The house that....."Papa George" built?
Within the next four years, the place formerly known as "The House that Ruth Built" will become "The House that...Papa George Built?". In a report from the Associated Press, the Yankees will hold a press conference today to announce detailed plans for their new $800 million ballpark. There is an agreement between the Yankees and New York City's government that the ball club will pay for the stadium on its own--they better start practicing "Thank you, Papa George" now...
The current Yankee Stadium, which is the third oldest ballpark in use (behind only Boston's Fenway Park-1912- and Chicago's Wrigley Field-1914), opened in 1923 with a home run shot from Babe Ruth (hence the name "The House that Ruth Built") and was heavily renovated in 1974 / 1975. The original stadium will remain intact; however (and this is from hearsay), it will be used only as a museum. No games will be played there.
"I think it will be sad,'' Yankees manager Joe Torre said Tuesday. "They'll have limos and vans to take the old ghosts over to the new stadium.'' The new ballpark will be built adjacent (to the north) of the current Yankee Stadium, and is tentatively expected to open for the 2009 season. It will have a capacity of 50,800 seats--which is 6,000 fewer than the current stadium--but could be expanded to 54,000. The new stadium will also strongly resemble the current in many details; for instance the playing field dimensions will be exactly identical.
The Yankees have won an unprecedented, record 26 World Series titles. Why would you want to mess with that by moving them into a completely new building? "The House that Ruth built" is so rich in history and memories--not to mention superstition--that it seems a shame to quit playing there. (This is ringing bells for me here in St. Louis, with the impending destruction of THE Busch Stadium.) I just wonder if the team / management will keep the name of Yankee Stadium for a ballpark that just isn't THE Yankee Stadium? (Kinda like the new "Busch" Stadium...)
*(all information obtained from ESPN, MSNBC, and the Associated Press)
posted by ~stacey~ @ 10:52 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I wonder about how much of that will become a reality. I can understand why they wouldn't want to tear the old Yankee Stadium down. However, that is a lot of space to be taken up for a museum in a city where real estate is so valuable.
Some people wonder why these stadiums have to be replaced, but you have to remember that the reason they look so nice to us is that the teams want it that way. You don't want to watch a game in a crummy building so they spend a lot to keep the aesthetics of the stadium up.
There is a story I think about the old stadium in San Fransisco. Apparently it had very old pipes and some major sewage problems. Suppossedly at least one team official had to abandon his office the day after games because of the smell. From what I hear the situation is pretty similiar in the bowls of Busch.
Just so you know, the current Busch Stadium is not the first. The one you park across from now is actually Busch Stadium II, and that the is the third Busch under construction. Sportsman's Park on Grand was called Busch Stadium for a while before the current Busch was built.
I agree, Becker. You always have good points, damn you! (lol) And, yea, I didn't even think about it being Busch II when I wrote it. Thanks for correcting me! :)
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