Building the House of Ruth

The Yankees, tenants since 1913 of the New York Giants across the Harlem River at the Polo Grounds, begin construction 103 years ago today on a new ballpark that will become one of sports’ most iconic venues for the next 50 seasons.

Yankee Stadium just prior to Opening Day 1923

Yankee Stadium, at the cost $2.4 million – that, folks, would be $45.8 million in today’s money – opens 284 days later and in time for the start of the 1923 season.

The superhuman Babe Ruth hits the new ballpark’s first home run off Boston’s Howard Ehmke on Opening Day 1923, which ends with a 4-1 Yankees victory before a Wednesday afternoon crowd of 74,200 in the Bronx.

Duke Sims hits the final homer

The much more mortal Duke Sims hits the then-old stadium’s final home run off Detroit’s Fred Holdsworth in the Yankees’ last game of the 1973 season, which ends with the Yankees losing 8-5 to the Tigers in front of a Sunday afternoon crowd of 32,238.

After that, the Yankees spend two seasons in Queens as tenants of the Mets at Shea Stadium before a vastly refurbished Yankee Stadium reopens in 1976.

Sims’ homer to help close down Yankee Stadium is the only one he hits in nine career games with New York and the 97th of the 100 he hits in an 11-year career that runs from 1964-74.

In comparison, Ruth’s homer to help open Yankee Stadium in 1923 is his 198th among the then-record 714 homers he hits over a 20-year span from 1915-35.