New York, NY (WFAN) -- 25. The first game at Yankee Stadium-April 18, 1923.
We start at the beginning. Opening Day for the brand new ballpark in the Bronx after the Yankees had spent the previous 20 seasons in Hilltop Park and The Polo Grounds. Babe Ruth hit a 3-run home run in this first game, a 4-1 Yankee victory over the Red Sox. New York Governor Al Smith threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
Along with front-page headlines like "Sugar Prices Jump to Highest of Year" and "Orchestra at Musical Comedy Walks Out; Composer Plays Piano and Saves the Show" this description was found in the next day's New York Times:
The greatest crowd that ever saw a baseball game sat and stood in this biggest of all baseball stadia. Inside the grounds, by official count, were 74,200 people. Outside the park, flattened against doors that had long since closed, were 25.000 more fans, who finally turned around and went home, convinced that baseball parks are not nearly as large as they should be.
Of Ruth's home run, the story read this way:
The big slugger is a keen student of the dramatic, in addition to being the greatest home run hitter. He was playing a new role yesterday-not the accustomed one of a renowned slugger, but that of a penitent, trying to "come back" after a poor season and a poorer world's series. Before the game he said that he would give a year of his life if he could hit a home run in his first game in the new stadium. The Babe was on trial, and he knew it better than anybody else.
He could hardly have picked a better time and place for the drive that he hammered into the bleachers in the third inning. The Yankees had just broken a scoreless tie by pushing Shawkey over the plate with one run. Witt was on third base, Dugan on first, when Ruth appeared at the plate to face Howard Ehmke, the Boston pitcher. Ruth worked the count to two and two, and then Ehmke tried to fool him with one of those slow balls that the Giants used successfully in the last world's series.
The ball came in slowly, but it went out quite rapidly, rising on a line and then dipping suddenly from the force behind it. It struck well inside the foul line, eight or ten rows above the low railing in front of the bleachers, and as Ruth circled the bases he received probably the greatest ovation of his career. The biggest crowd in baseball history rose to its feet and let loose the biggest shout in baseball history. Ruth, jogging over the home plate, grinned broadly, lifted his cap at arm's length and waved it at the multitude.
The original stadium dimensions were 281 feet down the left field line, 490 feet to dead center, and 295 feet down the right field line. New York Evening Telegram sportswriter Fred Lieb was the first to call this building what we've called it all our lives: The House That Ruth Built.
24. Bob Sheppard's first game-April 17, 1951.
There are very few places in this world where you can close your eyes and know exactly where you are based on the sounds that surround you. Yankee Stadium is one of those places and there is only one reason why-the voice of public address announcer Bob Sheppard.
A former quarterback at St. John's, Sheppard owns a masters degree in speech from Columbia University. After announcing for several local events in the late 1940's, Sheppard actually turned down the Yankees offer in 1950 before coming on board in 1951. His first day on the job was also Mickey Mantle's first game as a Yankee. According to the Yankees, he has worked approximately 4500 baseball games.
He has been called "The Voice of Yankee Stadium" and even "The Voice of God." He is as much a part of Yankee Stadium history as the players on the field. He has been honored as many times as some of the greats whose names he has announced. Sheppard is in the St. John's, Long Island, and New York Sports Halls of Fame and has been awarded honorary doctorates from St. John's and Fordham Universities. One of Sheppard's microphones even sits in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. These were the lineups on Opening Day in 1951:
Red Sox:
Dom DiMaggio CF
Billy Goodman RF
Ted Williams LF
Vern Stephens 3B
Walt Dropo 1B
Bobby Doerr 2B
Lou Boudreau SS
Buddy Rosar C
Billy Wright P
Yankees:
Jackie Jensen LF
Phil Rizzuto SS
Mickey Mantle RF
Joe DiMaggio CF
Yogi Berra C
Johnny Mize 1B
Billy Johnson 3B
Jerry Coleman 2B
Vic Raschi P
On Opening Day this year Sheppard was ill and could not attend. His regular fill-in Jim Hall was at the stadium microphone…except when Derek Jeter came to bat. For Jeter, it was a recording of Sheppard announcing him to the plate. That was set up at the Captain's request. "I don't know how long he's planning on doing it, probably another 25-30 years, " Jeter said with a laugh, "but I always want him to announce my name. I was a Yankee fan growing up and it just doesn't seem like Yankee Stadium without his voice."
23. Dave Righetti's no-hitter-July 4, 1983.
Only 4 other pitchers in Yankee history had thrown a no-hitter in a regular season game (and none in more than 30 years) when Dave Righetti took the mound against Boston on a steamy 4th of July matinee in the Bronx.
Righetti struck out the side in the first inning. John Tudor started for Boston, keeping it a scoreless game until Andre Robertson's RBI single in the 5th. Don Baylor stretched it to 2-0 with a home run in the 6th. Steve Kemp drove in 2 runs in the 8th to make it 4-0 Yanks. In the top of that inning Kemp made a play that to this day stands out to Righetti as the one that may have saved his no-hitter. "The biggest play might have been Steve Kemp going down the foul line and snagging the ball out of the stands in the top of the 8th inning on Dwight Evans," Righetti recently said during an interview on WFAN. "I was telling myself not to worry about it until the last inning."
When Righetti got to the 9th, he was bidding for the first regular-season no-hitter by a Yankee since Allie Reynolds in 1951. Righetti walked the leadoff batter Jeff Newman before getting groundouts from Glenn Hoffman and Jerry Remy. "It was a hot day and I got a little bit tired towards the end, but I was fortunate to get the last out," Righetti said nearly 25 years later. When Wade Boggs struck out to end the game, Righetti spun off the mound and flopped into the arms of catcher Butch Wynegar. Righetti won 14 games that year as a starter, then went onto become the most successful closer in Yankee history, a distinction that lasted until Mariano Rivera came along. Yankee fans always take special pleasure in beating the Red Sox, especially if it's a no-hitter. That's why Dave Righetti holds a special place in the hearts of Yankee fans.
22. Don Mattingly's only postseason HR-October 4, 1995.
Of the top 25 players on the Yankees career games played list, only one never got to play a World Series game at Yankee Stadium. But it's safe to say that none of the other 24 ever received the ovations that Don Mattingly did in the 1995 Division Series.
On the final day of the regular season the Yankees clinched the first-ever American League Wild Card spot. When the Division Series opened on October 3rd, the crowd erupted when Mattingly's name was announced in pregame introductions. It got better the next night.
Leading the series one game to none, the Yankees trailed in the second game 2-1 entering the bottom of the 6th when Ruben Sierra led off with a home run against Andy Benes to tie the game 2-2. Two pitches later, Mattingly launched a ball to right-center. When it cleared the fence the crowd noise reached a level that may be unmatched in Yankee Stadium history. Gary Thorne's television call, as the ball soared toward the fence, described it perfectly. "Oh, hang on to the roof!! Goodbye!!! Home run, Don Mattingly!!!!"
The Yankees went on to win the game in 15 innings on a dramatic home run by Jim Leyritz, but they lost the series in five games to Seattle. Don Mattingly never played another game for the Yankees. He hit .417 (10 for 24) in the only postseason series of his career, including 5 for 10 in two games at Yankee Stadium.
Mattingly sat out the 1996 season before officially announcing his retirement in January 1997. There are Yankees with more hardware in their closet, but none had moments that shook the Stadium more than Don Mattingly on October 4, 1995. "It was a great feeling," Mattingly said recently. "Yankee Stadium was electric! I will never forget the feeling."
21. Knute Rockne's "Gipper" speech-November 12, 1928.
Notre Dame vs. Army was played at Yankee Stadium every year from 1925 through 1946. In 1928, in a scoreless tie, Rockne entered the locker room at halftime and tried to motivate his team to a victory. The speech became legendary after its re-enactment in the 1940 movie Knute Rockne-All American. Here is the text of Rockne's speech, as performed by actor Pat O'Brien:
Well boys, I haven't a thing to say. Played a great game, all of you…great game. I guess we just can't expect to win 'em all.
I'm going to tell you something I've kept to myself for years. None of you ever knew George Gipp. It was long before your time. But you know what a tradition he is at Notre Dame…and the last thing he said to me-"Rock," he said, "sometime, when the team is up against it and the breaks are beating the boys…tell them to go out there with all they got and win just one for the Gipper."
"I don't know where I'll be then, Rock," he said. "But I'll know about it…and I'll be happy."
In the movie the players roar out of the locker room and back onto the field. In real life, Army took the opening kickoff of the second half and marched down the field for a touchdown. But Notre Dame came back to win the game 12-8.
The halftime speech, or more accurately the movie version of it, became part of the Notre Dame legend and became part of American folklore. However, no one knows for certain how accurate Rockne's account of Gipp's dying words really was.
Notre Dame and Army played another famous game in the Bronx in 1946 that featured 4 Heisman Trophy winners (Doc Blanchard, Glenn Davis, Johnny Lujack, and Leon Hart). Altogether Notre Dame played 24 games at Yankee Stadium with a record of 15-6-3. One of those 15, they won for the Gipper.
You can purchase the commemorative coffee-table book Yankee Stadium: The Official Retrospective by visiting www.yankees.com or by calling 1-800-GO-YANKS.
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