writing sports books. The author of 40 of them including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball," his REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published September 1, 2008 as well as a reprint version of his "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball.". Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed. FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in excess of one million and appears on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.

Harvey Frommer "Dartmouth's own Mr. Baseball" Dartmouth Alumni Magazine/ HARVEYFROMMERSPORTS.COM

REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM (Definitive Book) "New & Notable" Amazon.com http://www.hnabooks.com/images/sites/9/redirects/yankees/

"Outstanding performance" ROGER KAHN

"Spectacular" FOX SPORTS.COM

"Essential keepsake" TIMEOUT NY

"Stunning oral history"NY ONE

"A must. Grand slammer."ESPN

"Frommer delivers."NY DAILY NEWS

"One of the finest."BRONXBANTER

"Glorious oral history."WFAN

"Best one.Great book"XM RADIO

"Absolute classic"CBS RADIO

"Beats any Yankee Book hands down" BEHIND.BOMBERS.COM

"Brilliantly, beautifully documments."BLOGRADIO "Dead solid perfect"

"Amazing details" SPORTSOLOGY

"Mother of all look backs."TBS SPORTS

"Marvelous"NJ JEWISHNEWS

"Definitive"ST.PAUL PIONEER PRESS

"Masterpiece."BOY OF SUMMER

"Must Have"PINSTRIPE PRESS

"Rewarding,grounded prose" SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

"Photopanorama"HISTORYWIRE.COM

"Most excellent."EYE ON SPORTSMEDIA

"Spectacular"MSN

Remembering Yankee Stadium: EIGHTIES

(For your reading pleasure adapted from REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM: AN ORAL AND NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE THAT RUTH BUILT, on sale everywhere, buy it now)

The 1981 World Series was Yankees versus Dodgers, the third match-up between the two storied franchises in five years. A 9-2 win at Yankee Stadium in Game Six gave the world championship to Los Angeles.

KEITH JACKSON (GAME CALL, ABC-TV):
Watson hits it high in the air for the center fielder Ken Landreaux, this should do it...and the Dodgers are the 1981 champions of baseball.

PRESS RELEASE (BOX)
I want to sincerely apologize to the people of New York and to the fans of the New York Yankees everywhere for the performance of the Yankee team in the World Series. I also want to assure you that we will be at work immediately to prepare for 1982. –George Steinbrenner

FRED CLAIRE: Steinbrenner’s apology came in the form of a release which he passed out after we won the series. I though it was strange. The Yankees had given all they could to win. There was really no need to apologize for an all out effort by your team.

“The Boss” did much more than apologize. He kicked ass and rolled heads. He demeaned Dave Winfield, who had managed but one hit in 21 at-bats in the Series. Having signed him to a huge contract, Steinbrenner was furious at "Winny," dubbing him “Mr. May,” a sarcastic reference to Winfield’s peak performance in May and poor performance in the Fall Classic.
On January 22, 1982, Reggie Jackson irritated by Steinbrenner putdowns, signed as a Free Agent with the California Angels.

The commencement of the 1982 season at the Stadium was a hard time coming and as far as Yankee fans were concerned – largely not worth waiting for. Bob Lemon, who had managed the final 25 games in 1981 last only through 14 games in 1982.

On April 6th, almost a foot of snow cancelled Opening Day against Texas and the next game, too. It was April 11th before the ballpark was finally in shape for playing baseball. In recognition of how hard the grounds crew worked to make the field ready, crew chief Jimmy Esposito was given the honor of throwing out the first ball. The Yankees lost both games of an Easter Sunday doubleheader to Chicago. But at least their season was finally underway.
The roster had what Yogi Berra would call “deep depth” with a pitching staff featuring splendid southpaws Ron Guidry, Tommy John, and Dave Righetti. Goose Gossage was a flame-throwing stopper. Still, even with all that talent, the Yankees could not get it going. In June, they were 9 1 /2 games out.

On August 3rd, the White Sox took two from the Yankees at the Stadium and “the Boss” fired Gene Michael, who had replaced Bob Lemon, replacing him with Clyde King.
All season long Steinbrenner kept his circus jumping, seeking quick fixes. Beyond a trio of managers, he went through a merry-go-round of three hitting coaches, five pitching coaches, and 47 players. The chaos and the musical chairs did not make for an environment that suited a winning ball club.

The 1982 Yankees were not a winning club. They ended the season in fifth place, 16 games behind Milwaukee. They would not return to post-season play for the next 13 years. From that season until 1991, with George Steinbrenner having his say and having his way, the Stadium would become a mix and match of players and pilots. Highlighting the mayhem of the era were eleven managerial changes including the hiring and firing of Billy Martin six times. “They know what the bottom line is,” Steinbrenner said. . . .

Harvey Frommer is his 33rd consecutive year of writing sports books. The author of 40 of them including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball," his REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published September 1, 2008 as well as a reprint version of his "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball.". Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed. FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in excess of one million and appears on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.

Harvey Frommer "Dartmouth's own Mr. Baseball" Dartmouth Alumni Magazine//

REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM (Definitive Book)
hear and see http://www.hnabooks.com/images/sites/9/redirects/yankees/

RAVES:
"Outstanding performance" ROGER KAHN/
"Spectacular" FOX SPORTS.COM/
"Essential keepsake" TIME OUT NY/
"Stunning oral history"NY ONE/"
A must. Grand slammer."ESPN/
"Frommer delivers."NY DAILY NEWS/
"Great.Glorious oral history."WFAN/
"Best one.Great book"XM RADIO/"Absolute classic..
"One of the finest products" "CBS-Radio/
"Beats any Yankee Book hands down" BRONXBANTER/
"This Book Was My Constant Companion For Three Days" BEHIND.BOMBERS.COM/
"Dead solid perfect"/BLOGRADIO/
"Amazing details "SPORTSOLOGY/
"Mother of all lookbacks."
"BOOGIEDOWNBASEBALL/"Spectacular"MSN/
"Marvelous "NJ JEWISHNEWS/"Definitive
"ST.PAUL PIONEER PRESS/
"Masterpiece. Broad, detailed, multidimensional."BOY OF SUMMER/
"Must Have" PINSTRIPE PRESS/"
"Rewarding,grounded prose"SPORTS ILLUSTRATED/
"Photo-centric panorama"HISTORY WIRE.COM

Remembering Yankee Stadium: The Seventies

(For your reading pleasure adapted from REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM: AN ORAL AND NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE THAT RUTH BUILT, on sale everywhere, buy it now)

ROLLIE FINGERS: The Stadium bullpen was a good place to watch a ball game from. Sitting on the bench, you would pop your feet up on the fence. If you were hungry you could always give a kid a baseball and he would go and get you a hot dog.

RON SWOBODA: All kinds of things went on in the bullpens. Sometimes we would send out the back door for pizza. There were rumors that some young ladies would occasionally slip in through the back door. I was never involved in any of that, but it was entirely possible.

BILL LEE: The guys who worked at the Stadium, the ones who groomed the area, the ushers, they were the ones to be friendly with. That was how you got your food. You tipped them well and they would bring a pizza, anything.

RON SWOBODA: The folks who used to sit in the bleachers were interesting. You saw the same people every day. They were mostly guys, a bit older, all huge fans. You kind of wondered what they did. You could stand up next to the fence there in right field and just talk to them.

BILL LEE: Moe Drabowsky, who played for Baltimore, as the story goes, would get into the Stadium switchboard. Moe called the Queen of England one time. He called China one time. He called the Vatican.

The 1972 season ended with the Yankees at 79-76 in fourth place in the American League East. Their attendance was a puny 966,328, the only time that decade of the 70s that the Yankees would have a season’s attendance below a million at home.

However, they contended until the middle of September thanks to the superb relief pitching of Lyle and the solid hitting of Bobby Murcer.

TONY FERRARO: Bobby Murcer used to sit in his chair and rock all the time. A friend of mine was in the furniture business. I asked him "Can you send me rocking chair? "
He said "Yeah, where do you want me to send it?"
"Send it to Yankee Stadium."

He sends the rocking chair, and we put it in front of Murcer's locker. "I'm getting tired of seeing you rocking in the chair," I told him. "You need a regular rocking chair." Then one day someone sawed the rockers off it. Who do you think that was? Sparky Lyle. He was a great guy for doing pranks. But Murcer had it fixed and before long, he was rocking again. When he was traded to San Francisco in 1975, he took the rocking chair with him.

On January 3, 1973, a group led by George Steinbrenner III purchased the Yankees from CBS for an estimated ten million dollars, a price called an "astonishing bargain" by some since the City of New York paid more than $1 million for a parking lot as part of the package.

Opening Day of the first year of Steinbrenner’s principal ownership and the last season of the old Yankee Stadium, the Yankees became one of the last Major League clubs to convert to non-flannel uniforms made of polyester. . . .

Harvey Frommer is his 33rd consecutive year of writing sports books. The author of 40 of them including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball," his REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published September 1, 2008 as well as a reprint version of his "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball.". Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed. FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in excess of one million and appears on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.
Harvey Frommer "Dartmouth's own Mr. Baseball" Dartmouth Alumni Magazine//
REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM (Definitive Book)
*****hear and see http://www.hnabooks.com/images/sites/9/redirects/yankees/ ****
+ RAVES:
"Outstanding performance" ROGER KAHN/
"Spectacular" FOX SPORTS.COM/
"Essential keepsake" TIME OUT NY/
"Stunning oral history"NY ONE/
“A must. Grand slammer."ESPN/
"Frommer delivers."NY DAILY NEWS/
"Great.Glorious oral history."WFAN/
"Best one.Great book"XM RADIO/
"Absolute classic.. "One of the finest products"
"CBS-Radio/
"Beats any Yankee Book hands down" BRONXBANTER/
"Brilliantly, beautifully documents" BEHINDTHEBOMBERS.COM/
"Dead solid perfect"/BLOGRADIO/
"Amazing details "SPORTSOLOGY/
"Mother of all lookbacks.” "BOOGIEDOWNBASEBALL/
"Spectacular"MSN/
"Marvelous "NJ JEWISHNEWS/
"Definitive "ST.PAUL PIONEER PRESS/
"Masterpiece. Broad, detailed, multidimensional."BOY OF SUMMER/
"Must Have" PINSTRIPE PRESS/"
"Rewarding,grounded prose"SPORTS ILLUSTRATED/
"Photo-centric panorama"HISTORY WIRE.COM

Remembering Yankee Stadium: Fifties

(For your reading pleasure adapted from REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUUM: AN ORAL AND NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE THAT RUTH BUILT)

The World Series competition for the Yankees in 1951 was the Giants of New York. They had a storybook season, chasing, catching and then conquering their hated rival Brooklyn Dodgers in a one-game play-off on Bobby Thomson’s “Shot Heard ‘Round the World.”

EDDIE LOPAT: All the reporters told us to watch out. “The Giants are hot,” they said. “They beat the Dodgers coming out of nowhere.” We didn’t believe what anybody told us or what they printed in the newspapers. The other teams had to beat us on the field. That was where it counted.

MONTE IRVIN: We were still on a high after beating the Dodgers in 1951 in that playoff game when we went up against the Yankees in the World Series. Without a chance to rest, we reported to the Stadium the next day. I got four straight hits and also stole home in the first inning.

My last time up, Yogi Berra said: “Monte, I don’t know what to throw you. You have been hitting high balls and low balls and curve balls. I’m gonna have you get a fastball right down the middle."
I really didn‘t believe Yogi. But sure enough Reynolds threw me a fastball right down the middle. I hit a line drive. The ball was caught. I really wanted that hit. No one had ever gone five for five in the World Series.

Fielding the first black outfield in World Series history - Hank Thompson, Monte Irvin and Willie Mays - the Giants defeated Allie Reynolds and the Yankees 5-1 with Dave Koslo going the distance for the win.

STEVE SWIRSKY: I was ten years old and a Yankee fan. My dad didn't have a lot of money but he came home one day with two tickets for the second ’51 World Series game.
I remember everything about that day - the smells, the walking around to the little shops, my dad digging deep to buy a cap and a hot dog for me. It almost glowed in my heart 'cause I used to listen to the Yankee games on the radio from all over the country even though there were times I could barely hear it.

We sat down the left field line underneath the overhang - 20 rows back. In those days poles held up the overhang. My seat had an obstructed view. But you know how some women are about little boys . A woman switched seats with me so I could see. It was Willie Mays who hit the fly ball that Mantle, playing right field, chased. Mantle was not the superstar that he was going to be, but there was a big hush when he went down. It seemed like the world stopped.

The 19-year-old Mantle, attempting to avoid a collision with Joe DiMaggio, twisted his ankle in the fifth inning on a sprinkler-head cover protruding from the outfield grass. He lay there, motionless. His right knee had snapped and was he was lost to the Yankees for the rest of the series.
No matter – the Yankees were loaded with talent and though the Giants had momentum, it was another world championship for Stengel’s guys on October 10, 1951 as Vic Raschi bested Dave Koslo, 4-3 before 61,711. That was the last World Series game Joe DiMaggio ever played in.

---

I am at work on my newest effort - - REMEMBERING FENWAY PARK: AN ORAL AND NARRATIVE HISTORY, a companion book to REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM (The Definitive Book) Fall 2008 (Abrams, STC). If you or those you know have specific stories and memories of times (first game, marker moments, oddity) at the Fens - please get in touch with me and hopefully we can set up a date and time for me to interview you. I would appreciate that.

Harvey Frommer is his 33rd consecutive year of writing sports books. The author of 40 of them including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball," his REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published September 1, 2008 as well as a reprint version of his "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball.". Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed. FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in excess of one million and appears on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.

BOOK SIGNING

REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM (THE DEFINITIVE BOOK)
AN ORAL AND NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE THAT RUTH BUILT

Borders 57th and Park Avenue
Friday/ October 10, 7 P.M.

Look & Listen:
http://www.hnabooks.com/images/sites/9/redirects/yankees/
Harvey Frommer "Dartmouth's own Mr. Baseball" Dartmouth Alumni Magazine
***** REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM (Definitive Book) **** wcbsradio http://www.wcbs880.com/topic/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audioId=2910500
http://www.hnabooks.com/images/sites/9/redirects/yankees/

RAVES:"Outstanding performance" ROGER KAHN/ "Spectacular" FOX SPORTS.COM/ "Essential keepsake" TIME OUT NY/ "Stunning oral history " NY ONE/ "Frommer delivers."NY DAILY NEWS/ "Great. Glorious oral history.""WFAN/ "Best one on Stadium.Great book "XM RADIO/ "Absolute classic. Bible of Yankee Stadium books."CBS-Radio/ "One of the finest products"/ BRONXBANTER/ "Beats any Yankee Book hands down" BEHIND.BOMBERS.COM/ "Brilliantly, beautifully documents stadium."BLOGRADIO "Dead solid perfect"/ BOOKREPORTER/ " A must. Grand slammer."ESPN/ "Spectacular" MSN/ "Marvelous photographs,stories"NJ JEWISHNEWS/ "Definitive "ST.PAUL PIONEER PRESS/ "Masterpiece" BOY OF SUMMER "Must Have" PINSTRIPE PRESS/"Amazing detail" SPORTSOLOGY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOHNNY PESKY

It was some years ago when I was at Fenway Park doing research and interviewing for one of my baseball books. My son Fred was then a teenager and he accompanied me to the park dressed in a red sweater and packing his baseball glove -- just in case.
We arrived at the legendary park quite a few hours before game time as is my practice when I am working. Fenway was empty. There was no one in the stands but my son anxious to catch a ball.
I interviewed one player and then another and then interrupted Johnny Pesky who was hitting fungoes and interviewed him. Gracious, enthusiastic, informed, the man they call "Mr. Red Sox" gave me more than the time of day.
So I figured I could impose.
"See that kid in the outfield stands with the red sweater. Could you hit a ball out to him?"
"And if I hit him on the noggin, then what! We are all in trouble."
"You are right," I said, and walked away to interview others.
Minutes later through the empty ballpark I heard my son's voice and saw him running through the stands to the home plate area. He was shouting: "I got it. I got it." And he had a ball in his hand.
Pesky was near me and yelled. "Get me that ball. The kid isn't supposed to have it."
I went over to my son and got the baseball and brought it to Pesky.
"What's your son's name?"
I told him. He autographed the ball "To Fred. Great catch. Johnny Pesky"
Fred is now an AP Correspondent based in DC. He still has the ball.
And wonderfully we still have the baseball treasure Johnny Pesky who gets his Number Six retired and turns 89 on a terrific doubleheader weekend at Fenway Park starting September 26, 2008!

Harvey Frommer is his 33rd consecutive year of writing sports books. The author of 40 of them including “New York City Baseball,1947-1957″ and “Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball”. His “Remembering Yankee Stadium: An Oral and Narrative History of the House that Ruth Built” (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published in 2008 as well as a reprint version of his “Shoeless Joe and Ragtime

Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed. FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in excess of one million and appears on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.

**Call for Fenway Memories - now working on "Remembering
*****Fenway Park" - will feature stories– first game attended, marker moments, odd events, tales of a special player at the Fens, architectural features... Please contact me by e-mail if you have something to contribute.

REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM: OPENING DAY 1923

(As the games at Yankee Stadium dwindle to a precious few - -for your reading pleasure adapted from REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM: AN ORAL AND NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE THAT RUTH BUILT)
Jacob Ruppert always insisted "Yankee Stadium was a mistake, not mine, but the Giants.”

And in truth, had it not been for the Giants, there might never have been a Yankee Stadium.
Beginning life as the Baltimore Orioles in 1901, the franchise moved to Manhattan in 1903. Named the Highlanders, they played at Hilltop Park in Washington Heights for a decade. In 1913, the Yankees as they were now known were tenants of the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds. The landlord Giants and the tenant Yankees never got along.

Ruth's Yankees were a magnet drawing more than a million each season from 1920 to 1922. Never had the Giants drawn a million fans. Angered and annoyed at the gate success of Babe Ruth and Company, the Giants told the Yankees to look around for other baseball lodgings.

Ruppert and Huston suggested the Polo Grounds be demolished and replaced by a 100,000 seat stadium to be used by both teams as well as for other sporting events. Nothing came of the suggestion.

So the duo set about to create a new ballpark. Shaped along the lines of the Roman Coliseum, it would be the greatest and grandest edifice of its time. Many sites and schemes were considered. One idea was to build atop railroad tracks along the West Side near 32nd Street. The Hebrew Orphan Asylum, at Amsterdam Avenue and 137th Street, was a serious contender. Long Island City in Queens was also given some consideration.

Finally, on February 6, 1921, a little more than year after the Yankees had acquired Ruth from the Red Sox, a Yankee press release announced that ten acres in the west Bronx, City Plot 2106, Lot 100, land from the estate of William Waldorf Astor, had been purchased for $675,000 (just under $8 million in 2007 dollars). The site sat directly across the Harlem River, less than a mile from and within walking distance of the home of the New York Giants, at the mouth of a small body of water called Crowell's Creek.

Some noted the site was strewn with boulders and garbage. Others criticized the choice as being too far away from the center of New York City. Some dubbed the plan "Rupert's Folly," believing that fans would never venture to a Bronx-based ballpark.

“They are going up to Goatville,” snapped John J. McGraw, manager of the Giants. “And before long they will be lost sight of. A New York team should be based on Manhattan Island.”

Ruppert never publicly responded to McGraw’s criticism. But he did request newspapers to print the address of Yankee Stadium in all stories. And for the first game at his new baseball palace, he included on each ticket stub:

“Yankee Stadium, 161st Street and River Avenue.”

Design responsibilities for the new “yard” were handed over to the Osborn Engineering Company of Cleveland, Ohio. The White Construction Company of New York was awarded the construction job which Huston oversaw. Ever demanding and meticulous, Ruppert mandated that the massive project be completed "at a definite price" $2.5-million ( about $29-million in 2007 dollars) and by Opening Day 1923.

Ground was broken on May 5, 1922. Sixteen days later Ruppert bought out Huston's share of the Yankees for $1,500,000. "The Prince of Beer" was now sole owner, a driven and driving force behind the vision of the new home.

A millionaire many times over, Ruppert enjoyed giving orders and having them followed to the letter. He lived at 1120 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan in a 15 room townhouse. He also had a castle on the Hudson.

Some thought his new baseball park should be named “Ruth Field.” Ruppert, however, was adamant that it be known as “Yankee Stadium.” It would be the first ballpark to be referred to as a stadium.

Original architectural plans called for a triple-decked park roofed all the way around. An early press release explained that the new ballpark would be shaped like the Yale Bowl, enclosed with towering embattlements making all events inside "impenetrable to all human eyes, save those of aviators." Those without tickets would be unable to catch even a glimpse of the action.

However, that initial lofty design was quickly scaled down. It was thought those plans would create too foreboding a sports facility, being too much a tower and not a place to play baseball, being a place where the sun would hardly ever shine. Instead the triple deck would stop at the foul poles.
And Jacob Ruppert notwithstanding, action on the field of play would be visible from the elevated trains that passed by the outfield, from the 161st Street station platform as well as from roofs and higher floors of River Avenue apartment houses that would be built.

Fortunately, a purely decorative element survived the project's early downsizing. A 15-foot deep copper frieze would adorn the front of the roof which covered much of the Stadium's third deck. It would become the park's signature feature.

The new stadium, virtually double the size of any existing ball park, favored left-handed power; the right-field foul pole was only 295 feet from home plate (though it would shoot out to 368 by right center). The left- and right-field corners were only 281 feet and 295 feet, but left field sloped out dramatically to 460 feet. Center field was a monstrous 490 feet away.

A quarter-mile running track that doubled as a warning track for outfielders surrounded the field. Under second base, a 15-foot-deep brick-lined vault containing electrical, telephone, and telegraph connections was put in place for boxing events.

Three concrete decks extended from behind home plate to each corner. There was a single deck in left-center and wooden bleachers around the rest of the outfield. The new stadium had the feel of a gigantic horseshoe. The 10,712 upper-grandstand seats and 14,543 lower grandstand seats were fixed in place by 135,000 individual steel castings on which 400,000 pieces of maple lumber were fastened by more than a million screws. Total seating capacity was 58,000, enormous for that time.

The Yankee bullpen was in left center. The Yankee dark green dugout was on the third base side. Bats were lined up at the top of the dugout stairs. There was a record eight toilet rooms for men and as many for women.

As was usual in that era, each white foul line extended past home plate. There was also a dirt "pathway" leading from the mound to home plate.

On Wednesday April 18, 1923, "The House That Ruth Built" opened for business. It had been built on almost the same spot where baseball had begun in the Bronx, a place where the Unions of Morrisania had played and close to where the old Melrose Station of the Harlem Railroad was located. The original street address was 800 Ruppert Place.

"Governors, general colonels, politicians, and baseball officials," The New York Times reported, "gathered solemnly yesterday to dedicate the biggest stadium in baseball.”
True to Jake Ruppert’s mandate and vision – “The Yankee Stadium,” as it was first called, had been constructed at a cost of $2.5 million in just 185 working days.

The reaction to the newest playing field in the major leagues was over the top. A Philadelphia newsman declared: "It is a thrilling thought that perhaps 2,500 years from now archaeologists, spading up the ruins of Harlem and the lower Bronx, will find arenas that outsize anything that the ancient Romans and Greeks built."

Opening Day was, appropriately, Red Sox versus Yankees. A massive crowd assembled for the most exciting moment in the history of the Bronx. The day was chilly. Many in the huge assemblage were bundled up with heavy sweaters, coats, fedoras and derbies although some, in the spirit of the moment, wore dinner jackets.

The announced attendance was 74,217, later scaled back to 60,000. The Fire Department ordered the gates closed and 25,000 were denied entrance. Those unable to get inside soldiered up outside against the cold listening to the noise of the crowds and the martial beat of the Seventh Regiment Band directed by the famed John Phillip Sousa.

Red Sox owner Harry Frazee walked on the field side-by-side with Jake Ruppert who always claimed that his idea of a great day at the ballpark, was when “the Yankees score eight runs in the first inning, and then slowly pulled away.” Yankees and Red Sox were escorted by the band to the flagpole in deep centerfield, where the home team’s 1922 pennant and the American flag were raised.

Ruppert then took a seat in the celebrity box where Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, New York State Governor Al Smith, and New York City Mayor John Hylan were waiting for the game to begin.

At 3:25 Babe Ruth was presented with an oversized bat handsomely laid out in a glass case.

At 3:30 Governor Al Smith tossed out the first ball to Yankee catcher Wally Schang.
At 3:35 home plate umpire Tommy Connolly shouted: "Play ball!"

The temperature was a brisk 49 degrees. Wind blew dust from the dirt road leading to the Stadium and whipped away at pennants and hats.

In the third inning with Whitey Witt and Joe Dugan on base, George Herman “Babe” Ruth stepped into the batter’s box. He had said: "I'd give a year of my life if I can hit a home run in the first game in this new park.” Boston pitcher Howard Ehmke threw a slow pitch. Bam! Ruth slugged the ball on a line into the right-field bleachers - the first home run in Yankee Stadium history.
The New York Times called it a “savage home run that was the real baptism of Yankee Stadium."
Sportswriter Heywood Broun remarked: “It would have been a home run in the Sahara Desert.”
Crossing home plate, removing his cap, extending it, Ruth waved to the standing, screaming crowd.

LEIGH MONTVILLE: Babe Ruth always said that of all the home runs he hit, his favorite home run was the one he hit the day they opened Yankee Stadium, the ballpark that was kind of built for him.
The game moved on. Yankee stalwart "Sailor" Bob Shawkey, a red sweatshirt under his jersey, fanned five, walked two, allowed but just three hits, and pitched the Yankees to a 4-1 victory.

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Harvey Frommer is his 33rd consecutive year of writing sports books. The author of 40 of them including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball," his REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published September 1, 2008 as well as a reprint version of his "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball.".

Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed.

FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in excess of one million and appears on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.

Remembering Yankee Stadium: SIXTIES!

As the games at Yankee Stadium dwindle to a precious few - -for your reading pleasure adapted from REMEMBERING YANKE STADIUUM: AN ORAL AND NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE THAT RUTH BUILT

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“There was a great, dark mystery about when I first came here from Oklahoma. Now I think this is about the prettiest ball park I ever saw." - Mickey Mantle


RALPH HOUK: I moved into the manager’s office in 1961, and the great clubhouse guy Pete Sheehy had everything ready for me. It had all I wanted: a room, a desk, a place to keep my records. Most of my memories of that office was bringing guys in and telling them things they didn’t want to hear.
I was usually down at one end of the Yankee dugout managing from a standing position with one leg up. I stood rather than sit on the bench. I was always moving.

JOHNNY BLANCHARD: Roger Maris had the locker next to mine. When he was popping those long ones out of the park, I had to get out of my own locker because 20, 30 writers would flock around him, and they would sift into my locker space. Roger was an introvert and did not like all the bright lights. That was what gave him the reputation of being nasty. But he was not.

SAL DURANTE: I was with my girlfriend Rosemarie who became my wife later on and my cousin and his girl. We were hanging out in Coney Island doing nothing. So I made a suggestion that we go to the last game at Yankee Stadium. I knew that Maris was going after the 61st home run. I knew about the promised $5,000 reward for the guy who caught the ball. I had read all about it in the News.

I was a Yankee fan as far back as I can remember although not really a Roger Maris fan. I was a Mickey Mantle fan and watched every Yankee game as I was growing up because of him.

We asked the ticket guy for four seats in right field. I never expected there would be any. The guy thumbed through tickets like a deck of playing cards, “Yeah, I’ve got four seats.”
I had no money. Rosemarie paid for the tickets. We were in Section 33, Box 163D , the sixth row of the right field lower deck. In those days you had six seats to a box. I was sitting in the row below Rosemarie with John and his girl Rose Marie was sitting by herself in Seat Four. I switched seats with her so she could talk to them. It was the smartest thing I did.

PHIL RIZZUTO (GAME CALL) WCBS radio:
They're standing, waiting to see if Maris is gonna hit Number Sixty-one. We've only got a handful of people sitting out in left field, but in right field, man, it's hogged out there. And they're standing up. Here's the windup, the pitch to Roger. Way outside, ball one...And the fans are starting to boo. Low, ball two. That one was in the dirt. And the boos get louder...Two balls, no strikes on Roger Maris. Here's the windup. Fastball, hit deep to right! This could be it!

SAL DURANTE: As soon as Maris the ball, I knew it was going to be a home run that would go over my head. I jumped up on my seat and reached as high as I could. The ball hit the palm of my hand. It didn’t hurt. It was a thing from heaven that knocked me over into the next row.

TRACY NIEPORENT: We were at the Stadium on May 14, 1967 when Mantle hit his 500th home run in the seventh inning of a game against Baltimore. As it turned out, he didn't have that many home runs left in him after that.

JOE GARAGIOLA: (GAME CALL, NBC) Three balls, two strikes. Mantle waits. Stu Miller is ready. Here’s the payoff pitch by Miller to mantle. Swung on! There she goes!. . . Mickey Mantle has hit his 500th home run . . .

BOB SHEPPARD: At one time Bob Fischel said to me: “I think it would be nice to recognize the boys and girls, the young people.” That was when I began saying: “Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls,” But I did it under force for a short time and then returned to saying just “Ladies and Gentlemen.”

FRANK RUSSO: My first game at Yankee Stadium was Thurman Munson's first game. August 8, 1969 . My dad was a huge Yankee fan and he read in the papers that their number one draft pick had been recalled from the minors. We went to the second game of a twi-night doubleheader against Oakland. We walked right up and my dad bought the seats, good seats behind the first base line.
Munson was definitely a confident guy. He had some swagger to him which was what I liked. He got his first major league hit against Catfish Hunter, another single and his first two RBIs in that game. We knew if the Yankees were going to get better in the 1970s, he would help lead the way.

About the Author:
Harvey Frommer is his 33rd consecutive year of writing sports books. The author of 40 of them including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball," his REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published September 1, 2008 as well as a reprint version of his "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball.".

Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed.

FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in excess of one million and appears on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.

REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM

REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM

CLICK HERE

REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM: THE FORTIES!

(As the games at Yankee Stadium dwindle to a precious few - -for your reading pleasure adapted from REMEMBERING YANKE STADIUUM: AN ORAL AND NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE THAT RUTH BUILT BY HARVEY FROMMER )

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"Yankee Stadium was a home away from home without a doubt. Those were really the best years of my life." - Ralph Houk

As the new decade dawned, America was still at peace in a world at war, and baseball retained its hold on the nation's consciousness. The Yanks had won 106 games in 1939; they'd notched their fourth straight world championship and were favored to do it again.

RED FOLEY: Prior to the Second World War, box seats at the Stadium were regular wooden chairs that went back two or three rows from third to first base. They cost about $2.50. You had the low fences in left and right field only about three feet high. Players could lean in and make a catch. On the other hand, there were a lot of pillars. People sat behind them and couldn't see very well. It was called 'an obstructed view.'

The 1940 season would be one of the tightest American League races ever. As it got underway reverence for the past was displayed at the Stadium on April 16th when a plaque in Jake Ruppert's memory was placed on the centerfield wall close to the flagpole.

Jake Ruppert had passed, Lou Gehrig was no longer on the scene. Joe DiMaggio, victim of a sprained knee in an exhibition game just before the season started, was ailing. The Bombers lost five of their first eight games and all season long played catch-up in the American League pennant race.

BOO FERRIS: In 1941, I played summer baseball in a college league, the Northern League in Brattleboro, Vermont. After the season ended the Red Sox gave me a uniform and had me pitch some batting practice at Fenway Park. Then Boston player-manager Joe Cronin invited me to come along to a weekend series with the Yankees at the Stadium. I stayed with the team at the Hotel Commodore.

I rode out on the subway with Mr. Cronin. It was the first time I had ever been on a subway. We came right up on the track right above Yankee Stadium looking down on the field and I will never forget that sight I saw.

I pitched batting practice at the Stadium. I got to see Lefty Gomez pitch that first game for the Yankees and battle with Ted Williams who was to hit over .400 that season. Ted got three hits off Lefty. I never dreamed that in a few years I would be pitching for Boston against the Yankees at the Stadium in a real game.

The 1941 season was the 39th for the New York Yankees, their 18th at Yankee Stadium. It would be the last season before the United States entered that world at war. Anticipating the conflict that was to come, Yankee president Ed Barrow offered Civil Defense the use of the Yankee Stadium as a bomb shelter, indicating the area under the stands could provide protection in case of attack.
It was a season 23-year-old Phil Rizzuto broke in as Yankee shortstop. As the story goes, Lefty Gomez called him over and asked: "Kid, is your mother in the stands?"
"Yes," said Rizzuto.
"Well," the fun-loving hurler told him, "stay here and talk to me a little, and she'll think you're giving advice to the great Lefty Gomez."

Joe DiMaggio did not get off to quick start in 1941; there were those who claimed he was in a bit of a slump. On May 15, before a small crowd at the Stadium in a game against Chicago, he batted four times and managed a single off stubby southpaw Edgar Smith. The hit was little noticed. More was made of the fact that the home team now had lost eight of its last ten games with this 13-1 drubbing by the White Sox.

Over the next two months, however, the Yankee centerfielder notched at least a hit a game. Joe DiMaggio was in a hot groove. And his fire added fuel to the Yankee engine. The team began winning.

"I became conscious of the streak when the writers started talking about the records I could break," the Yankee Clipper said.

Newspaper stories and radio commentary dramatized what Joe DiMaggio was doing. Since virtually all games in that era were played in the afternoon, radio announcers would routinely interrupt programs with the news of the Yankee Clipper's progress. Day and night, radio disc jockeys played the Les Brown band recording:

Who started baseball's famous streak
That's got us all aglow?
He's just a man and not a freak,
Jolting Joe DiMaggio.
Joe...Joe...DiMaggio.......
we want you on our side.
From Coast to Coast, that's all you hear Of Joe the One-Man Show.
He' s glorified the horsehide sphere,
Jolting Joe DiMaggio.
Joe...Joe...DiMaggio.....
we want you on our side.
He'll live in baseball's Hall of Fame,
He got there blow-by-blow
Our kids will tell their kids his name, Jolting Joe DiMaggio.
(copyright 1941 by Alan Courtney)

At Yankee Stadium on June 17th, official scorer Dan Daniel of the New York World-Telegram credited DiMaggio with a hit on a ground ball to short that bounced up hitting Chicago's Luke Appling on the shoulder. It was a call that would be questioned - one of several during the streak where scorers strove to be as diligent as possible. The questioning did not matter - DiMag later slapped a single. . . .

Harvey Frommer is his 33rd consecutive year of writing sports books. The author of 40 of them including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball," his REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) Was published in September 2008 as well as a reprint version of his "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball.".

Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed.

FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in excess of one million and appears on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.