Table of Contents
Magical Moments
The Babe Wallops a Record 60 8
DiMaggio Streaks to 56 12
Reynolds Tosses Double No-Nos 16
The Mick's Mighty Blast 20
Maris One-Ups the Babe 24
Yankee Doodle Dandy 28
Abbott's Superhuman Feat 32
Still Plenty Good 36
What Happened? Perfection! 40
Cone Replicates Perfecto 44
400 and Counting 48
October Classics
A Wild Finish 54
The First Three-peat 58
It's Yankees in a Thriller 62
Bombers Broom the Phils 66
Bauer Triples the Fun 70
High Five 74
Larsen's Masterpiece 78
Chambliss' Pennant-Winning Pop 82
Mr. October 86
Nice Glove, Kid! 90
Yankees Gallop to Title 94
Yanks Restore New York Pride 98
Boone Prolongs the Curse 102
Stadium Milestones
Ruth Christens Yankee Stadium 108
Night Ball in the Bronx 112
The Stadium Gets a Face Lift 116
Four Million Strong 120
A Showcase for the Stars
ADoomed Gehrig Bids Farewell 126
New York's All-Star Cast 130
Babe Ruth Day 134
So Long, Babe 138
Saluting the Mick 142
An All-Star Game at the Bronx Zoo 146
Farewell, Captain 150
A Day for Scooter 154
A Final Tribute for Joltin' Joe 158
Four for Five for No. 2 162
Not Just Baseball
One for the Gipper 168
Louis' Nazi Knockout 169
Billy Graham's Bronx Crusade 171
The Greatest Game of All 172
Sermon on the Mound 173
To the Moon, Norton! 174
Honoring Victims and Heroes 175
Read a Sample Chapter
Yankee Stadium: A Tribute85 Years of Memories: 1923-2008
Chapter One
Magical Moments
The Babe Wallops a Record 60
September 20, 1927
The House That Ruth Built is the most lasting of the many nicknames accorded Yankee Stadium over the years. And for good reason—nobody was better than Ruth at filling the seats of that stadium or the Polo Grounds, where the Yankees played before the advent of Yankee Stadium. Ruth drew fans like ants to a picnic.
Ruth's 1927 season is one reason why so many wanted to push through the turnstiles to see the Sultan of Swat hit one of his tremendous home runs. Not only did he hit long ones, but he hit plenty of them. In 1921, he established an American League record—breaking his own mark of 54 set in 1920—by hitting 59 homers. But succeeding years saw him hit 35, 41, 46, 25, and 47, making the 50 Home run plateau appear to be a far away land that Ruth could no longer reach.
Still, Ruth reigned as the best player in the major leagues. Not only had he belted 47 home runs in 1926, but he also hit .372. And, heading into 1927, Ruth and the sports world knew that he would be hitting in the middle of what many believe to be the most powerful lineup in baseball history. Among this collection of hitters were Bob Meusel, Earle Combs, Tony Lazzeri, and the amazing Lou Gehrig, otherwise collectively known as Murderer's Row.
Heading into the final month of the season, Ruth appeared as though he would once again breathe the magic air of 50 home runs, as he had accrued 43 by the end of August. Nobody expected what happened next.
Ruth began to hit homeruns like never before. September belonged to the Bambino, and his home run total climbed. With four games left, he had 56 home runs. Number 57, a grand slam, came in game 151 of the 155-game season (one tie had to be replayed). In the Yankees' next game against the Senators, he hit his 58th and 59th homers in a game where he flirted with four home runs. Unfortunately for Ruth, one of the hits went to the deep right-center field, where it hit the bottom of the wall. By the time the Senators returned the ball to the infield, Ruth had made it to third base with a triple. Had he pulled the ball even a little, it would have left the playing field. In his final at-bat, Ruth hit a deep drive to right field that came up a couple of feet short before being caught. The calendar now showed two games remaining in the season, and Ruth's ledger showed him one home run shy of 60.
The Yankees had 108 wins to their credit, with two games remaining, when they hosted the Senators at Yankee Stadium. They had already won the pennant, and the World Series sat on the horizon. Only one question remained in the thoughts of those sitting in the stands and dugouts at the hallowed ballpark: Can he do it? Could Ruth reach 60 home runs?
By the time he stepped to the plate in the eighth inning, Ruth had walked, collected a single to deep right field in the fourth inning, and cracked another single in the sixth. Suspense filled the ballpark when Senators pitcher Tom Zachary looked in for the sign. In all likelihood this at-bat would be Ruth's last chance to break his home run record, at least for that day.
Ruth took a called strike on the first pitch before taking one at the letters to make the count 1-I. Surely Ruth would go down swinging in an attempt to knock one out of the park.
Zachary delivered his third pitch. A fastball came in low and inside. Ruth took a huge swing. He did not miss. Nobody in Yankee Stadium had any doubts that the ball had the distance to reach the right-field seats; only the accuracy of the drive was in doubt, as it curled toward foul territory. The ball landed a foot inside the right-field foul line and midway to the top of the bleachers.
"Foul ball! Foul ball!" Zachary yelled, arguing with the umpire to no avail.
Ruth rounded the bases much to the approval of the unusually sparse crowd of approximately 10,000, which tossed confetti and hats into the air. The salute continued when Ruth ran out to right field in the top of the ninth, as the crowd waved handkerchiefs. Ruth basked in the attention.
"Sixty," the Babe would say later. "Count 'em, 60. Let's see some other SOB match that."
A crowd of 20,000 showed up at Yankee Stadium the next day, hoping to see Ruth add one more to his new home run record. Unfortunately, he went 0-for-3, with a strikeout in his final at-bat of the regular season, to leave the single-season home run mark at 60—a high bar that would not be broken until three decades later, when Yankee Roger Mans famously broke the record.
Yankee Stadium: A Tribute
85 Years of Memories: 1923-2008. Copyright © by Les Krantz. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.
loading...