Its construction was paid for entirely by Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert, who was eager to have his own stadium after sharing the Polo Grounds with the New York Giants baseball team the previous ten years.

[7] The local papers had periodic announcements about the Yankees acquiring and developing land in the Kingsbridge neighborhood for a new ballpark northeast of 225th and Broadway, and wrote about the park as if its construction was already in progress.

[11] Tillinghast L'Hommedieu Huston and Jacob Ruppert, the Yankees' owners since January 1915, finally decided to put the club's dream into reality and build their own stadium.

Baseball teams typically played in 30,000-seat facilities, but Huston and Ruppert invoked Ruth's name when asked how the Yankees could justify a ballpark with 60,000 seats.

[12] Consideration was also given to building atop railroad tracks on the West Side of Manhattan (an idea revived in 1998) and to Long Island City, in Queens.

New York Governor Al Smith threw out the first pitch directly into the glove of catcher Wally Schang rather than the customary couple of feet wide.

Future Yankee manager Casey Stengel hit the first post-season home run in stadium history while playing with the opposing New York Giants.

Many sources incorrectly state that prior to the 1955 season, Yankee Stadium's Ballantine Beer scoreboard was sold to the Phillies for use in Shibe Park.

[21][22] After he purchased the Philadelphia Athletics and transferred the franchise to Kansas City on November 8, 1954, Johnson sold Yankee Stadium to John W. Cox on March 22, 1955.

The original wooden stadium seats were replaced with wider plastic ones and the upper deck expanded upward nine rows, excluding the walkway.

[30] On November 8, 2008, former Yankees Scott Brosius, Paul O'Neill, David Cone and Jeff Nelson, all members of the 1998 World Series championship team, joined 60 children from two Bronx based youth groups Youth Force 2020 and the ACE Mentor Program in ceremoniously digging up home plate, the pitcher's mound pitching plate (rubber) and the surrounding dirt of both areas and transporting them to comparable areas of new Yankee Stadium.

[31] An official closing ceremony was reportedly discussed to occur in November 2008, but was scrapped when the organization decided the final event should be a baseball game.

[52] The left and right field bleacher sections were laid out roughly at a right angle to the third base stands, to be properly positioned for both track-and-field events and football.

Although the right field fences were eventually pushed back after the 1974–1975 renovations, they were still relatively close to home plate and retained the "short porch" moniker, favoring future Yankee lefty sluggers such as Graig Nettles and Reggie Jackson.

[53] One of the most distinguishing characteristics of Yankee Stadium was the façade, which consisted of a copper frieze that originally ran along the front of the roof of the triple-decked grandstand.

This problem, dubbed the "bloody angle" by the players, was solved prior to the 1924 season by moving the infield some ten feet toward center and rotating it slightly.

The 415 sign in deep left field appears in clips of Al Gionfriddo's catch of Joe DiMaggio's long drive in the 1947 World Series.

After the September 11 attacks, all American Major League Baseball stadiums started playing "God Bless America" during the seventh-inning stretch for the remainder of the 2001 season.

Outside the stadium's main entrance gate stands a 138-foot (42 m) tall exhaust pipe in the shape of a baseball bat, complete with tape at the handle that frays off at the end.

It is sponsored by Hillerich & Bradsby, makers of the famous Louisville Slugger line of baseball bats, which is specifically designed to look like a Babe Ruth model.

No-hitters were thrown by Monte Pearson, Bob Feller, Allie Reynolds, Virgil Trucks, Dave Righetti, Jim Abbott, Dwight Gooden and a combination of six Houston Astros pitchers in one game.

In Game 1 of the 1996 ALCS, Derek Jeter hit a fly ball to right-field that was interfered with by fan Jeffrey Maier but ruled a home run.

In Game 4, Tino Martinez hit a game-tying home run off Arizona Diamondbacks closer Byung-hyun Kim with two outs in the ninth inning.

The National League won the Yankee Stadium game, 6–0, tying a record with four home runs, including one by hometown favorite Willie Mays.

At one point, he hit 13 straight home runs, many of which landed in the stadium's upper deck and deep into the right field bleachers, spurring the crowd to chant his name.

Many former Yankee greats, including Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Reggie Jackson, Bernie Williams, Paul O'Neill, Willie Randolph, Roy White and Chris Chambliss took their positions in the playing field as their names were announced by the legendary Bob Sheppard.

On June 25, 1952, middleweight champion Sugar Ray Robinson sought his third title against light-heavyweight champ Joey Maxim at Yankee Stadium.

On June 26, 1959, 5-1 Swedish underdog Ingemar Johansson defeated Floyd Patterson at the stadium by stoppage in the third round to become world heavyweight champion.

Also that year, in Yankee Stadium's final international match on May 28, England defeated Italy 3–2 as part of the Bicentennial Cup Tournament.

Over 400 people, including present and former members of the Yankee family were in attendance to see the happy couple united, and the ceremony was broadcast on ESPN, the YES Network, NBC's Today Show and other national media outlets.