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Yankee Stadium

Yankee Stadium

Yankee Stadium is the home stadium of the New York Yankees, a major league baseball team. Located at East 161st Street and River Avenue in the Bronx, New York City, it originally opened on April 18, 1923 and reopened on April 15, 1976 after an extensive three year renovation. The first night game was played on May 28, 1946. Yankee Stadium is often referred to as "The House that Ruth Built", "The Home of Champions," "The Big Ballpark," or simply "The Stadium". It was the first baseball park to be labeled a "Stadium", and it conformed to the usage of the term in ancient Greece, where a stadium was a foot-race arena. Yankee Stadium's field was initially surrounded by a (misshapen) quarter-mile running track. That track effectively also served as an early "warning track" for fielders, a feature now standard in all major league ballparks. Yankee Stadium favors left-handed batters because of a shorter right-field fence (once called "Ruthville"), although the field has become much more symmetric over the years. In contrast, it has been a very difficult park for right-handed batters to hit in. Under the original configuration, it was 395-feet from home plate to left field, 460 ft to left center, and 490 ft to straightaway center. [http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/nyy/ballpark/stadium_history.jsp] Left center soon came to be called "Death Valley," in reference to the high number of balls hit to that area that would have cleared the wall easily in other parks but resulted in simple fly ball outs in Yankee Stadium. Although the fence has been moved in several times over the years to make it more hitter friendly (it is currently 399 feet to left center and 408 to center), the park remains one of the most difficult for right-handed hitters, as evidenced by the fact that in 2005, Alex Rodriguez became the first right-handed Yankee hitter to hit 40 home runs in a season since 1937, when Joe DiMaggio belted 46. A story that has become somewhat of an urban legend purports that the stadium's design was tailored to fit the left-handed power exhibited by Babe Ruth. However, a look at aerial photographs of the area shows that the stadium is built on a triangular plot of land originally owned by one of the Yankee owners, and that the stadium, like many other parks of that era and many newer "retro" parks, was fit into that plot. Additionally, an elevated train line still runs beyond the right field bleachers, and was present when the stadium was first built. Making the right field area larger would have necessitated eliminating seating and possibly building a high "Green Monster"-like wall. A good depiction of the atmosphere of the pre-renovation stadium can be seen in the latter scenes of the 1959 Mervyn LeRoy film The FBI Story, which starred James Stewart. In these scenes, FBI agents tracked a suspected Soviet espionage courier. These scenes show the arrival of an elevated train at the station near the right field bleachers, football action and crowd scenes and reaction during a New York Giants game, groups of people waiting at a concession stand, and scenes outside the main stadium concourse. The seats behind center field are painted black and not occupied during baseball games; this allows batters to track the ball as it is pitched, as the "black seats" section is directly in front of them. If fans were allowed to sit in this section, it would create an unfair pitcher's advantage, as it would make it virtually impossible for batters to track the ball if a substantial number of fans were wearing white shirts. Perhaps the best known of all baseball stadiums, Yankee Stadium is the scene of such memorable events as Babe Ruth's then-record 60th home run in 1927; tearful farewell addresses by Lou Gehrig in 1939 and Babe Ruth in 1948; Don Larsen's perfect World Series game in 1956; Roger Maris's then-record 61st home run in 1961; Reggie Jackson's three home runs in a World Series game in 1977; and countless on-field celebrations of World Series championships. The New York Giants football team played at Yankee Stadium from 1956 to 1973. The Stadium was also home to several football teams known as the New York Yankees, but none of these lasted for more than a few seasons. The 1930 and 1931 Army-Navy Games were played at Yankee Stadium. Army played Notre Dame there in 1928, and led at halftime, before Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne inovked the memory of his school's greatest football hero to that point, George Gipp, who had died in 1920. In a story he is now believed to have made up, Rockne told of meeting Gipp on his deathbed, and hearing the great player say, "Sometime, when the team is up against it, and the breaks are beating the boys, tell 'em to go out there with everything they've got, and win just one for the Gipper." Notre Dame came back to win the game. Army and Notre Dame also played at Yankee Stadium in 1946, when Army was ranked number 1 in the nation and had won the last two National Championships, and Notre Dame was ranked number 2. One of several college football games to be known as "The Game of the Century" in the days leading up to it, the game ended in a 0-0 tie, and when both teams remained undefeated at the end of the season, Notre Dame was awarded the National Championship. Starting in 1971, the Stadium hosted the Whitney M. Young Urban League Classic, a game between "historically black colleges," often featuring Grambling State University of Louisiana, coached by Eddie Robinson. The Classic helped to spread the fame of Grambling and other similar schools. The Classic was held at Shea Stadium during the 1974-75 renovation of Yankee Stadium, and was last played there in the 1987 season, the last time a football game was played there. [http://www.mindspring.com/~luckyshow/football/ys.htm] It has been held at Giants Stadium in New Jersey's Meadowlands Sports Complex ever since. Many boxing matches have been held at the stadium, notably Joe Louis's victory over Max Schmeling in 1938. Billy Graham held large gatherings at the Stadium. The New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League used Yankee Stadium for home games in 1971 and then again in 1976. On October 4, 1965, Pope Paul VI celebrated a Mass at Yankee Stadium during a visit to the United States in front of a crowd in excess of 80,000. This was the first Papal Mass ever delivered in North America. Fourteen years later, on October 2, 1979, Pope John Paul II also celebrated Mass there. The Stadium was also the site of a memorial service on September 23, 2001 in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. One of its distinguishing features is the white facade that hangs over the outfield bleacher billboards and scoreboard (a similar frieze once hung from the roof over the upper deck, pre-renovation). Also notable is the exhaust stack that stands outside the main entrance gate, constructed in the shape of a baseball bat. (For years it bore the Louisville Slugger logo.) While elements of the Stadium are decidedly modern, its asymmetry, monuments in left-center field and exterior arches give fans a reminder of the Stadium during its most golden period. Even the blue YANKEE STADIUM letters over the main gate are longtime features; they're the same letters that first appeared there in white in the early 1960s. Those monuments, commemorating various retired Yankee players, once stood on the playing field in deep left-center field. They are now out of play, in an area called Monument Park. In the 1992 book The Gospel According to Casey, by Ira Berkow and Jim Kaplan, it is reported that the Yankees manager, Casey Stengel, was watching his centerfielder fumbling with the ball in the vicinity of the monuments, while the batter-runner circled the bases. Stengel yelled out, "Ruth, Gehrig, Huggins, somebody get that ball back to the infield!" The monuments are located more than 450 feet from home plate. It is an achievement for a home run in the "new" Stadium to go into the monuments on the fly. Among those who have done so are Thurman Munson (in Game 3 of the 1978 American League Championship Series) and Alex Rodriguez (in August 2005). Since the mid-1980s, the rear fence lining the walkway from the grandstand to the monuments -- the barrier that was the outfield fence from 1976 to 1984 -- has borne the Yankees' retired numbers. Under those numbers are biographies of the players that were honored. One hypothesis is that the "Bronx cheer" was so named because of its popularity among Yankees fans. Yankee Stadium can be reached via the New York City Subway using the or the lines.

New Yankee Stadium

On April 16, 2005, the team announced plans to build a stadium on the adjacent land, to be ready for the 2009 season, with the official announcement made on June 15, 2005 at a press conference. The team would pay for the new ballpark, estimated to be about $800 million (US), to be located north of the current stadium in Macombs Dam Park. The plan is for the new stadium to look like the pre-renovation Yankee Stadium, but with modern touches such as 50 or more luxury suites and a field configured like the current stadium. The expected capacity is 50,800 (with possible expansion to 54,000) with a completion date of 2009. Macombs Dam Park Unlike most of the new stadiums built in the United States, the stadium will be built and paid for by the team, with the city and state paying for infrastructure improvements. However, the plan requires both city and state approval before going through. Interestingly, three days earlier, on June 12, 2005, a plan for a New Mets Stadium in Willetts Point, Queens in the parking lot of the current Shea Stadium was announced. If approved it is also to be completed for the 2009 baseball season. The new Yankee Stadium would have served as the site for Baseball in the Olympics had New York City been chosen as host city for the Games of the XXX Olympiad, assuming that the decision would have encouraged the International Olympic Committee to retain the sport for the 2012 Olympic Games.

External links

- [http://www.ballparkdigest.com/visits/yankee_stadium.htm Ballpark Digest Visit]
- [http://yankees.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/nyy/ballpark/nyy_ballpark_history.jsp Yankee Stadium history]
- [http://www.ballparks.com/baseball/american/yankee.htm Yankee Stadium info]
- [http://insidetheparks.com/ Yankee Stadium images and information]
- [http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/319513p-273178c.html New ballpark's a winner, Daily News, June 16, 2005]
- [http://www.nj.com/sports/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/111890106369470.xml&coll=1 Pride of the Yankees: A new home in 2009, Star Ledger, June 16, 2005]
- Category:New York Yankees Category:Major League Baseball venues Category:Defunct National Football League venues Category:New York City sports Category:Buildings and structures in the Bronx ja:ヤンキースタジアム

Stadium

]] .]] A modern stadium (plural stadiums, Latin plural stadia) is a place, or venue, for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts or other events, consisting of a field or stage partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.

History of the stadium

The word originates from the Greek "stadion" (στάδιον), literally a (place where people) stand. The oldest known stadium is the one in Olympia, in western Peloponnese, Greece, where the Olympic Games of antiquity were held since 776 BC. Initially the Games consisted of a single event, a sprint along the length of the stadium. Therefore the length of the Olympia stadium was more or less standardized as a measure of distance (approximately 190 meters). The practice of standardizing footrace tracks to a length of 180-200 meters was followed by the Romans as well. Interestingly enough, a human's capacity to sustain maximum speed is known to diminish after about 200 meters of sprinting, a fact also seen in modern-day athletics. Greek and Roman stadia have been found in numerous ancient cities, perhaps the most famous being the Colosseum or the Stadium of Domitian, both in Rome.

The modern stadium

Types

Domed stadiums have roofs. They are called stadiums because they are large enough for, and designed for what are generally considered to be outdoor sports. (Those designed for what are usually indoor sports are called arenas.) Some stadiums have partial roofs, and a few have even been designed to have moveable fields. An all-seater stadium has seats for all spectators. Other stadiums are designed so that all or some spectators stand to view the event. The term "stadium" tends to be used mostly in connection with games like American football and soccer. An exception is the basketball arena at Duke University, which is called Cameron Indoor Stadium. The term "stadium" is also often used for baseball parks, especially since the construction of Yankee Stadium in 1923, but starting in the 1990s the cozier term "ballpark" has returned to favor for baseball-only facilities. 1990s's Koševo stadium.]]

Design issues

Different sports require fields of different size and shape. Some stadiums are designed primarily for a single sport while other stadiums can accommodate different sports. Stadiums built specifically for some form of football are quite common. The most common multiple use design combines a football field with a running track, a combination which generally works fairly well, although certain compromises must be made. The major drawback is that the stands are necessarily set back a good distance from the field, especially at the ends of the field. In the case of some smaller stadiums, there aren't stands at the ends. When there are stands all the way around, the stadium takes on an oval shape. When one end is open, the stadium has a horseshoe shape. All three configurations (open, oval and horseshoe) are common, especially in the case of American college football stadiums. football provides a typical example of a baseball stadium / ballpark.]] In the United States, where baseball and American football are the two most popular outdoor spectator sports, a number of football/baseball multi-use stadiums were built, especially during the 1960s, and some of them were successful. However, since the requirements for baseball and football are significantly different, the trend beginning with Kansas City in 1972-1973, and accelerating in the 1990s, has been toward the construction of single-purpose stadiums. In several cases a football stadium has been constructed adjacent to a baseball park. In many cases, earlier baseball stadiums were constructed to fit into a particular land area or city block. This resulted in asymmetrical dimensions for many baseball fields. Yankee Stadium, for example, was built on a triangular city block in The Bronx, New York City. This resulted in a large left field dimension but a small right field dimension, which added to the stadium's character. Before more modern football stadiums were built in the United States, many baseball parks, including Yankee Stadium, the Polo Grounds, Wrigley Field, Comiskey Park, Tiger Stadium, Fenway Park, Griffith Stadium, Milwaukee County Stadium, Shibe Park, Forbes Field and Sportsman's Park were used by the National Football League or the American Football League. The spectator areas of a stadium are often referred to as terraces, especially in the United Kingdom but also in some American baseball parks, as an alternative to the term tier. Originally set out for standing room only, they are now usually equipped with seating. Either way, the term originates from the step-like rows which resemble agricultural terraces. Related, but not precisely the same, is the use of terrace to describe a sloping portion of the outfield in a baseball park, possibly but not necessarily for seating, but for practical or decorative purposes. The most famous of these was at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, Ohio. Poor stadium design has contributed to disasters such as the Hillsborough disaster and the Heysel Stadium disaster.

Corporate naming

In recent decades, the owners of sports stadiums in the United States found it worthwhile to subsidize costs by accepting corporate sponsorships. This trend, which began in the 1970s but accelerated greatly in the 1990s, has led to sponsors' names being affixed to both established stadiums and new ones. In some cases, the corporate name replaces (with varying degrees of success) the name by which the venue has been known for many years -- examples include San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium, previously known as Jack Murphy Stadium. But many of the more recently-built ballparks, such as Milwaukee's Miller Park, have never been known by a non-corporate name. The sponsorship phenomenon has since spread worldwide. One consequence of corporate naming has been an increase in stadium name changes, for example when the namesake corporation changes its name, or if the naming agreement simply expires. Phoenix's Chase Field, for example, was previously known as Bank One Ballpark but was re-named to reflect the takeover of the latter corporation. San Francisco's historic Candlestick Park was renamed as 3Com Park for several years, but the name was dropped when the sponsorship agreement expired, and it was another two years before a new name of Monster Park was applied. On the other hand, Los Angeles' now-defunct Great Western Forum, one of the earliest examples of corporate re-naming, retained its name for many years, even after the namesake bank no longer existed. Perhaps the most interesting example is Houston's Minute Maid Park, which hurriedly dropped its original name of Enron Field when scandal engulfed the latter corporation -- it became Astros Field for a year before finding a new corporate naming sponsor. This new trend in corporate naming (or re-naming) is distinguishable from names of some older parks such as Crosley Field, Wrigley Field and Busch Stadium, in that the parks were named by and for the club's owner, which also happened to be the names of companies owned by those clubowners. See also: Naming rights

New York Yankees

:"Yankees" redirects here. For other uses, see Yankee (disambiguation). ---- The New York Yankees are a Major League Baseball team based in The Bronx, New York City, New York. They are in the Eastern Division of the American League and are widely considered the most successful baseball franchise. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Yankees have been among the most storied teams in American sports over their 100+ year history; along with franchises like the Boston Celtics, Dallas Cowboys, and Montreal Canadiens, the Yankees have helped exemplify the phrase "dynasty" in professional athletics. They are one of two major league franchises which operate in New York City, the other being the New York Mets of the National League. The Yankees have won 26 World Series in 39 appearances; the St. Louis Cardinals and the Athletics franchise are tied for second with 9 World Series victories each, and the Dodgers franchise is second in World Series appearances with 18. Among the North American major sports, the Yankees' success is only approached by the 24 Stanley Cup championships of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League. The Yankees are also the only team that is represented at every position in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Origins

At the end of the 1900 season, the American League re-organized and, with its president Ban Johnson as the driving force, decided to assert itself as a new major league. Previously a minor league (known as the Western League until 1899), the American League carried over five of its previous locations and added three more on the East Coast, including one in Baltimore, Maryland, which had lost its National League team when that league contracted the year before. The intention of Johnson and the American League had been to place a team in New York City, but their efforts had been stymied by the political connections that owners of the National League New York Giants had with Tammany Hall. When the team began play as the Baltimore Orioles in 1901, they were managed by John McGraw. As a result of a feud with league president Ban Johnson, who rigidly enforced rules about rowdyism on the field of play, McGraw jumped leagues to manage the New York Giants in the middle of the 1902 season. A week later the owner of the Giants also gained controlling interest of the Orioles and raided the team for players, after which the league declared the team forfeit and took control, still intending to move the franchise to New York when and if possible. In January 1903, the American and National Leagues held a "peace conference" to settle conflicts over player contract disputes and to agree on future cooperation. The NL also agreed that the "junior circuit" could establish a franchise in New York. The AL's Baltimore franchise became the New York franchise when its new owners, Frank Farrell and William Devery, were able to find a ballpark location not blocked by the Giants. Farrell and Devery both had deep ties into city politics and gambling. Farrell owned a casino and several pool halls, while Devery had served as a blatantly corrupt chief of the New York City police and had only been forced out of the department at the start of 1902.

The Highlanders

The franchise's first park in New York was located at 165th St. and Broadway in Manhattan, near the highest point on the island. Consequently the field was known as Hilltop Park and the team quickly became known as the New York Highlanders. The name was also a reference to the noted British military unit The Gordon Highlanders, as the team president from 1903 to 1906 was named Joseph Gordon. Today the site of the original Hilltop Park is occupied by buildings of the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. As the Highlanders, the team enjoyed success only twice, finishing in second place in 1904 and 1910; but otherwise, much of their first fifteen years in New York was spent in the cellar. Their somewhat tainted ownership, along with the questionable activities of some players, notably first baseman Hal Chase, raised suspicions of game-fixing, but little of that was ever proven. Their best chance came on the last day of the 1904 season, at the Hilltop. New York pitcher Jack Chesbro threw a wild pitch in the ninth inning which allowed the eventual pennant-winning run to score for the Boston Americans. This event had historical significance in several ways. First, the presence of the Highlanders in the race had led the Giants to announce they would not participate in the World Series against a "minor league" team. Although Boston had won the pennant, the Giants still refused to participate. The resulting tongue-lashing of the Giants by the media stung their owner, John T. Brush, who then led a committee that formalized the rules governing the World Series. 1904 was the last year a Series was not played, until the strike-truncated year of 1994. For fans of the team formally named the Red Sox in 1908, the 1904 season-ender would prove to be the last time Boston would defeat the Yankees in a pennant-deciding game for literally a century. From 1913 to 1922 the team would play in the Polo Grounds, a park owned by their National League rivals, the Giants. Relations between the clubs had warmed when the Giants were allowed to lease Hilltop Park while the Polo Grounds was being rebuilt in 1911 following a disastrous fire. During the early 1900s, the nickname "Yankees" was occasionally applied to the club, as a variant on "Americans", verifiably as early as June 21, 1904, when Patsy Dougherty was traded from Boston to New York, and the Boston Herald's report was headlined "Dougherty as a Yankee". That matter-of-fact wording suggests the nickname was already well-known. The New York Herald, on April 15, 1906, reported "Yankees win opening game from Boston, 2-1". The name grew in popularity over the team's first decade. With the change of parks in 1913, the "Highlanders" reference became obsolete, and the de facto team nickname became exclusively "Yankees". Before very long, New York Yankees had become the official nickname of the club. By the mid 1910s, owners Farrell and Devery had become estranged and both were in need of money. At the start of 1915, they sold the team to Colonel Jacob Ruppert and Captain Tillinghast L'Hommedieu Huston. Ruppert was heir to the Ruppert brewery fortune and had also been tied to the Tammany Hall machine, serving as a U.S. Congressman for eight years. Ruppert later said, "For $450,000 we got an orphan ball club, without a home of its own, without players of outstanding ability, without prestige." But now with an owner possessing deep pockets, and a willingness to dig into them to produce a winning team.

The Ruth and Gehrig era

Over the next few years the new owners would begin to enlarge the payroll. Many of the newly acquired players who would later contribute to their success came from the Boston Red Sox, whose owner, theater impresario Harry Frazee, had bought his team on credit and was hard-pressed to pay off his loans and also produce Broadway shows. From 1919 to 1922, the Yankees acquired from the Red Sox pitchers Waite Hoyt, Carl Mays and Herb Pennock; catcher Wally Schang; shortstop Everett Scott; and third baseman Joe Dugan. However, pitcher-turned-outfielder Babe Ruth was the biggest of them all. Frazee traded Ruth in January of 1920, citing Ruth's demand for a raise after being paid the highest salary in baseball, and slumping bat as reasons for the trade. He was also regarded as a problem, a carouser. That would continue during his Yankees years, but the ownership was more tolerant, provided he brought fans and championships to the ballpark. Two of the four Boston newspapers agreed with the deal at the time. The Red Sox did not win a World Series from 1919 until 2004 (see Curse of the Bambino), often finding themselves out of the World Series hunt as a result of the success of the Yankees. Harry Frazee finally found success on Broadway in 1927 with the musical comedy No No Nanette, which included the song "Tea For Two". No No Nanette Other critical newcomers in this period were manager Miller Huggins and general manager Ed Barrow. Huggins was hired in 1919 by Ruppert while Huston was serving in Europe with the army (this would lead to a break between the two owners, with Ruppert eventually buying Huston out in 1923). Barrow came on board after the 1920 season, and like many of the new Yankee players had previously been a part of the Red Sox organization, having managed the team since 1918. Barrow would act as general manager or president of the Yankees for the next 25 years and may deserve the bulk of the credit for the team's success during that period. He was especially noted for development of the Yankees' farm system. The home run hitting exploits of Ruth proved popular with the public, to the extent that the Yankees were soon outdrawing their landlords, the Giants. In 1921 the Yankees were told to move out of the Polo Grounds after the 1922 season. At that time, John McGraw was said to have commented that the Yankees should "move to some out-of-the-way place, like Queens". Instead, to McGraw's chagrin, they broke ground for a new ballpark just across the Harlem River from the Polo Grounds. The construction crew moved with remarkable speed and finished the big new ballpark in less than a year. In 1923 the Yankees moved into Yankee Stadium at 161st St. and River Avenue in the Bronx. The site for the stadium was chosen because the IRT Jerome Avenue subway line, now the MTA's #4 train, went right by there, practically on top of Yankee Stadium's right-field wall. The Stadium was the first triple-deck venue in baseball and seated an astounding 58,000. It was truly "the House that Ruth Built", From 1921 to 1928, the Yankees went through their first period of great success, winning six American League pennants and three World Series. In 1921 through 1923 they faced the Giants in the World Series, losing the first two match-ups but turning the tables in 1923 after the Big Stadium opened. Giants outfielder Casey Stengel, who even then was being called "Old Case", hit two homers to win the two games the Giants came away with. Stengel would later become a "giant" for the Yankees as a manager. The 1927 team was so potent that it became known as "Murderers' Row" and is sometimes considered to have been the best team in the history of baseball (though similar claims have been made for other Yankee squads, notably those of 1939, 1961 and 1998). Ruth's home run total of 60 in 1927 set a single-season record which would stand for 34 years, and first baseman Lou Gehrig had his first big season with 47 round-trippers. The Yankees would repeat as American League champions in 1928, fighting off the resurgent Philadelphia Athletics, and sweep the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. Babe Ruth hit .625 with 3 home runs in that series, while Lou Gehrig hit .545 and belted 4 round-trippers. After three also-ran seasons, the Yankees returned to the American League top perch under new manager Joe McCarthy in 1932 and swept the Chicago Cubs in the World Series, running their streak of consecutive World Series game wins to 12, a mark which would stand until the 2000 Yankees bested it in the World Series that year. Babe Ruth hit his famous "Called Shot" home run in Wrigley Field in Game 3 of that Series, a fitting "Swan Song" to his illustrious post-season career.

The DiMaggio era

The Yankees run during the 1930s could also be facetiously called the "McCarthy era", as manager Joe McCarthy (no relation to the infamous Senator of the same name) would guide the Yankees to new heights. Just as Gehrig stepped out of Ruth's considerable shadow, a new titan appeared on the horizon, in the person of Joe DiMaggio. The young center fielder from San Francisco was an immediate impact player, batting .323, hitting 29 homers and driving in 125 runs in his rookie season of 1936. Behind the thundering Yankees bats of DiMaggio, Gehrig and Frank Crosetti, and a superb pitching staff led by Red Ruffing and Lefty Gomez and anchored by catcher Bill Dickey, the Yankees reeled off an unprecedented four consecutive World Series wins during 1936-1939. They did it without Gehrig for most of 1939, as the superstar's retirement due to ALS saddened the baseball world. The strongest competition for the Yankees during that stretch was the Detroit Tigers, who won two pennants before that Yankees four-year stretch, and one after. When the Yankees did get into the Series, they had little trouble. During Game 2 of the 1936 Series, they pounded the Giants 18-4, still the World Series record (through 2005) for most runs by a team in one game. They took the Giants 4 games to 2 in that Series, and 4 games to 1 the next year. They also swept the Chicago Cubs in 1938, and the Cincinnati Reds in 1939. After an off season came the Summer of 1941, a much-celebrated year, often described by sportswriters as the last great year of the "Golden Era", before World War II and other realities intervened. Ted Williams of the Red Sox was in the hunt for the elusive .400 batting average, which he achieved on the last day of the season. Meanwhile, DiMaggio, who had once hit in 61 straight games as a minor leaguer with the San Francisco Seals, began a hitting streak on May 15 which stretched to an astonishing 56 games. A popular song by Les Brown celebrated this event, as Betty Bonney and the band members sang it: "He tied the mark at 44 / July the First, you know / Since then he's hit a good 12 more / Joltin' Joe DiMaggio / Joe, Joe DiMaggio, we want you on our side." The last game of the streak came on July 16 at Cleveland's League Park. The streak was finally snapped in a game at Cleveland Stadium the next night before a huge crowd at the lakefront. Modern baseball historians regard it as unlikely that anyone will ever hit .400 again, barring a change to the way the game is played; and as virtually impossible that anyone will approach DiMaggio's 56-game streak, which is so far beyond second place (44) as to be almost a statistical anomaly. The Yankees made short work of the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1941 Series. Two months and one day after the final game of the Yanks' 4 to 1 win, the Pearl Harbor attacks occurred, and many of the best ballplayers went off to World War II. The war-thinned ranks of the major leagues nonetheless found the Yanks in the post-season again, as they traded World Series wins with the St. Louis Cardinals during 1942 and 1943. The Yanks then went into a bit of a slump, and manager McCarthy was let go early in the 1946 season. After a couple of interim managers had come and gone, Bucky Harris was brought in and the Yankees righted the ship again, winning the 1947 pennant and facing a much-tougher Dodgers team than their 1941 counterparts, in a Series that went seven games and was a harbinger of things to come for much of the next decade. Despite finishing only 3 games back of the pennant-winning Cleveland Indians in 1948, Harris was released, and the Yankees brought in Casey Stengel as their manager. Casey had a reputation for being somewhat of a clown and had been associated with managing excruciatingly bad teams such as the mid-1930s Boston Braves, so his selection was met with no little skepticism. His tenure would prove to the most successful in the Yankees' history up to that point. The 1949 season is another that has been written about poetically, as a Yankees team that was seen as "underdogs" came from behind to catch and surpass the powerful Red Sox on the last two days of the season, in a faceoff that could be said to be the real beginning of the modern intense rivalry between these teams. The post-season proved to be a bit easier, as the Yankees knocked off their cross-town Flatbush rivals 4 games to 1. By this time, the Great DiMaggio's career was winding down. It has often been reported that he said he wanted to retire before he became an "ordinary" player. He was also hampered by bone spurs in his heel, which hastened the final docking of the "Yankee Clipper". As if on cue, new superstars began arriving, including the "Oklahoma Kid", Mickey Mantle, whose first year (1951) was DiMaggio's curtain call.

The 1950s and 1960s

Bettering the McCarthy-era clubs, Stengel's squad won the World Series in his first five years as manager, 1949 through 1953. The five consecutive championships won by the Yankees during this period remains the major league record. Led by players like center fielder Mickey Mantle, pitcher Whitey Ford, and catcher Yogi Berra, Stengel's teams won 10 pennants and seven World Series titles in his twelve seasons as Yankee manager. The 1950s were also a decade of significant individual achievement for Yankee players. In 1956, Mantle won the major league triple crown, leading both leagues in batting average (.353), home runs (52), and RBIs (130). On October 8, 1956, in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series against the Dodgers, pitcher Don Larsen threw the only perfect game in World Series history. Not only was it the only perfect game to be pitched in World Series play, it remains the only no-hitter of any kind to be pitched in postseason play. The Yankees went on to win yet another World Series that season, and Larsen earned World Series MVP honors. Yankee players also dominated the American League MVP award, with a Yankee claiming ownership six times in the decade (1950 Rizzuto, 1951 Berra, 1954 Berra, 1955 Berra, 1956 Mantle, 1957 Mantle). Pitcher Bob Turley also won the Cy Young Award in 1958, the award's third year of existence. For the decade, the Yankees won six World Series championships ('50, 51, '52, '53, '56, '58) and eight American League pennants. Led by Mantle, Ford, Berra, Elston Howard, and the newly acquired Roger Maris, the Yankees burst into the new decade seeking to replicate the remarkable success of the 1950s. However, the Yankees lost the 1960 World Series in heartbreaking fashion when Bill Mazeroski hit a game-winning, series-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7 off Ralph Terry. It remains the only Game 7, walk-off home run in World Series history. Stengel was blamed for the World Series loss for failing to start his ace, Ford, three times in the Series, and was replaced as manager with Ralph Houk prior to the 1961 season. Stengel himself, who had reached his seventh decade in July of that year, clearly thought the issue was age discrimination, remarking, "I'll never make the mistake of turning 70 again." Yogi Berra's assessment of the loss was the equally famous comment, "We made too many wrong mistakes." During the 1960-61 offseason, a seemingly innocuous development may have marked the beginning of the end for this Yankees dynasty. In December of 1960, Chicago insurance executive Charlie Finley purchased the Kansas City Athletics from the estate of Arnold Johnson, who had died that March. Johnson had acquired the then-Philadelphia Athletics from the family of Connie Mack in 1954. He was the owner of Yankee Stadium at the time, but was forced to sell the stadium by American League owners as a condition of purchasing the Athletics. Johnson was also a longtime business associate of then-Yankees owners Del Webb and Dan Topping. During Johnson's ownership, the Athletics traded many young players to the Yankees for cash and aging veterans. Maris had been acquired by the Yankees in one such trade. Many fans, and even other teams, frequently accused the Athletics of being operated as an effective farm team for the Yankees. Once Finley purchased the Athletics, he immediately terminated the team's "special relationship" with the Yankees. In the meantime, 1961 was one of the greatest years in Yankee history. Throughout the summer, Mantle and reigning-MVP Roger Maris hit home runs at a record pace as both chased Babe Ruth's single season home run record of 60. The duo's home run prowess led the media and fans to christen them 'The M & M Boys.' Ultimately, Mantle was forced to bow out in mid-September with 54 home runs when a severe hip infection forced him from the lineup. On October 1, 1961, on the final day of the season, Maris broke the record when he sent a pitch from Boston's Tracy Stallard into the right field stands at Yankee Stadium for his 61st home run. However, by decree of Commissioner Ford Frick, separate single-season home run records were maintained to reflect the fact that Ruth hit his 60 home runs during a 154-game season, while Maris hit his 61 in the first year of the new 162-game season. Some 30 years later, on September 4, 1991, an 8-member Committee for Historical Accuracy appointed by Major League Baseball did away with the dual records, giving Maris sole possession of the single-season home run record until it was broken by Mark McGwire on September 8, 1998. (McGwire's record was later broken by Barry Bonds, whose 73 home runs in 2001 remain the major league record. Maris still holds the American League record.) The Yankees won the pennant with a 109-53 record and went on to defeat the Cincinnati Reds in five games to win the 1961 World Series. The 109 regular season wins posted by the '61 club remain the third highest single-season total in franchise history, behind only the 1998 team's 114 regular season wins and 1927 team's 110 wins. The 1961 Yankees also clubbed a then-major league record for most home runs by a team with 240, a total not surpassed until the 1996 Baltimore Orioles hit 257 with the aid of the designated hitter. Maris won his second consecutive MVP Award while Whitey Ford captured the Cy Young. Because of the excellence of Maris, Mantle, and World Series-MVP Ford, a fine pitching staff, stellar team defense, the team's amazing depth and power, and their overall dominance, the 1961 Yankees are universally considered to be one of the greatest teams in the history of baseball, compared often to their pinstriped-brethren, the 1927 Yankees, the 1939 Yankees, and the 1998 Yankees. In 1962, the Yankees won their second consecutive World Series, defeating the San Francisco Giants in seven games. The Yanks would again reach the Fall Classic in 1963, but were swept in four games by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Behind World Series-MVP Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, and Johnny Podres, the Dodgers starting pitchers threw four complete games and combined to give up just four runs all Series. This was the first time the Yankees were swept in a World Series. Feeling burnt out after the season, Houk left the manager's chair to become the team's general manager and Berra, who himself had just retired from playing, was named the new manager of the Yankees. The aging Yankees returned to the World Series in 1964 to face the St. Louis Cardinals in a Series immortalized by David Halberstam's book, October 1964. Despite a valiant performance by Mantle, including a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth of Game 3 off Cardinals' reliever Barney Schultz, the Yankees fell to the Cardinals in seven games. It was to be the last World Series appearance by the Yankees for 12 years. After the 1964 season, CBS purchased the Yankees from Topping and Webb for $11.2 million. Jokesters at the time wondered if Walter Cronkite would become the manager, perhaps with Yogi Berra doing the newscasts. Topping and Webb had owned the Yankees for 20 years, missing the World Series only 5 times, and going 10-5 in the World Series. By contrast, the CBS-owned teams never went to the World Series, and in the first year of the new ownership - 1965 - the Yankees finished in the second division for the first time in 40 years; the introduction of the major league amateur draft in 1965 also meant that the Yankees could no longer sign any player they wanted. In 1966 the team finished last in the AL for the first time since 1912, and next-to-last the following year. After that the team's fortunes improved somewhat, but they would not become serious contenders again until 1974.

Return to glory

George Steinbrenner purchased the club for $10 million on January 3, 1973 from CBS, renovated Yankee Stadium, hired and fired Billy Martin a number of times, feuded with star outfielder Reggie Jackson, and presided over the resurgence of the Yankees in the late '70s. Jackson's three home runs in the sixth and final game of the 1977 World Series against three different Dodger pitchers (earning him the nickname "Mr. October") defined the period as much as Martin and Steinbrenner. The race for the pennant often came to a close competition between the Yankees and the Red Sox, and for fans of both clubs, a game between the two teams (whether in the regular season or post-season championship games) was cause for a rivalry that was often bitter and ruthless, with brawls frequently erupting between both players and fans from the two clubs. The Yankees-Red Sox rivalry came to a head in the 1978 season, when the two clubs finished the regular season in a tie for first place in the AL East. A playoff game between the two teams was held to decide who would go on to the pennant, with the game being held at Boston's Fenway Park (because the Red Sox had won more head-to-head games between the two teams that season). The Yankees won the day, driving a stake through the hearts of their rivals' fans when Bucky Dent drove a game-winning home run over the "Green Monster," one of several emotional moments in the team's history that had Red Sox fans wondering if their team was under some kind of a curse.

A new dynasty

The Yankees entered the 1990s as a last-place team, having spent well but not always wisely on free-agent players since their last appearance in the World Series in 1981. During the 1980s the Yankees had the most total wins out of any major league team, but failed to win a World Series (the first such decade since the 1910s). In 1990, Yankee pitcher Andy Hawkins became the first Yankees pitcher ever to lose a no-hitter, when the third baseman committed an error, followed by 2 walks and an error by the left fielder (Deion Sanders, later of NFL fame) with the bases loaded, scoring all 3 runners as well as the batter. The 4-0 loss was the largest margin of any no-hitter loss in the 20th century. The bad judgment and bad luck of the '80s and early '90s started to change when, while owner Steinbrenner was under suspension, management was able to implement a coherent program without interference from above. Under general managers Gene Michael and Bob Watson and manager Buck Showalter, the club shifted its emphasis from buying talent to developing talent through its farm system and then holding onto it. The first significant sign of success came in 1994, when the Yankees had the best record in the AL when the season was cut short by the players' strike. A year later, the team reached the playoffs as the wild card and was eliminated only after a memorable series against the Seattle Mariners. Showalter left after the 1995 season due to personality clashes with Steinbrenner and his staff and was replaced by Joe Torre. Initially derided as a retread choice ("Clueless Joe" ran the headline on one of the city's tabloid newspapers), Torre's smooth manner proved out as he led the Yankees to a World Series victory in 1996, defeating the Atlanta Braves in six games. General manager Bob Watson was dismissed when the Yankees failed to repeat in 1997 and was replaced by Brian Cashman, a former Yankees intern. However, the foundation laid by Michael and Watson of players like Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Bernie Williams was a significant factor in the Yankees' return to prominence. Other prominent members of the late 1990s championships teams acquired through trades included Paul O'Neill, David Cone, Tino Martinez, John Wetteland, Chuck Knoblauch, and Roger Clemens, while Jimmy Key, Wade Boggs, David Wells, Mike Stanton, and Orlando "El Duque" Hernández were signed as free agents. The 1998-2000 Yankees were the first team to "three-peat" with World Series victories since the Oakland Athletics of the early 1970s. In 1998 and 1999, they swept the San Diego Padres and Atlanta Braves, respectively. In 2000, the Yankees met up with cross-town New York Mets for the first Subway Series since 1956 and won four games to one. In these four World Series victories, the Yankees won fourteen straight games. The Yankees are the most recent major league team to repeat as World Series champions. The 1998 Yankees are widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest teams in baseball history, having compiled a then-AL record of 114 regular season wins against just 48 losses (the record was later broken by the 2001 Seattle Mariners, who won 116 games) en route to a World Series sweep of the Padres. The '98 Yankees went 11-2 during the playoffs and finished with a combined record of 125-50, a major league record.
- Won 1998 World Series (4-0) over San Diego Padres
- Won ALCS (4-2) over Cleveland Indians
- Won ALDS (3-0) over Texas Rangers

The 21st century

In the emotional October 2001, following the September 11 attack on New York City's World Trade Center, the Yankees defeated the Oakland Athletics 3 games to 2 in the Division Series, and then the Seattle Mariners in the ALCS, 4 games to 1. But, the usually unhittable Mariano Rivera shockingly blew the lead - and World Series - to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the bottom of the 9th inning of Game 7. Arizona manager Bob Brenly used his pitching staff, which included Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, very effectively. In addition, the usually potent Yankee attack turned ice-cold. In 2003, the Yankees defeated their long-time rival the Boston Red Sox in a tough seven-game ALCS, which featured a near-brawl in Game 3 and a series-ending walk-off home run by Aaron Boone in the 11th inning of the final game, only to be defeated by the Florida Marlins - a team with a payroll a quarter of the size of the Yankees' - in the World Series, 4 games to 2. The loss in the 2001 World Series effectively marked the end of the 1990s Yankee dynasty, as lynchpin players began to retire, not be re-signed, or traded. The Yankees' quick ejection from the 2002 playoffs at the hands of the Anaheim Angels accelerated the changes, as ownership and management began to look increasingly on free agent acquisitions and major trades. The trend continued after the 2003 World Series, culminating when the Yankees traded for the nominal "best player in baseball", Alex Rodriguez, in February 2004. Other significant acquisitions during 2002 to 2004 included Jason Giambi, Hideki Matsui, Gary Sheffield, Kevin Brown, and Javier Vázquez. In the 2004 American League Championship Series against the Red Sox, the Yankees became the first team in professional baseball history, and only the third team in North American pro sports history (it happened in the NHL twice), to lose a best-of-7 series after taking a 3-0 series lead. After the 2004 World Series, the Yankees needed to improve their pitching, which suffered in the huge collapse to the Red Sox. They signed pitchers Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright. The Yankees also acquired dominant lefty Randy Johnson from the Arizona Diamondbacks. The 2005 season didn't start as it expected to be, once they were in last place in the American League East division. Pavano and Wright struggled, so did Johnson. As the season went on, the Yankees got better and slugger Jason Giambi started to hit again. Most of the season, the Yankees were chasing the Boston Red Sox for the division title. The Yankees seemed destined to win the division, and they did. In the 2005 Division Series, the Angels defeated the Yankees in five games in the first round of the postseason, winning the final game by a score of 5-3. After the 2005 season, the Yankees needed to get younger and more athletic. In the 2005-2006 offseason, general manager Brian Cashman took control of the Yankees, because owner George Steinbrenner and his advisors signed older talented players after the 2001 season. From the end of the 2005 World Series to December 2005, the baseball world noticed that the Yankees were patient with signing free agents. Many explanations have been given for the lack of Yankee World Series titles since 2000. These include depletion of the Yankee farm system because of trades and free agent acquisitions, the aging or departure of the players who had formed the core of the Yankees during the late 1990s, and allegedly poor coaching. Buster Olney, in his book The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty, argues that George Steinbrenner's management style resulted in the players burning out psychologically. Several sabermetricians have argued that success in the playoffs is largely the result of luck. This argument is bolstered by the fact that the production of the Yankees' core players has decreased steadily since their 1996 World Series title. One particularly creative explanation jokingly proposed by blogger Larry Mahnken is the "Curse of Clay Bellinger". By analogy with the Curse of the Bambino, Mahnken points to the departure of utility player Clay Bellinger from the Yankee roster following the 2001 season and asserts that the Yankees will never again win the World Series until either they make amends to Bellinger or they win the championship anyway. The tautology is part of the joke. Despite their most recent drought in World Series championships, the Yankees have continued to perform well in the regular season, recently winning their eighth straight AL East division title. In September 2005, the club set a new American League home attendance record of 4,090,696. The Yankees are only the third franchise in sports history to draw over 4 million in regular season attendance at their own ballpark (the others being the 1993 Toronto Blue Jays with 4,057,947 and the 1993 Colorado Rockies with 4,483,350).

Controversy

The Yankees are a notable team not only for their impressive history on the field, but also for their financial situation. The current ownership spends more on player salaries than any other franchise in baseball. As of 2005, the team payroll is more than $208 million, which is $85 million more than the second-highest team, the Red Sox, and more than the five lowest-payroll teams combined [http://www.onestopbaseball.com/TeamPayroll.asp]. Frustrated after being outbid for pitcher Jose Contreras prior to the 2003 season, Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino even went so far as to dub the Yankees the "Evil Empire," a characterization that is primarily popular among Red Sox fans. It is a heated debate whether the Yankees' free-spending is positive or negative for baseball, and whether a strict salary cap would make the sport fairer and increase parity among the large-market and small-market teams. The following are arguments for and against these spending practices: For:
- The Yankees are "America's Team." They give the casual, or "bandwagon," baseball fan someone to root for when he/she does not have a local favorite.
- As "America's Team" the Yankees give other baseball fans a team to "hate" or root against, thereby further generating interest in baseball games involving the Yankees and baseball in general.
- New York, as the largest market with the highest revenues, should spend in accordance with their vast resources. It has also been argued that the New York Mets, because they share the same market, could spend at a higher level if their owner was inclined to do so, and therefore the Yankees spending reflects Steinbrenner's greater commitment to winning rather than a singular advantage over all other teams.[http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0421,essay,53773,1.html]
- The Yankees drive attendance, merchandise sales and TV revenues, helping to subsidize less-profitable teams.
- In a free-market society, an owner who wishes to spend as much as he/she wants should not be restricted from doing so. Against:
- Allowing one team to bid highly for the best talent makes it more difficult for lower-spending teams (primarily in smaller metropolitan areas) to compete.
- The willingness of the Yankees to pay premium prices for top talent encourages players and their agents to demand unreasonably high prices, further diluting talent throughout the rest of the league. This phenomenon even causes the Yankees to announce their intentions not to pursue certain free agents (e.g. Manny Ramirez, Pedro Martinez), who might otherwise freely use the potentiality as a bargaining chip.
- American football's example of balanced salaries, correlated with its now-massive parity and mainstream impact, demonstrates that keeping athletic salaries fair is good for the sport and therefore everyone - TV outlets, owners, fans. It may be argued that the most recent splurge in spending corresponds neatly with the bargained rules governing MLB ownership that entitled other teams to begin revenue sharing with the Yankees. George Steinbrenner has ignored the increasing penalty of a Luxury Tax. In 2003, the Office of Foreign Assets Control reported that the Yankees engaged in illegal trade with Cuba and had to settle with the United States government for US$75,000 [http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/04/14/enemy.trading/index.html].

Quick facts

:Founded: As the Indianapolis, Indiana franchise of the Western League, originally a farm team of the Cincinnati Reds. In 1901, became the Baltimore, Maryland franchise in the newly created American League. Moved to New York City before the 1903 season. :Formerly known as: Baltimore Orioles, 1901-1902. New York Highlanders, 1903-1910, "Yankees" as early as 1904, used more and more interchangeably with "Highlanders" as their first decade in New York progressed. :Nicknames: Yanks, Bronx Bombers, Men in Pinstripes :Home ballpark: Yankee Stadium, at 161st Street and River Avenue in the Bronx, New York City, from 1923 to the present, excluding two years in the 1970s during renovation. Also played at the original Oriole Park in Baltimore, 1901-1902; Hilltop Park in Manhattan, New York City, 1903-1912; the Polo Grounds in Manhattan, 1913-1922; and Shea Stadium in Queens, New York City, 1974-1975. They are slated to move into a newer Yankee Stadium modeled after the old one in time for the 2009 season. :Uniform design: Home uniform is white with distinctive pinstripes and a navy blue interlocking "NY" at the chest. Away uniform is gray with "New York" written in capitals across the chest. The player number is on the back of the uniform jersey and is not accompanied by the player name. (The interlocking NY was used by the New York Knicks on their warmup jackets, and later shorts from the 1960s to the early 1990s.) :Logo design: An interlocking "NY" (based on an element of the original Tiffany design of the New York Police Department's Medal of Honor). Another team logo is "Yankees" written in red script across the seams of a baseball, which is outlined in red. A baseball bat forms the straight edge of the "k" in "Yankees" and an "Uncle Sam" style top hat covers the barrel of the bat. The inside lip of the top hat, originally blue, has mostly been reproduced in white since the mid-1970s. :Team theme song: "Here Come the Yankees" (1967), composed by Bob Bundin and Lou Stallman. "New York, New York" is played at the end of each home game (Frank Sinatra's version is usually played following victories; Liza Minnelli's original version following losses). :Cable Television Network: YES Network :All-time regular season record (1901-2005): 9192 won - 7029 lost - 87 tied - 3 no-decision :
- Baltimore record (1901-02): 118-153-2 :
- New York record (1903- ): 9074-6876-85-3

Baseball Hall of Famers

Monument Park

The following personalities are honored with monuments or plaques in Monument Park, located behind the left-center field fence at Yankee Stadium, between the bullpens. Monuments, rather than plaques, are generally awarded only to the greatest of the great, and then only after their deaths. Many of these figures also had their uniform numbers retired. Such ceremonies often take place either at home openers or on Old-Timers' Day. Figures are listed in the order in which their plaques were dedicated:
- Miller Huggins, manager 1918-29, monument dedicated May 30, 1932. This monument was originally placed on the field of play, in front of the center-field flagpole. Huggins never wore a number on his uniform, and so no number is retired for him.
- Jacob Ruppert, owner 1915-39, plaque dedicated April 19, 1940. This plaque was placed on the outfield wall, to the right of the flagpole.
- Lou Gehrig, first baseman 1923-39, number 4 retired July 4, 1939, monument dedicated July 6, 1941. This monument was placed to the left of the Huggins monument. Gehrig was the first Major League Baseball player to have his uniform number retired.
- Babe Ruth, right fielder 1920-34, number 3 retired June 13, 1948, monument dedicated April 19, 1949. This monument was placed to the right of the Huggins monument. The three monuments together were about 450 feet from home plate, but a ball would occasionally get back there, leading Casey Stengel, on one occasion, to yell from the dugout, "Ruth! Gehrig! Huggins! Somebody throw that ball back here!"
- Ed Barrow, general manager 1921-46, plaque dedicated April 15, 1954. The plaque was placed on the wall, to the left of the flagpole.
- Joe DiMaggio, center fielder 1936-51, number 5 retired April 18, 1952, plaque dedicated June 8, 1969, replaced by a monument April 25, 1999.
- Mickey Mantle, center fielder 1951-68, number 7 retired and plaque dedicated June 8, 1969, replaced by a monument August 25, 1996. Mantle was awarded his plaque on Mickey Mantle Day, handed to him by DiMaggio. Mantle then handed DiMaggio his plaque, saying, "His oughta be just a little bit higher than mine." Instead, they were placed side-by-side on the wall. These were the last plaques to be placed in play. Following the 1974-75 renovation of Yankee Stadium, the monuments and plaques were moved to the new Monument Park.
- Joe McCarthy, manager 1931-46, plaque dedicated April 29, 1976. Although the Yankees adopted uniform numbers in 1929, McCarthy never wore a number as Yankee manager, and so no number has been retired for him.
- Casey Stengel, manager 1949-60, number 37 retired August 8, 1970, plaque dedicated July 30, 1976.
- Thurman Munson, catcher 1969-79, number 15 retired August 2, 1979, plaque dedicated September 20, 1980.
- Elston Howard, outfielder and catcher 1955-67, coach 1969-80, number 32 retired and plaque dedicated July 21, 1984.
- Roger Maris, outfielder 1960-66, number 9 retired and plaque dedicated July 21, 1984, in the same ceremony as Howard's.
- Phil Rizzuto, shortstop 1941-56 and broadcaster 1957-96, number 10 retired and plaque dedicated Aug

Baseball

Baseball is a team sport, a bat-and-ball game, in which a hard, fist-sized ball is thrown by a defensive player called a pitcher from a pitcher's mound 60 1/2 feet away, to an offensive player called a batter, who stands at a plate (called home base) and attempts to hit it with a tapered, cylindrical, smooth stick called a bat. The ball itself is also called a baseball. Scoring is accomplished by the batter running and touching a series of four markers on the ground called bases without being tagged by a player with a ball or being forced out for some other reason. Baseball is sometimes called hardball to differentiate it from the closely related sport of softball and other similar games. similar games.]] similar games" can be seen lurking on the right side of this picture]] Baseball is popular in the Americas and East Asia. In Japan, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Panama, Venezuela, South Korea, and Taiwan, it is one of the most popular sports by any measurement. In the United States, baseball has long been regarded as more than just a "major sport" - it is the national pastime and Major League Baseball has been given a unique monopoly status by the U.S. Congress; the total attendance for Major League games is roughly equal to that of all other American professional team sports combined. Among American television viewers, however, baseball has been surpassed in popularity (in terms of television ratings) by American football. Although three of the four most popular sports in North America are ball games (baseball, basketball and American football), baseball's popularity grew so great that the word "ballgame" in the United States almost always refers to a game of baseball, and "ballpark" to a baseball field.

Introduction

Gameplay

A simplified version of the rules of baseball is at simplified baseball rules. Also visit [http://www.mlb.com www.mlb.com], the official web site of Major League Baseball in the United States, where you can view clips of baseball being played.

General structure

simplified baseball rules Baseball is played between two teams of nine players each on a baseball field, usually under the authority of one or more officials, called umpires. There are usually four umpires in major league games; up to six (and as few as one) may officiate depending on the league and the importance of the game. There are four bases. Numbered counter-clockwise, first, second and third bases are cushions (sometimes informally referred to as bags) shaped as 15 in (38 cm) squares which are raised a short distance above the ground; together with home plate, the fourth "base," they form a square with sides of 90 ft (27.4 m) called the diamond. Home base (plate) is a pentagonal rubber slab known as simply home. The field is divided into two main sections: the infield containing the four bases is bounded by the foul line and the grass line (see figure); and the outfield which is the grassed area beyond the infield grass line, between the foul line, and bounded by a wall or fence. The area between the foul lines, including the foul lines (the foul lines are in fair territory), is fair territory, and the area outside the foul lines is foul territory. The game is played in nine innings in which each team gets one turn to bat and try to score runs while the other pitches and defends in the field. In baseball, the defense always has the ball -- a fact that differentiates it from most other team sports. The teams switch every time the defending team gets three players of the batting team out. The winner is the team with the most runs after nine innings. In the case of a tie, additional innings are played until one team comes out ahead. At the start of the game, all nine players of the home team play the field, while players on the visiting team come to bat one at a time. out The basic contest is always between the pitcher for the fielding team, and a batter. The pitcher throws—pitches—the ball towards home plate, where the catcher for the fielding team waits (in a crouched stance) to receive it. Behind the catcher stands the home plate umpire. The batter stands in one of the batter's boxes and tries to hit the ball with a bat. The pitcher must keep one foot in contact with the top or side of the pitcher's rubber—a 24" x 6" (~ 61 cm x 15 cm) plate located atop the pitcher's mound—during the entire pitch, so he can only take one step forward in delivering the ball. The catcher's job is to receive any ball that the batter misses or does not swing at, and to "call" the game by a series of hand movements that signal to the pitcher what pitch to throw and where. If the pitcher disagrees with the call, he will "shake off" the catcher by shaking his head no; he accepts the sign by nodding. The catcher's role becomes more crucial depending on how the game is going, and how the pitcher responds to a given situation. Each pitch begins a new play, which might consist of nothing more than the pitch itself. Each half-inning, the goal of the defending team is to get three members of the other team out. A player who is out must leave the field and wait for his next turn at bat. There are many ways to get batters and baserunners out; some of the most common are catching a batted ball in the air, tag outs, force outs, and strikeouts. After the fielding team has put out three players from the opposing team, that half of the inning is over and the team in the field and the team at bat switch places; there is no upper limit to the number that may bat in rotation before three outs are recorded. Going through the entire order in an inning is referred to as "batting around". It is indicative of a high scoring inning. A complete inning consists of each opposing side having a turn (three outs) on offense. The goal of the team at bat is to score more runs than the opposition; a player may do so only by batting, then becoming a base runner, touching all the bases in order (via one or more plays), and finally touching home plate. To that end, the goal of each batter is to enable baserunners to score or to become a baserunner himself. The batter attempts to hit the ball into fair territory—between the baselines—in such a way that the defending players cannot get them or the baserunners out. In general, the pitcher attempts to prevent this by pitching the ball in such a way that the batter cannot hit it cleanly or, ideally, at all. A baserunner who successfully touches home plate after touching all previous bases in order scores a run. In an enclosed field, a fair ball hit over the fence on the fly is normally an automatic home run, which entitles the batter and all runners to touch all the bases and score. A home run hit with all bases occupied ('bases loaded') is called a grand slam.

Fielding team

See also: Baseball positions | Baseball positioning The team in the field is the defensive team; they attempt to prevent the baserunners from scoring. There are nine defensive positions, however, only two of the positions have a mandatory location (pitcher and catcher), the locations of the other seven fielders is not specified by the rules, except that at the moment the pitch is delivered they must be positioned in fair territory. These fielders often shift their positioning in response to specific batters or game situations, and they may exchange positions with one another at any time. The nine positions are: pitcher, catcher, first baseman, second baseman, third baseman, shortstop, left fielder, center fielder, and right fielder. Scorekeepers label each position with a number starting with the pitcher (1), catcher (2), first baseman (3), second baseman (4), third baseman (5), shortstop (6), left fielder (7), center fielder (8), right fielder (9). This convention was established by Henry Chadwick. The reason the shortstop seems out of order has to do with the way fielders positioned themselves in the early years of the game.

The battery

The battery is composed of the pitcher, who stands on the rubber of the mound, and the catcher, who squats behind home plate. These are the two fielders who always deal directly with the batter on every pitch, hence the term "battery", coined by Henry Chadwick and later reinforced by the implied comparison to artillery fire. The pitcher's main role is to pitch the ball toward home plate with the goal of getting the batter out. Pitchers also play defense by fielding batted balls, covering bases (for a potential tag out or force out on an approaching runner), or backing up throws. The catcher's main role is to receive the pitch if the batter does not hit it. Together with the pitcher and coaches, the catcher plots game strategy by suggesting different pitches and by shifting the starting positions of the other fielders. Catchers are also responsible for defense in the area near home plate.

The infielders

The four infielders are the first baseman, second baseman, shortstop, and third baseman. Originally the first, second and third basemen played very near their respective bases, and the shortstop generally played "in" (hence the term), covering the area between second, third, and the pitchers box, or wherever the game situation required. As the game evolved, the fielding positions changed to the now-familiar "umbrella", with the first and third baseman generally positioned a short distance toward second base from their bases, the second baseman to the right side of second base, and the shortstop playing to the left of second base, as seen from the batter's perspective, filling in the gaps. The first baseman's job consists largely of making force plays at first base on ground balls hit to the other infielders. When an infielder picks up a ball from the ground hit by the batter, he must throw it to the first baseman before the batter gets to the base for the batter to be out. The first baseman also fields balls hit near first base. The first baseman also has to receive throws from the pitcher in order to tag runners out who have reached base safely. The position is less physically challenging than the other positions, but there is still a lot of skill involved. Infielders don't always make good throws to first base, so it is the first baseman's job to field any ball thrown toward him cleanly. Older players who can no longer fulfill the demands of their original positions also often become first basemen. The second baseman covers the area to the right of second base and provides backup for the first baseman in bunt situations. He/She also is a cut-off for the outfield. This is when the outfielder doesn't have to throw the full distance from him/her to the base, but just to the cut-off. The shortstop fills the critical gap between second and third bases—where right-handed batters generally hit ground balls—and also covers second or third base and the near part of left field. This player is also a cut-off for the outfield. This position is the most demanding defensively, so a good shortstop doesn't need to necessarily be a good batter. The third baseman's primary requirement is a strong throwing arm, in order to make the long throw across the infield to the first baseman. Quick reaction time is also important for third basemen, as they tend to see more sharply hit balls than the other infielders.

The outfielders

The three outfielders, left fielder, center fielder, and right fielder, are so named from the catcher's perspective looking out onto the field. The right fielder generally has the strongest arm of all the outfielders due to the need to make throws on runners attempting to take third base. The center fielder has more territory to cover than the corner outfielders, so this player must be quick and agile with a strong arm to throw balls in to the infield; as with the shortstop, teams tend to emphasize defense at this position. Also, the center fielder is considered the outfield leader, and left- and right-fielders often cede to his direction when fielding fly balls. Of all outfielders, the left fielder often has the weakest arm, as they generally do not need to throw the ball as far in order to prevent the advance of any baserunners. The left fielder still requires good fielding and catching skills, and tends to receive more balls than the right fielder due to the fact that right-handed hitters, who are much more common, tend to "pull" the ball into left field. The left fielder also backs up third base on pick-off attempts from the catcher.

Defensive strategy

Pitching

catcher Main article: Pitching Effective pitching is vitally important to a baseball team, as pitching is the key for the defensive team to retire batters and to preventing runners from getting on base. A full game usually involves over one hundred pitches thrown by each team. However, most pitchers begin to tire before they reach this point. In previous eras, pitchers would often throw up to four complete games (all nine innings) in a week. With new advances in medical research and thus a better understanding of how the human body functions and tires out, starting pitchers tend to throw fractions of a game (typically 6 or 7 innings depending on their performance) about every five days. Multiple pitchers are often needed in a single game, including the starting pitcher and relief pitcher(s). Pitchers are substituted for one another like any other player (see below), and the rules do not limit the number of pitchers that can be used in a game; the only limiting factor is the size of the squad, naturally. In general, starting pitchers are not used in relief situations except sometimes during the post-season when every game is vital. If a game runs into many extra innings, a team may well empty its bullpen. If it then becomes necessary to use a "position player" as a pitcher, major league teams generally have certain players pre-designated as emergency relief pitchers, to avoid making a mockery of the game. In baseball's early years, squads were smaller, and relief pitchers were relatively uncommon, with the starter normally remaining for the entire game unless he was either thoroughly ineffective or became injured; today, with a much greater emphasis on pitch count (100 being the "magic number" in general), over the course of a single game each team will frequently use from two to five pitchers. In the 2005 ALCS, all four of the Chicago White Sox victories were complete games by the starters, a highly noteworthy event in the modern game. Although a pitcher can only take one step forward while delivering the ball, the pitcher has a great arsenal at his disposal in the variation of location, velocity, movement, and arm location (see types of pitches). Most pitchers attempt to master two or three types of pitches; some pitchers throw up to 6 types of pitches with varying degrees of control. Common pitches include a fastball, which is the ball thrown at just under maximum velocity; a curveball, which is made to curve by rotation imparted by the pitcher; and a change-up, which is a slower version of a fastball. To illustrate pitching strategy, consider the "fastball/change-up" combination: The average major-league pitcher can throw a fast ball around 90 miles per hour (145 km/h), and a few pitchers have even exceeded 100 miles per hour (161 km/h). The change-up is thrown somewhere between 75 to 85 miles per hour (121 to 137 km/h). Since the batter's timing is critical to hitting a pitch, a batter swinging to hit what looks like a fast ball, would be terribly fooled (swing and miss, hopefully) when the pitch turns out to be a much slower change-up. Some pitchers choose to throw using the 'submarine style,' a very efficient sidearm or near-underhand motion. Pitchers with a submarine delivery are often very difficult to hit because of the angle and movement of the ball once released. They cannot generate the amount of power that an overhand delivery can bring, so they depend on placement and keeping the batter "off balance". There are exceptions. Walter Johnson, who threw one of the fastest fast balls in the history of the game, threw sidearm (though not submarine) rather than a normal overhand.

Fielding strategy

Since only the pitcher and catcher location is fixed, the other players on the field move around as needed to defend against scoring a run. Many variations of this are possible, as location depends upon the "situation." "Situation" refers to immediate circumstances of play, and includes: the number of outs, the count (balls and strikes) on the batter, the number and speed of runners, the ability of the fielders, the ability of the pitcher, the type of pitch thrown, the inning, home versus visiting team, and others. As the situation dictates, the fielders move to more strategic locations. Common defensive situations include: playing for the bunt, trying to prevent a stolen base (runner advancing to the next base), moving the defensive to a shallow position to throw out a runner at home, moving fielders to locations where hitters are most likely to hit the ball, etc.

Team at bat

Batters and runners

The ultimate goal of the team at bat is to score runs. To accomplish this feat, the team at bat successively (in an predetermined order called a lineup) sends its nine players to the batter's box (adjacent to home plate) where they become batters. (Each team sets its batting lineup at the beginning of the game. Changes to the lineup are tightly limited by the rules of baseball and must be communicated to the umpires and to the opposing team. See Substitutions below.) A batter's turn at the plate is called a plate appearance. Batters advance to the bases in a variety of ways: hits, walks, hit-by-pitch, and a few others. When the batter hits a fair ball, he must run to first base, and may continue or stop at any base unless he is put out. A successful hit occurs when the batter reaches a base: reaching only first base is a single; reaching second base, a double; third base, a triple; and hit that allows the batter to touch all bases in order on the same play is a home run, whether or not the ball is hit over the fence. Once a runner is held to a base, he may attempt to advance at any time, but is not required to do so unless the batter or another runner displaces him (called a force play). A batter always drops his bat when running the bases —otherwise, the bat would slow him down and also be a danger to fielders. Depending on the way the ball comes off the bat, the play has different names. A batted ball is called a fly ball if it was hit in the air in a way causing the fielder to catch it on its descent. A line drive is like a fly ball, but the ball is hit with such force that its trajectory seems level to the ground. A batted ball which is not hit into the air, and which touches the ground within the infield before it can be caught, is called a ground ball. When a ball is hit outside the foul line, it is a foul ball, requiring the batter and all runners to return to their respecitive bases. Once the batter and any existing runners have all stopped at a base or been put out, the ball is returned to the pitcher, and the next batter comes to the plate. After the opposing team bats in its own order and three more outs are recorded, the first team's batting order will continue again from where it left off. When a runner reaches home plate, he scores a run and is no longer a base runner. He must leave the playing area until his spot in the order comes up again. A runner may only circle the bases once per plate appearance and thus can score no more than a single run.

Batting

Main article: Batting (baseball) Batting (baseball) just after swinging at a pitch (photo: Agência Brasil)]] Each plate appearance consists of a series of pitches, in which the pitcher throws the ball towards home plate while a batter is standing in the batter's box. With each pitch, the batter must decide whether or not to swing the bat at the ball in an attempt to hit it. The pitches arrive quickly, so the decision to swing must be made in less than a second, based on whether or not the ball is hittable and in the strike zone, a region defined by the area directly above home plate and between the batter's knees and underarms. In addition to swinging at the ball, a batter who wishes to put the ball in play may hold his bat over home plate and attempt to tap a pitch lightly; this is called a bunt. On any pitch, if the batter swings at the ball and misses, he is charged with a strike. If the batter does not swing, the home plate umpire judges whether or not the ball passed through the strike zone. If the ball passed through the zone, it is ruled a strike; otherwise, it is called a ball. The number of balls and strikes thrown to the current batter is known as the count; the count is always given balls first, then strikes (such as 3-2 or "three and two", which would be 3 balls and 2 strikes). If the batter swings and makes contact with the ball, but does not put it in play in fair territory—a foul ball—he is charged with an additional strike, except when there are already two strikes. Thus, a foul ball with two strikes leaves the count unchanged. (However, a noted exception to this rule is a ball bunted foul with two strikes always counts as a strike.) If a pitch is batted foul or fair and a member of the defensive team is able to catch it, before the ball strikes the ground, the batter is declared out. In the event that a bat contacts the ball, but the ball continues sharply and directly to the catcher's mitt and is caught, it is a foul tip, which is same as an ordinary strike. When three strikes occur on a batter, it is a strikeout and the batter is out except in some circumstances when the pitch is not caught by the catcher (a violation of the third strike rule). If however the catcher drops the third strike, the batter is allowed to attempt to advance to first base.(The catcher can try to get him out.) On the fourth ball the batter becomes a runner, and is entitled to advance to first base without risk of being put out, called a base on balls or a walk (abbreviated BB). If a pitch touches the batter, the umpire can declare a hit by pitch (abbreviated HBP) and the batter is awarded first base, unless the umpire determines that the ball was in the strike zone when it hit the batter, or that the batter did not attempt to avoid being hit.

Base running

Main article: Baserunning Once a batter becomes a runner, he is said to be "on" that base until he attempts to advance to the next base, until he is put out, or until the half-inning ends. Runners on second or third base are considered to be in scoring position since ordinary hits, even singles, will often score them. If a runner approaches a base and that base is already occupied by another runner, the latter has to leave the base. This