A Working Baseball Museum - Reader comments at The New York Sun

Reader comment on:
Good Riddance to the House Ruth Didn't Build

Submitted by Eddie, Feb 9, 2007 00:40

Tim Marchman made some very good points in his article regarding Yankee Stadium, and I strongly agree with one in particular. Yankee Stadium was destroyed during the ‘74-‘75 renovation. He did go a little too far, because the main structure and walls are still original along with the majority of the concourse areas. But he was correct in that it is no longer "The House That Ruth Built", and I blame George Steinbrenner for this.

One thing that has bothered me is that someone actually had the gall to order the removal of the facade, and tried to justify it with that imitation in center field that everyone says is an exact replica. Don't insult my intelligence. That is no more an exact replica than a front bumper from a ‘59 Cadillac is.. When CBS sold the Yankees during the 1973 season, the order was given to close its doors at seasons end for the renovation. It wasn't renovated, it was gutted like a fish with no compassion or thought given to its history. For all that was done to Yankee Stadium in 1974 and 1975, I blame George Steinbrenner.

Yankee Stadium drips baseball history like a leaky faucet. No one ballpark can compare to the feats and records set and/or broken there. Since its opening in 1923, Yankee Stadium has been home to the American League representative of the World Series 45% of the time. The Stadium hosted the World Series in three consecutive years 3 times, four consecutive 2 times, and five consecutive times twice, and World Series winning streaks of back-to-back 3 times, and three, four and five straight championships once each. Numerous records were set and/or broken by Yankees here. Ruth's 60 home runs and Gehrigs 2130 consecutive games were both surpassed, but are numbers still used as a measure of greatness by others.

Yankee Stadium has been ruined by greed. There is nothing that can be done about it now, but being the fan that I am, I'm not sure that I could ever again go to the corner of 161^st and River Avenue and see a baseball field that Yankee Stadium once surrounded. In my eyes, Yankee Stadium is a working baseball museum. Had this been the site of a battle, no doubt that it would be marked as an historical site, but since there was no killing there it will not be. Instead, it will feel the slap of the wrecking ball against its walls, and I blame George Steinbrenner for this, also.

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Good Riddance to the House Ruth Didn't Build

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