New York Yankees Baseball
On February 6, 1921, the Yankees announced the purchase of 10 acres of property in the west Bronx. The land was purchased from the estate of William Waldorf Astor for $675,000 and sat directly across the Harlem River from the Polo Grounds, which is where the Yankees' had played since 1913.
Officially, 74,200 fans packed Yankee Stadium for their first glimpse of Baseball's grandest facility while thousands more milled around outside after the fire department finally ordered the gates closed. Appropriately, Babe Ruth christened his new home with a three-run homer to cap a four-run third inning as the Yankees coasted to a 4-1 win. Since it was widely recognized that Ruth's incredible drawing power made the new stadium possible, it would instantaneously become known as "The House That Ruth Built."
During the 1974 and 1975 seasons, the Yankees played at Shea Stadium while the city made major renovations to Yankee Stadium. The many steel columns, which supported the roof and upper decks, were removed. By "cantilevering" the upper decks and by lowering the playing field while increasing the slope of the lower stands, sight lines for fans would be dramatically improved. The original roof and its famous copper facade were removed and replaced with a smaller, more modern roof. Three escalator towers were also added.
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees have enjoyed more success than any other team in baseball. In 1903, the team was purchased for $18,000 from Baltimore and moved to Manhattan. The team first played in an all-wood part in the highest part of Manhattan. Because of this fact, they were called the Highlanders. The famous pinstripes first appeared on their uniforms in 1912. The team was renamed to the Yankees in 1913 when they moved to the Polo Grounds.
In 1920, the New York Yankees added a great addition to their team when they acquired Babe Ruth from the Boston Red Sox for $125,000 and a $350,000 loan against the mortgage on Fenway Park. Ruth’s stats are legend: 714 home runs, 2,174 runs, 2,210 RBI, 2,056 walks, a .342 average, and an amazing .690 career slugging average.
In 1961, Roger Maris set a Major League record by belting 61 home runs for the New York Yankees. This broke Babe Ruth’s previous mark of 60 set in 1927. He was named the 1961 Associated Press' Male Athlete of the Year. The home run record stood until 1998 when both Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa broke it, hitting 70 and 66, respectively.
One of the strangest things to happen to the New York Yankees took place in 1983 in what became known as the “Pine Tar Game” against the Kansas City Royals. George Brett comes up for the Royals and hits a two-out, ninth-inning home run off Goose Gossage to give them an apparent 5-4 lead. The umpires nullify the homer because the pine tar on Brett's bat is above the allowable 18 inches and Brett is called out for using an illegal bat. The Yankees, for now, win 4-3. Kansas City later protests the game and Brett’s homerun was overturned giving the Royals a 5-4 win over the Yankees when the game was resumed.
The Yankees have continuously throughout the years turned out some of the finest players in baseball and have captured more World Championships than any other team in baseball (26). Their last World Series came in 2000 against the New York Mets in the first “Subway Series” since 1956.