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Hall of Famers like Tony Lazzeri, Earle Combs, and Herb Pennock.
The team was so dominant that it became known as Murderers’ Row,
an apt nickname given the way the Yankees killed opposing pitching;
among other feats, Ruth set the single-season home run mark of 60 in
1927, a record that stood until 1961. Many consider the 1927 Yankees
to be the greatest team in the history of major league baseball.
On July 4, 1939, the Yankees honored an
ailing Lou Gehrig in a home plate ceremony
at the stadium. After being diagnosed with
ALS—the disease that would kill him less
than two years later and become synonymous
with his name—Gehrig had been forced to
retire from baseball. He told an adoring
crowd that day, “For the past two weeks you
have been reading about a bad break. Yet
today I consider myself the luckiest man on
the face of the earth.”
History-making events continued to
unfold at Yankee Stadium. On October 8,
1956, Yankee pitcher Don Larsen threw a
perfect game—still the only perfect game in This October 1974 photo shows work being done on the left field side of the
A 1934 Goudey baseball card of World Series history—against the Brooklyn stadium during the two-year renovation project. Photo courtesy Michael Wagner.
Lou Gehrig, also known as Dodgers in game 5 of that year’s World
the Iron Horse Now, fast-forward 33 years, through more than 3 decades of
Series. Larsen wasn’t a Hall of Fame-caliber
pitcher, having a career record of 81 wins Yankees highs and lows, of World Series wins and near-misses, to
and 91 losses. But on that day, he was unhittable, leading the Yankees September 21, 2008, when the Yankees played the last-ever game at the
to another world championship under manager Casey Stengel. original Yankee Stadium, the organization having decided to shutter
The 1977 World Series offered another jaw-dropper. In game 6 on the grand old ballpark in favor of building a new facility across the
October 18, Yankee right fielder Reggie Jackson hit three home runs in parking lot. The Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 7-3 in that last
three consecutive at-bats, each on the first pitch, off Los Angeles game, and the stadium—the place that Gehrig and Ruth and
Dodgers pitchers. The feat cemented Jackson’s nickname, DiMaggio and Mantle and Rivera and Jeter all had called home—then
Mr. October, with Yankees fans. The following year, Jackson led the was closed down and eventually demolished.
Yankees to yet another World Series victory.
And on October 17, 1998, in Pieces of History
game 1 of the World Series, the It’s one thing to collect baseball cards, game-day scorecards, and
Yankees’ Tino Martinez crushed a other mass-produced items that help fans to stay close to a game they
Mark Langston pitch into the upper love. But artifacts from a place like Yankee Stadium can take on a kind
deck of Yankee Stadium for a grand of mystical status for collectors, given that many of them are truly one-
slam home run. The blast gave the of-a-kind. In April 2021, California-based SCP Auctions sold the
Yankees a four-run lead and they went original home plate from Yankee Stadium for $303,277 – a remarkable
on to win game one and sweep the result for the worn and battered “ground zero” for so many historic
San Diego Padres in four straight. It baseball moments, as it had been in place from 1923 until the stadium
was a fitting end to the Yankees’ renovation began in 1974.
historic season, in which they won a Other original Yankee Stadium artifacts are more affordable, including
then-American League record 114 original seats. Post-renovation seats (after 1975) can go for less than
regular season games. $1,000, while unrestored seats from the 1920s-1930s often bring $2,000
ael and up. Surprisingly from our 2022 collector’s perspective, the Yankees
e’s Calling Time teamed up in 1974 with discount department store Korvettes to sell
ee Following the end of the 1973 individual original seats, salvaged during the stadium renovation, to the
t general public. The price? $7.50.
ion season, the Yankees closed Yankee A high-grade example of Mickey
Stadium for what turned out to be Mantle’s 1952 Topps rookie card We’re fortunate that these pieces of The
two years of much-needed renovation was sold in August 2022 by House That Ruth Built have been preserved for
and repairs. The Yankees played the Heritage Auctions for a record- posterity. But the closing of Yankee Stadium
1974 and 1975 seasons at Shea breaking $12.6 million. in 2008 left a hole that, for some fans,
Stadium, alternating with their still hasn’t been filled. “It was a big
National League counterparts, the New York Mets, while the disappointment,” says Michael
renovation work was carried out. “Parts of the stadium were Wagner. “We lost a place where the
falling apart, particularly some of the concrete structures,” says baseball gods roamed.”
Michael Wagner. “And at the time, New York City was in
decline, with crime being a big problem. Also, parking around Douglas R. Kelly is the editor
Yankee Stadium was terrible. So all of those factors played a part of Marine Technology magazine.
in the decision to do renovation and repairs.” His byline has appeared in Antiques
More than 50 years of rough-and-tumble ballgames had taken Roadshow Insider, Back Issue,
its toll, and the stadium underwent a great deal of changes and Diecast Collector, and Buildings
improvements – work that had some fans wondering what their magazines. He hopes one day to
beloved Yankee Stadium would be like when it become the owner of a 1963 Topps
re-opened in April 1976. Wagner remembers, “Once baseball card of Coot Veal.
the renovation was finished and they re-opened The original home plate from Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium, I was concerned … I wondered, ‘Will sold at auction for $303,277 in 2021.
I feel like it’s still Yankee Stadium? Will I feel at home?’ The original home plate was affixed to a base
But when I entered the stadium for the first time after the
Photo courtesy SCP Auctions. of layered wood, with five steel spikes to hold it
work, I felt right at home. It was home!” in place.
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