HARVEY FROMMER ON SPORTS

*YANKEE STADIUM BY THE NUMBERS

1

 Joe DiMaggio, only player to get at least one hit in All-Star Games at Yankee Stadium, the Polo Grounds and Ebbets Field.

 

1 ½ - Uniform number worn by opera star Robert Merrill, the man who for many years sang the national anthem at Yankee Stadium.

 

3

 All three perfect games in Yankee Stadium history were seen by Joe Torre: Larsen's beauty as a 16-year-old fan, and the gems spun by David Wells and David Cone from the dugout as Yankee manager.

Don Zimmer was Torre's bench coach for the last two and he played in the first one as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1956.  The Yankees have the most perfect games pitched by one club, all at Yankee Stadium.        

 

Babe Ruth's uniform number, retired June 13, 1948.

4

 Lou Gehrig's number, retired on July 4, 1939, the first athlete in any sport. He is the only Yankee to have worn number 4. 

5  

Mickey Mantle reached the copper facade that hung from the old stadium's roof five times.

   Joe DiMaggio's uniform number, retired in 1952

6

 Stadiums:

Hilltop Park 1903-1912

Polo Grounds 1913-1922

Yankee Stadium 1923-1973

Shea Stadium 1974-1975

Yankee Stadium 1976-2008

New Yankee Stadium 2009 -

 

 On June 6, 1934 - Yankee outfielder Myril Hoag tieD an American League record with six singles in six at-bats at the Stadium.

 

The number of Yankee starters: Bill Dickey, Joe DiMaggio, Joe Gordon, Red Rolfe, Red Ruffing, and George Selkirk in the 1939 All-Star game at Yankee Stadium.

Mickey Mantle's rookie uniform number, changed by equipment manager Pete Sheehy to #7 after Mantle was recalled from Kansas City.

 

7     

Mickey Mantle's number, retired June 8, 1969. He wore it from 1951 on.  

8     

        The only number to be retired twice by the same team is Number 8 of the Yankees. It was retired in 1972 for Bill Dickey and Yogi Berra, both catchers. Berra took number 8 in 1948 after Dickey retired but before he was a coach.

 

Dwight Gooden's no-hitter on May 14, 1996, the eighth in Stadium history.

 

9     

Joe DiMaggio's rookie number.

Roger Maris' number, retired, July 13, 1985

Most hits in an inning yielded by Roger Clemens, August 2, 2007

 

10

        The Yanks used a record 10 pinch hitters on September 6, 1954 in a doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox. They won the opener 6-5, and the BOSox took the second game, 8-7.

 

Mickey Mantle homered from both sides of the plate in the same game for a record 10th and final time on August 12, 1964.  OR 1965

11 

 June 3, 2003, the Yankees named Derek Jeter their 11th captain.

12

 Billy Martin's rookie uniform number.

13 

 Home plate was moved 13 feet forward in 1924, to eliminate the "bloody angle" in the right field corner

14

 Yogi Berra stayed away from Yankee Stadium for 14 years, unhappy with the treatment he had received from George Steinbrenner.

$15.00

  Bob Sheppard's per game earning in 1951 when he began working for the Yankees.

15

  July 18, 1999 -- David Cone’s  perfect game against the Montreal Expos was the 15th regular season perfect game.

 Thurman Munson's Number 15 jersey and catching gear remains in his locker as it was the day he was killed in a 1979 airplane crash. His uniform number 15 is retired.

16

         Whitey Ford's Number retired 1974. The slick southpaw wore number 19 in his rookie season. Returning from the army in 1953, he wore number 16 for the rest of his career.

        Dallas Green becomes George Steinbrenner's 16th  manager to be fired on August 16, 1989.

18

    Joe DiMaggio's original uniform, number given to him by equipment manager Pete Sheehy and later changed to 5 for historical significance reasons, Ruth wore number 3 and Gehrig 4. 

19

  Whitey Ford's  rookie uniform number.

21

Paul O'Neill's number 21. Since O'Neill retired after the 2001 World Series, no Yankee has worn that number.

23

Don Mattingly's number retired, August 31, 1997.

24

In 1927, 24 of Lou Gehrig's 47 home runs were hit at Stadium.

25

 Gene Michael was  the 25th Yankee manager in history.

Uniform number selected by Jason Giambi upon his signing with New York. The significance: the digits add  up to 7, the number worn by Giambi's dad's idol, Mickey Mantle.

26

Thirty World Series have been played at Yankee Stadium, with the Yankees winning 26.

28

 Thurman Munson's rookie uniform number.

 Of the 60 record-setting home runs hit by Babe Ruth in 1927, 28 of them are hit at Yankee Stadium.

29

 Of the 61 home runs hit by Roger Maris in 1961, 29 were hit at Yankee Stadium.     

 Mel Allen was a Yankee broadcaster for 29 seasons.      

33

Yankee Stadium has hosted 33 World Series,

37

 Of the 37 players who performed for the 1949 Yankees, only Yogi Berra still played for them in 1960.

40

  Phil Rizzuto spent parts of 40 seasons as a Yankee broadcaster

 42

Mariano Rivera, last player to wear No. 42, which has been retired from Major League Baseball in honor of Jackie Robinson. 

44

 Reggie Jackson's number, retired 1993.

46

 Don Mattingly's rookie number.

 

49

 Ron Guidry's number, retired 2003.

50

 On  June 1, 1999 at Yankee Stadium, Derek Jeter had reached base in all 50 Yankee games.

 

56

 Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak included 56 singles and runs scored.  It covered 53 day games 3 night games, 29 at Yankee Stadium, 27 road games.

Dave Righetti's rookie number.

58

Mariano Rivera's original number.

88

 Number of pitches David Cone tossed in perfect game, July 19, 1999 - 68 strikes and 20 balls.

 

89

 The Yankees and the Orioles played to a 1-1 tie in 15 innings, the 89th tie in franchise history. It was Cal Ripken's last game at Yankee Stadium.

97

 Don Larsen used this number of pitches to hurl his perfect game against the Dodgers at Yankee Stadium in the 1956 World Series.

100

Babe Ruth on September  24, 1920 hits his 100th home run off Washington's Jim Shaw.

120

In his perfect game pitched on May 17, 1998, David Wells threw 120 pitches.

126

  The number of games that Cal Ripken played at Yankee Stadium - more than any other opposing player (June 18, 1982 - September 30, 2001).

174

 The number of pitches Doc Gooden threw in his no-hitter on May 14, 1996.

185

Number of working days it took for the original Yankee Stadium to be built.

266

 Mickey Mantle hit 266 homers at Yankee Stadium 1951-68, most ever.    

300

 Roger Clemens becomes the 21st pitcher in Major League history to win his 300th game, June 13, 2003. He is first Yankee to win it in front of the home fans.

413

Smallest home attendance for a game, September 25, 1966

500 

The number of workers who built the original Yankee Stadium.

        Alex Rodrigues his his 500th home run August 4, 2007.

536

 On September 20, 1968, Mickey Mantle hits his 536th and final home run.

1903

For the first time since 1903,  two teams played two games in different stadiums on the same day, July 8, 2000. Game One was at Shea Stadium and the second game was at Yankee Stadium.

2,385

 The number of backless seats spread over 27 rows behind the right-field fence in the bleachers.

3,654

Number of home runs Yankees hit at old Yankee Stadium,1923-1973

$5,000

 The reward promised to the one who caught the 61st home run ball of Roger Maris.

$6,000

The amount Don Larsen received for being on Bob Hope's TV show after he pitched his perfect game in 1956. 

20002

After Allie Reynolds pitched his second no-hitter for the Yankees in 1951, the Hotel Edison where he along with some teammates lived changed his room number from 2019 to 0002.

 20,000

Letters that Mickey Mantle never answered were not bid on in the old Yankee Stadium fire sale in 1974.

32,238

 Attendance at Final Game at old Yankee Stadium, September 30, 1973. 

51,800

 Capacity of new Yankee Stadium scheduled to open April 2009

64,519

 Number of people in attendance at Yankee Stadium in 1956 when Don Larsen pitched the Perfect Game

$451,541

The uniform Lou Gehrig wore during his Farewell speech in 1939 sold for this amount in 1999.

 

*Just a nosh adapted from the author’s forthcoming book –

REMEMBERING YANKE STADIUUM: AN ORAL AND NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE THAT RUTH BUILT (The Definitive Book, September 2008)

Harvey Frommer is his 33rd consecutive year of writing sports books. The author of 39 of them including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball,"  his REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) will be published in 2008 as well as a reprint version of his "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball.". 

Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed.

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