REAL YANKS DON'T WEAR RED

MLB and the Yanks are scheduled to wear the Red Caps with the flag logo on Memorial Day, July 4th and 9-11 this year. It is surely a break in the Yankee Tradition. Here is what the forum at Behind the Bombers had to say.

The Yanks are being forced by Bud to wear red capsover Memorial Day weekend. All MLB teams willbe wearing red caps.The NY Yankees have never worn red caps in their history.Once again, the Friar hates what Bud is doing. ....Good Friar

Don't do it. Pay the fine. George Steinbrenner would've ...Asburry Boss

I would think that some our esteemed conservative members would be up in arms over this. Sounds like a communist plot to me. ... Rags

Ridiculous.....Bud should also make everyone wear all red uniforms.....like the Cuban team......to honor the troops of course.I guess a moment of silence and the playing of the national anthem....plus God Bless America during the 7th inning stretch is just not enough. ...BBT

I hate Bud and most everything he does....but this weekend think of ALL the veterans and the sacrifices they have made for ALL of us.Forget about the politics of war...remember the instruments that carry out the wars.The Veterans who selflessly gave up all their tomorrow's so we could have ours.I will ....Bernz-a-matic

It's for the Veteran's. Give it a break, boys. Some things, dare I say, are more important than the Yankees. ...effjay

Sorry Bernz. I think you're being duped. The veterans WILL BE FETED those days. It happens every year, as it should. I was totally OK with the Yanks doing this one time, and that was for the game with Virginia Tech. Those poor kids. I'm so proud of my team.I refuse to believe it's about respect for vets when they're going to be $37 apiece. The marketing wheels are turning. I have no intention to disparage the military, my views about war notwithstanding. One of my favorite days ever was the 2001 ALCS game where you were down there on the outfield partaking in flag duty in front of the right center field fence where Soriano would win the game with an opposite field jack later that night.Remember a couple of years back when they started selling and wearing the Spring Training caps with the white line on either side?Every OTHER team in mlb has multiple unis home and away. ...Knuckles

Knuckles, I'm with you on the fleecing of the consumer in the name of the holiday, absolutely. My day in Right Center (under the Armitron sign) is still my greatest time in the ball park and one of the highlights of my military career, and one I look at every day when I fire up my work laptop (I think of you and Sue every time I fire this baby up and the picture appears ) and, yes the Vet will be feted over the weekend, but it's premature to do so this weekend. There is a difference that a lot (especially the media and consumer machine) forget.Memorial day is to remember the Vets that gave all, to memorialize the fallen.Veterans day is for all vets to be feted both living and deceased.Big difference in this crusty old retired MSgt's eyes. ...Bernz-a-matic

I don't have no problem either, I would have liked it better if a certain perecentage of the profits went to the Vet. Hey last year it was a royal blue. It will look weird but a cap doesn't make or break the team. When someone asks why are all the teams wearing red caps, you can answer to honor out Veterans. ... Phil

Phil, according to the article, ALL proceed from the sale of these caps will go to the Welcome Home soldier fund. I don't particuarly like the red hat, but it is for a great cause. We owe alot to the soldier who are sacrificing now, and those who did so in the past. God bless the USA! ..Tarhealbomber

yankees don't wear red!!!! ... Jimbue

I can't argue with the vets here, but I don't like it. If we have to do it, we do it! GOFERIT-Yanks ...RJPinstripes

Honor the Vets, absolutely.MLB marketing ploy to make Bud look good - bah, humbug.How about MLB, as immensely profitable as they've been for years now, just making a donation to the Welcome Home fund (or any other worthy, appropriate charity) without sucking more $$$ out of the fans. ... DavidL

Fred Wilpon, Mets owner started the program last year aimed at creating job opportunities as well as addressing continuing health-care needs of returning veterans. ... JohnM

Dis and Dat

OK so maybe Joba (Chamberlain) should pitch out of the pen. We just need to bring him in during the second inning. Why does he tend to have such a bad first? Nobody knows!

Don’t leave in a Huff, just leave. I for one can’t wait for the next Aubry Huff – Joba match up where nothing is on the line. After Huff made an @$$ of himself doing the Joba pump twice after his three run dinger in the first inning I wouldn't want to be on that side of the Joba fastball.

Melky Cabrera can cover a lot of ground in centerfield, but he throws to the correct base as well as Jorge Posada blocks the plate. Maybe we can fit him with one of those audio earplugs and they can send him instructions from the dugout. Or just tune him to John Sterling.

The Cisco Kid is a friend of mine. Francisco Cervelli legging out the infield squeaker was just as important as Johnny Damon’s homer yesterday in Baltimore. If it wasn’t for him and Jeter’s legs there would have been no AB in the inning for Johnny. Cervelli is not even considered a prospect. One would have thought the Yankees would have promoted the hot hitting PJ Pillatare. What’s one more guy with initials?

ONE LAST WORD ON CURRENT BOOKS

'Yogi Berra: Eternal Yankee' by Allen Barra Norton ($27.95)

How can you go wrong writing a book on Yankee Icon Yogi Berra? Allan Barra presents the fact that Yogi Berra was the driving force of the Yankee Championship teams of his era. The author contends that year after year the Yankees had the best pitching in the league without the best pitchers because Yogi had the magic and know-how to handle the Bob Grims, Art Ditmars, and Ryne Durens along with the Allie Reynolds and Whitey Fords.

Barra is down about Yogi's talent as a big-league manager. Although his 1964 Yankees and 1973 Mets won pennants. And the fact that he understood the intricacies of the game. Yogi as his mentor, Bill Dickey predicted, biggest problem was in "managing men."

You won't find a lot of Yogisms in this book as it is more on the serious side of Yogi. Even so "True Yogi fans," the author insists, must distinguish between as he puts it "real Yogisms," distilled pieces of folk wisdom, and mere malapropisms. Barra even provides an appendix, with a "comparative study" of quotations from Yogi and world history's "great minds."

The Yankee Years by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci Doubleday

I know a lot has been said about this book already but I finally brought myself to read it. You can't attribute everything to Joe and most of the anti A-Rod propaganda was contributed by Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci. The bottom line is Torre had final say what was in and what was left out. He could have said no to anything. Makes you wonder about the Manny (Ramirez) chapters to Joe's next book "The Dodger Years".

Overall a Yankee fan should read it but take it for what it is. Even more now that it is available for under $10.

George: The Poor Little Rich Boy Who Built the Yankee Empire by Peter Golenbock John Wiley & Sons

Long over due this book is a tribute to a man who brought the winning tradition back to the Pinstripes. None other than George Steinbrenner, one of the most controversial figures in sports, the owner of the New York Yankees.

Boss Steinbrenner for 34 years, he berated his players and tormented his managers and employees. He played fast and loose with the rules and made them his own, and twice could have gone to jail. He was banned from baseball for life–but was allowed back in the game. Yet George Steinbrenner also built the New York Yankees from a mediocre team into the greatest sports franchise in America.

This book pays tribute to that George we all know and love without pulling any punches and does it in detail. There is one problem nobody seemed to check out the facts. There were more errors in this book than Horace Clarke made in his career. Given the authors track record this proved to be very disappointing.

The range of the book includes love-hate relationship between George and his Father... the lies... to almost everyone that crossed his path, his hiring's and firings, his legal problems included, but not limited to illegal campaign contributions and lying to the federal government and more lies. You have to hope this isn't the last book we see or that he makes up for it in the paperback.

The Daily Snooze

OK! What is with the NY Daily Snooze? It is one thing to report the news and put down a team or player but today's headlines were just insulting.

Chein Ming Wang is probably one of the nicest kids in baseball and he has been having more than his fair share of problems. I can understand a fans frustration with his performance as I am sure he is his own worse critic. But today's back page was just uncalled for.

With the homers flying out of the new cathedral in the Bronx, once Wang gets his velocity and sinker working he may be our best weapon. Until then the Yankees will be looking for answers. This may have been one of the worse games I ever have seen but it was not excuse for that back page.

As far as the press goes, if the Yankees it will keep you working into November this year. I am not asking you to sugar coat anything but treat a player like a human being. Call a bad outing a bad outing but don't be cruel and worry about what goes on between the lines. But that my Bomber Buddy is a different storey.

BTB OPENING DAY MINUTE

Some first impressions: The New Yankee Stadium

By John Monaco

New Stadium is a spectacular addition to the neighborhood. The newly constructed Metro North Station is due to open 3rd week of May. A new Shopping Mall is also under construction. First real investments in this area in quite some time. Surprised you scan your own ticket. Plenty of entrances. I was the 3rd person-in through the gate I entered.

You enter into the Great Hall. Yankee Team Store and Hard Rock on one end and the Martini Bar is on the other end up 1 level. 16 Elevators in the Stadium. All have an Operator. One you enter the Great Hall you are on the street level. The playing field is actually below street level. If you make a left in front of the Team Store you can begin to see the playing field.

Concourses are huge.

Every type of food available. Prices are similar or slightly below last years pricing for similar items. Also have some value menus.Made one restroom visit. Had about 40 Urinals and a dozen stalls. You can only enter via a single door and must leave via the exit door. Plenty of water fountains with ice-cold NYC tap water.For the first day everything seemed to be operational. I expected more obvious signs of unfinished work but the Stadium looks 99+% complete in my eyes.

I've been to about 30 big league parks. The sitelines I observed in my walkabouts represent the best I've seen todate. I checked out Section 134 LF Field Level $85/seats. Those were the first seats Yanks offered me that I rejected. Those seats are better than I ever imagined. They spent a lot of dollars on Monument Park. That blue-tint stone must cost a fortune. MP is more cramped than across the street. 200 or so people at one time is about all its suited for. You have to walk down two short flights of stairs to enter Monument Park.I should have mentioned this earlier, every Yankee employee was friendly and greated you will a hello. I didn't recognize any of the concession stands workers. All appear to be new. I also couldn't find a tip jar.

The food - well they have everything you can want. Yankee combo Staff/Usher in every Section across all Stadium Levels.I sit up in the highest level (Grandstand) Section 424 which is inside 3rd base. Nice view.

As Knux pointed out we no longer sit on a steep angle that gives you the feel you are right on top of the action but overall the Yankees did a great job with the sightlines.

I took the escalator up to the Main Level then the ramps to the Grandstand. Those ramps were challenging for an overweight guy like me. 6 ramps in total with a slight incline. I was winded when I made it to the top. If I made that walk one hour a day for a month I think I could lose 30 pounds.

The Terrance Suite Seats which were Knux old seats are "sweet" They are worth the $100. Wow, what a view.

See for yourself at John's photo album and here too!

OPENING DAY WORKOUT AT THE NEW YANKEE STADIUM

A LIVE REPORT FROM BTB's OWN JOHN MONACO aka JohnM

Dateline Da Bronx 4/2/09

I've arrived at YS for the 1pm workout. Stadium looks amazing from the outside. Gates open at 11am. Will post pix tonight.

Just completed a walk around the entire YS block. The complex from the outside is huge. Subway EL on River Ave. Has been repainted. It looks sparkling. Tookpix of Yankee vendors waiting to enter YS. Looks like they have 2000 or so workers.

Media ceremony going on in Great Hall. Sterling MC. Bernie is playing his guitar "Take Me Out to the Ballgame"

They just smashed guitars to open the Hard Rock

Beautiful sunny day in the Bronx. Visited Monument Park first. Completely walked first two levels. Ran into the Roadtrippers Season 2. Somewhat speechless. Not used to leg room and wide seats. The CF Bleacher Cafe is amazing. I'm not upstairs on my seat sec 424 row 10 Seat 24.

Infield being watered. Never seen the grass so green at this time of year. Some Yankees are on the field led by Andy Pettitte. Andy is throwing off the mound.

Forgot to mention you scan your own ticket to enter the Stadium. Very quick to enter.

Joba now pitching from the mound. Sound system rocks. Crystal clear and doesn't blast your ears.

Yanks have all left the field at 12:50pm. Just noticed their are no pigeons flying around.

1,000s of kids here on school trips. They're having a ball. Yanks also gave them coupons for free food and drink.

The CF Video Board is amazing. Yanks have been showing fan shots from all over the complex. I was on the video board when I was online to buy a hotdog. Players seem blown away by the HD quality. Yanks jogging and stretching. Nice video of all Yankees talking about the Stadium.

Yankee pitchers taking fielding practice. They are fielding bunts and throwing to 1B . Players often wave when they see themselves on the videoboard. Chien Ming Wang has been very active during the fielding drills. (Brett) Gardner and Melky (Cabrera) appear to be talking to another in CF.

1:45pm and still no pigeons. Must have setup some electronics. Derek batted first. Damon put one on the seats. Derek puts one in the Visitors bullpen. Crowd estimate 20,000

Texiera puts on in the LF Bleachers. Don't expect many Upper Deck HRs. Will be as rare as reaching the Black

AROD Makes The Right Move

Alex Rodriguez has opted to go for surgery right now which may cause him to miss 6 to 9 weeks. With this surgery he may need a full surgery later on down the road. The target for his return would be around May 1.

According Dr. Marc Philippon this is a partial surgery by inserting a tube in the hip repairing the damged portion of the labrium. Philippon is confident in the "85-90 pecent range" that Rodriguez will be able to play through the remainder of the 2009 regular season. He may then require surgery which may keep him on crutches for up to four months.

During the procedure, Philippon will shave down the bone at the hip, which has become rough through time. This should reduce the fraying. Also, the labrum will be set in such a way that it's more snug against the bone, making it much less likely to fray.

Philippon added an athlete can play an additional one to three years without the more invasive procedure. The Yankees need to find a third baseman now who can spell and/or fill in for Alex during the duration. Maybe Aaron Boone is available?

Well If You In-Cyst!

Alex Rodriguez will miss about 10 weeks of action due a cyst in his right hip. Just how deep or large the cyst is is unclear. The doctors are calling it hip surgery so it's no walk in the park.

Joe Dunand, Alex Rodriguez's older brother, told Enrique Rojas of ESPNdeportes.com during a phone interview that immediate surgery was recommended, and that rehabilitation would take about 10 weeks.

Manager Joe Girardi said it was bothering him last season. Why they didn't get it checked then is anyone's guess.

The discovery of the cyst also means that A-Rod will not be able to participate with the Dominican Republic team in the World Baseball Classic.

To be continued . . .

SPRING IS IN THE AIR AND ALEX IS ON THE BACK PAGE

OK if you are tired of seeing Alex Rodriguez on the back page of the news and post please raise you hand. OK you can put them all down now. What is it about the press? Don't they want to work in October? If they bug A-Rod they can get him to a point where it can keep the Yankees from getting through the post season. Do we need to know that A-Rod is moving by Madonna? Do we need to know who he was with on Valentine's Day? I don't think so.

It will be interesting to see when Alex faces Roy Oswalt in the WBC how they will react after Oswalt opened his big mouth. Alex let your bat do the talking.

Lot of fans are disappointed with their new relocation assignments. Stub Hub has over 7000 seats per game on sale. I have a feeling they are going to be very surprised. As one of my fellow webmasters said be patient this year next year you can sit wherever you want. A lot of scalper seats will go unsold this year.

I Want My DTV (DIGITAL TELEVISION)

OK Yankee fans the President is about to extend the life of the primitive TV signal AKA analog until June 12. The reason being is that too many people are not ready for it. Mark my words the same people won't be ready for it then either.

Digital is a much cleaner and ghostless signal. It is far superior to the old analog signal. So why wait? It doesn't affect most views because most views have cable, a satellite dish or fiber optic TV connection anyway. It is for those Flintstones out there that are sill using the roof antenna or worse rabbit ears.

The government issued $40 coupons, limit of 2 per family, to help alleviate the cost. Sure if you buy you converter box in a store like CVS or Sears that would make you responsible for $10 to $20 per box. If you went to a place like Target it could cost you only $5 or just the tax at Walmart. (Tell me again why NYC is against Walmart?)
It is the same thing when they tried to push the metric system on us. It is much more logical than the English system. BUT they left people an alternative and they ignored it and it just plain didn't work.
If the actually need more funding to help the turnover then fine extend it. You would think the ABCs and NBCs of the world would help fund it as well. They don't want to lose their audience.

Up and Around

Well Bomber Buddies it seems that Andy Pettitte will be back in the fold this season. He signed a contract which was incentive driven and more than fair. He stands to start the first exhibition game in the new cathedral.

I see over at Pride of the Yankees at NJ.com they doubled their staff. So now it is Dave, Aziz, Mike and Steve, the Pre Fab Four. A job that I use to do by myself, I wonder if the share the $50 a month four ways? Dave and Aziz do a great job, I haven't had time to check out the other two yet. I would love to partner up on a blog. It would make interesting reading. Any takers?

Until next time...

DEEP IN THE POCKETS OF TEIXEIRA

Special Guest Blogger Don Cyoti

No, not Jesus. Jacob, as in Rupert. Or what would Dan Topping? For that matter, what would Big Stein have done? For those of you younger Yankee fans who aren't mired in history, Rupert & Topping were former owners of the Yankees way back in the day BG (Before George). In my opinion, our Yanks have never played "down" to their competitition economically. We've always been a gorilla and we've always performed like one in the player marketplace. Read up on the signing of Dimaggio in the 30s. Or the financing of Harry Frazee's play.

I'm starting this because I wanted to bring Tex's signing to the forefront here. I also didn't want to reply on page 6 unless it was the NY Times Page 6. On the matter of signing Tex, I'm blasphemously ecstatically totally famously happily stoked!I'm only sorry that Mike Cameron won't be roaming center field and whiffing for us.That being said I also have a little guilt. I'll have to explain to my 35-year-old step son who roots a little for the Pirates that the Yankees pulled off the Trifecta because we can.

Many true Yankee fans are feeling our Yanks are being piggish in the signing. That's a legitimate feeling and I understand. I also would like to see Brett Gardner get worked into the lineup and now I think he will.

Someone, made a pretty good arguement that there a lot of home grown Yankees on the roster. Others take swipes at our lack of faith in our farm system but he didn't analyze anything.Our farm system is arm heavy but position player poor. We've got some terrific kids down there who are not too far from helping us on the hill. Some will help this year. But, AJAX & Montero are the only position players who are close to the majors and only one of them has a position. If Montero is going to have to convert from catcher to 1st base then his path just got blocked. But, the reality is Theo started the farm system upgrade a couple of years before Cash was able to convince George to let him so the Sox have been flush with homegrowns the past couple seasons. We've got some kids in the low minors who will get there I think but we needed to add a young position player who will be here awhile. We just got one.Okay, I'll apologize to Bud and Gammons and the other Damn Yankee haters at FOX & ESPN who will be weighing in.

I'm sorry our GM has a plan that included a gamble that cost him last year but came to fruition this offseason. It's no accident that we're getting rid of contracts and will be getting a luxury tax break due to building a stadium. We passed on Johan Santana because there was a guy coming up who was as good and wouldn't cost us players. I hate that we had a plan but it's what Evil Empires do. But, whether my apology is accepted or not by Fox or Gammons or Every Sox Pals Nation is immaterial. We've just upgraded ourselves enough that even Dayn Perry has to admit we have a chance to compete with the Rays & Sox. Maybe he'll pick us at least second in the division with a chance for the wild card now.Have we won anything yet besides Winter? Nope.

Will the Rays & Sox roll over. Nope. They've got horses of their own. The Sox didn't need Tex and we did. So, we did what was necessary & legal. I pray there is never a salary cap in baseball. I'm a fan of the Tennesee Titans also and had to endure a cap purge a couple of seasons ago.

Baseball doesn't need the New York Yankees having to do a salary purge to get themselves down to $100 million payroll. For one thing, the Pirates & Padres & Marlins and a bunch of other teams would likely fold because the luxury tax money wouldn't be available as their crop subsidy. There's no crying in baseball and there should be no communism either. Actually, there is likely to be crying about the big bad Yankees. But, it's who we are and what we do. We're gorillas and its okay to thump our chest a bit. Otherwise, they wouldn't write plays about us.

"Nice Yankees" would never make it to Broadway.

By The CC

To put it in algebraic terms C = New York and C + C = Da Bronx. All said and done it is being reported that CC Sabathia has decided that pinstripes are more slimming.

The hefty lefty has accepted a seven-year, $160 million contract offer from the New York Yankees, the New York Post reported on its web site Wednesday. It is the largest contract ever given to a pitcher. The enormous contract was set president by the contract tendered to Barry Zito by San Francisco two years ago.

The decision came late Tuesday night after Yankees general manager Brian Cashman left the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas to speak with Sabathia and his wife Amber at the lefthander’s home in San Francisco. During the meeting, Sabathia expressed that he wanted to come to the East Coast, play in the American League and shoulder the responsibility that comes with being a superstar in New York, the report states.

It was reported that Tuesday’s meeting between Cashman and Sabathia was the third this week. The first took place on Sunday, when the Yankees brought along manager Joe Girardi and Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson.

Yanks Cancel Going Away Party

In what was being rumored as the biggest Yankee Stadium send-off has been scrapped. The Yankees have canceled plans for a send-off ceremony to be held November 9th at The Stadium, citing the fact that the last party at the cathedral should be a baseball game.

Rumors that the likes of Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel and Paul Simon were to be entertaining at the venue that afternoon just never materialized. The event would have included remembrances of many of the non-baseball events at Yankee Stadium. I put this same catagory as when the Yankees stopped their own Fanfest because the crowds were just too large for the venues. (Simple solution was to only sell enough tickets for the venue) The last Yankees Fan Fest was at the Javits Center, guess where the All Star Fan Fest was this year?

Well at least the final game at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 21, was a Yankee victory over the Baltimore Orioles, 7-3. "The event at Yankee Stadium was suppose to be for the charity BAT (Baseball Assistance Team)," the club said in a statement. "However, the Yankees realized that the final event at Yankee Stadium should be a baseball game which already took place with the fantastic closing ceremony. Accordingly to the Daily News, rather than having a fundraiser, the Yankees will be donating $500,000 to BAT."

New York Yankees: An Interactive Guide to the World of Sports

By Danniel J. Brush – David Horne – Marc CB Maxwell

Foreward by Mike Vaccaro, New York Post

A new book is on the shelves and this book actually is enhanced by your computer. Appropriately in the Sports By The Number Series, this book brings you tons of info on America’s best loved and most hated team The New York Yankees.The book is layed out so you don’t have to read it cover to cover, but you probably will wind up doing so anyway. It is a paperback laid out in ten chapters. In each chapter you have 100 facts, lore, records and mini stories.

They are all numbered 1-100 in chapter one, 101 – 200 in chapter two etc.Each number corresponds to an event or story in Yankee history. For instance #30 tells us: The number of times Dave Winfield grounded into a double play in 1983 plus a few more facts to boot. Each chapter also features a Yankee in their own right.

For instance Chapter one is George Steinbrenner and Chapter ten is simply The Legends.Scattered throughout the book are SBTN-All Star and SBTN-Hall of Fame Logos. These logos direct you to the website and give you even more information. Unfortunately the site is not released yet and I couldn’t access it.A great book for any age or fan of America’s Game and Team. A must read.

SUNDAY CEREMONIES

FROM YANKEES.COM


Yankee Stadium gates will open at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday as the Yankees invite fans to take one last memorable stroll through Monument Park. Fans will also be allowed to exit Monument Park onto the field where they will be permitted to walk along the warning track around the outfield and behind home plate. Access to Monument Park is via the staircase at the end of the aisle between the Field and Main Level seats in Section 36. Wheelchair access is via the elevator in Section 24. Field exit from Monument Park will close at approximately 4:00 p.m., prior to pregame batting practice for each team. Monument Park will remain open until 6:45 p.m.
Pregame ceremonies, scheduled to begin at 7:05 p.m., will encompass the chronology of Yankees greats who have played at the famous Stadium. Among the distinguished alumni scheduled to take part in the festivities will be Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Goose Gossage, Ron Guidry, Graig Nettles and Bobby Richardson. A historic artifact from the Yankees’ past will also be unveiled during the ceremony. The Yankees are urging fans to be in their seats by 6:50 p.m.
Only fans with valid ticket(s) for Sunday’s game will be admitted and there will be NO RE-ENTRY. Bleacher ticket holders who would like to visit Monument Park should enter the Stadium through Gate 2, 4 or 6.

Fans and media are also reminded that Sunday’s game will NOT be the final event at Yankee Stadium. A ceremony will be held at a later date this fall to celebrate the Stadium, details will follow.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
1:00 p.m: Gates open to the public, Monument Park opens
1:00-4:00 p.m.: Field access for fans
4:15 p.m.: Yankees stretch begins
4:40-5:40 p.m.: Yankees batting practice
5:40-6:20 p.m.: Orioles batting practice
6:45 p.m.: Monument Park closes
6:50 p.m.: Fans are asked to take their seats
7:05 p.m.: Pre-game ceremony begins8:15 p.m. (Approx.): First pitch

Remembering Yankee Stadium: An Oral and Narrative History of "The House That Ruth Built"

A Review By Phil Speranza

Well it was the book that took 86 years in the making but Harvey Frommer’s Remembering Yankee Stadium: An Oral and Narrative History of "The House That Ruth Built" has finally hit the shelves. While most of the Yankee Stadium tributes hit shelves in the spring, it was only fitting that RYS waited until now to become a Fall Classic. Yes Bomber Buddies it was well worth the wait. My initial reaction was that the official release had better photos than this fantastic release but after closer review RYS beats any Yankee Book out there hands down. You go deeper than the aerial view of a packed stadium or the cars lined up in the once vacant Bronx on Opening Day 1923. Every picture in this book triggers off a string of memories. You get up close and dirty with everything from Derek Jeter diving head first into the stands to the ground breaking at the new stadium himself. The 9-11 photos can make you tear up all over again. Mickey Mantle, his swing never looked so sweet.

Who better to write and compile a tribute to an icon such as Yankee Stadium than renowned baseball/Yankee author Harvey Frommer? Frommer makes great use of every Yankee and baseball player he either wrote about or met over his illustrious career. Who else can have a forward written by the Voice of Yankee Stadium, Bob Sheppard? If I have to explain who he is you are reading the wrong book, but Harvey explains who he is as well as his son Paul (Sheppard).
The body of the book like any good Yankee History book is the life of Yankee Stadium from 1923 through today. What makes RYS different is that the glue holding or bridging these stories together is made up of what Harvey Frommer refers to as the voices. The voices are players, celebrities, broadcasters, writers or fans just like you and me. He has documented the people’s memories and used them to personalize the history. By doing this it brought out memories in my mind that I haven’t thought about in years. As a matter a fact BehindtheBombers.com is proud to have four of us fans who had their voices heard (and sent forth). Sharing their Yankee memories from BTB were Dan “Knuckles” McCourt, Gary “Lefteroo” Lefkowitz, Sue Tucker and myself. It was an honor being interview for such a strong tribute to “the cathedral in Da Bronx”.

There is also a section what he calls Stadiumology, where he gives stats like all time Yankee attendance, Plaques in Monument Park and when they were dedicated, the all time Yankee Broadcasters, Stadium Firsts and much, much more.

This is all topped off by one of my favorite, yet minor sections of the book is where the author takes a number and associates it with a player or record or some sort of stat. For example he mentions the 1½ is for the number on the late opera singer Robert Merrill. Who version of the Star Spangled Banner was played at the stadium for as long as I can remember and often sung live by the singer/fan himself. Even for the number 28 which he associates to Thurman Munson’s rookie number.

This book was truly a labor of love, both on the parts of every fan or player he interviewed and especially of Mr. Frommer himself. Will there ever be another stadium that will demand the documentation that Yankee Stadium has gained respect for? Probably not, with Remembering Yankee Stadium on your bookshelf, Yankee Stadium will live on for decades to come. This book is so good I could have filled it with clichés. My Yankee Cap is tipped to Harvey Frommer who has outdone himself once again.

You can pick up Remembering Yankee Stadium: An Oral and Narrative History of "The House That Ruth Built" on Amazon.com

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT.....

Can this team get an worse? Are you millionaires done teasing me? Are Robbie and Melky ever going to stop by for good? Gee Wiz as much as I wouldlove being at the last game at Yankee Stadium I really wouldn't mind it if you would make the playoffs.

You guys better start winning before Hank thinks it is a good idea to let Manny be Manny in Da Bronx next season. Imagine that...."The House That Manny Built!"

Can we find any other ways to lose. We sure have been creative. Aren't you just dying to know who the TBA on the mound ond Wednesday is? Ian Kennedy may have talked his way out of pinstripes the other night. You know what they say about excuses IPK, but you are just looking at yourself through rose color glasses.

Dave Righetti's No Hitter

Can you believe it was twenty five years ago that Dave "Rags" Righetti threw the first Yankee no hitter since the 1956 World Series? It was 1983 at year when there was not much to cheer about in Yankee lore (sort of like this year). It was July 4th, the boss's birthday, New York City only had cable in Manhattan. The Yankee game was broadcasted that day on now defunt Sports Channel. If you wanted to see it in one of the other 4 boroughs you had to be a Wometco Home Theatre (WHT) subscriber. The play by play was the legendary Mel Allen with the classic trio of Phil Rizzuto, Franke Messer and Bill White rotating between there and radio. A side note is that the classic you see of this game has the radio audio. It would have been great to hear Mell Allen do the game.

Rags thanked a lot of people that day but three people he didn't thank was my friends Tommy Maiorana, Jerry Cunningham and myself. You are saying, why should he thank you guys? OK, I will tell you. You see we were offered the Morgan Bank Main Box seats to that game that morning but turned them down because of previous commitments, plus the fact that it was in the mid 90s. You are now saying "so!". Well I'll tell you so, you see if we were in the Stadium we would have changed the karma and Righetti may not have been so lucky.

Steve Kemp of all people who was probably the most unproductive 300 hitter the Yankees ever had made a great play in the field to save the no-no. As you probably know Rags struck out future Yankee Wade Boggs to end the 4-0 game in front of 41,077 fans a video that has played on the Diamond Vision over and over again. Boggs later admitted he felt t hat if he had broke up the no hitter he would not have got out of the stadium alive. Little did he know how much New York would one day love him.

Dave Righetti, the 1981 Rookie of the Year in the American League, was later converted to a releiver when Goose Gossage signed with the Padres and excelled at the role for the rest of his career, although it was "suppose" to be a temporary move. Little did Righetti know that he was going to have only 18 more starts before becoming one of the premiere closers in the game.

This year the Yankees once again play the Red Sox on July 4th. With the Myth and Aura take over again? Will lady luck smile down upon Dave Rasner? Wouldn't it be a Fairy Tale FInal Season cookie for us all to munch on? Will Yogi be in the building? All I know if someone phones me in the morning and offers me tickets behind home plate . . . I ain't going!