Yankee Stadium [II] Construction

[Kentucky Bomber]

I thought I heard that they are taking the letters from Yankee stadium now and use them. They have been there since the 1950's.

The Stadium sign was not brought over from the original...





The original were white painted on a black background. The current are the same script, but are transparent blue that are lit at night.

[Yankeefan90]

The Stadium sign was not brought over from the original...





The original were white painted on a black background. The current are the same script, but are transparent blue that are lit at night.

Although I've read in multiple sources that the sign is from the 50's. When they painted the Stadium white in the late 60's they painted that lettering blue. They couldv'e usedthe lettering as the back of the sign.

[Urbanshocker13]

Although I've read in multiple sources that the sign is from the 50's. When they painted the Stadium white in the late 60's they painted that lettering blue. They couldv'e usedthe lettering as the back of the sign.

Heard the same thing, either way I think they are transplanting the Letters from the current stadium to the new one. I know I heard that some where, could be wrong. That lettering has looked different in every rendering so it's hard to tell. From the construction we can see that none of the renderings will do the finish stadium justice!

[Kentucky Bomber]

Although I've read in multiple sources that the sign is from the 50's. When they painted the Stadium white in the late 60's they painted that lettering blue. They couldv'e usedthe lettering as the back of the sign.

Once again, the current letters are not painted, they are translucent blue plastic that is illuminated at night. The originals were not illuminated, as they were just a painted sign.

[CMart]

A few new pictures on yankeetradition.com on the construction -- 3 pics taken from the subway platform it seems,

http://www.yankeetradition.com/NewYankeeStadium.htm

[donut726]

Heard the same thing, either way I think they are transplanting the Letters from the current stadium to the new one. I know I heard that some where, could be wrong. That lettering has looked different in every rendering so it's hard to tell. From the construction we can see that none of the renderings will do the finish stadium justice!

more than likely, the lettering on the new stadium will be new using the serif type font that adorns the gates of the stadium.

[CMart]

Check out this pic -- Nice shot

stadium.jpg

... and if you notice they are indeed putting the finishing touches on the front gate as well as putting up the lights.

[locke40]

Check out this pic -- Nice shot

stadium.jpg

... and if you notice they are indeed putting the finishing touches on the front gate as well as putting up the lights.

This might actually be a really fun place to watch the Yankees play!

[NYYfan09]

If you look, the lights appear to wrap around behind home plate. The construction photo & the renderings show it.
I would think the centerfielder would be blinded by a high fly ball. I do not know of any other stadium with lights directly behind home plate. The current stadium just has the metal frame work.

[RichardLillard1]

Dean,

You bring up some excellent questions in your post, I will try and adress it as best I can.

In 1923 the distance down both foul lines was a mere 258. This was due to the position of homeplate versus the completed grandstand. This created massive problems for any right fielder though, of which Ruth was one. The odd space created between the temporary wooden bleachers and the grandstand was located in fair territory which made it extremely difficult when balls would carom around in there. It became known as the "bloody angle" and in the off-season leading up to 1924 home plate was moved forward to correct this problem. This gave the stadium the 295 right foul line and the 301 in left.

The decision to situate the stadium that way was not made because of Babe Ruth. If you look at the plot of land it was built on it becomes clear that any other orientation would have made things difficult for the players. If it didn't make it hard on players then it would have been hard on fans in the stands. They made the best choice and Ruth was not a factor in it.

Also, Ruth was a serious POWER hitter that, more often than not, hit to the power alleys or even to the opposite field. Bill Jenkinson, an authority on tape measure homers has written a book about Ruth's amazing home run prowess which include some scatter plots on Ruth's homers. He often hit to center or left center because of pitchers thowing outside on him. The 295 down the line benefited Ruth (if I remember correctly) about four times a year, if that.

The Polo Grounds might have helped him too, but again you have to look at the shape of the field and also take into account that Ruth hit to the upper deck or even cleared the roof on numerous ocassions. The thought of parks helping him goes both ways. He only hit 29 homers in 1919 with the Red Sox. However, it was 550 feet to right center and he only hit four homers in Fenway.

For some detailed information and overhead diagrams of ballparks, check out Andrew Clem's site. A link to his Yankee Stadium page is below.

http://andrewclem.com/Baseball/YankeeStadium.html

I hope this helps, if only a little!


Richard

[YankeeDean]

Thank you Richard for your response about the original Yankee Stadium wall distances. Now it all makes sense. I did think that really short distances down the line was a possible solution, based on some photos that I did not include in the post where the pole looked ridiculously close, but since I had never seen any references to a distance as short as 258' , I published my theory hoping that someone would have the requisite knowledge to clear it all up.

[dabx]

If you look, the lights appear to wrap around behind home plate. The construction photo & the renderings show it.
I would think the centerfielder would be blinded by a high fly ball. I do not know of any other stadium with lights directly behind home plate. The current stadium just has the metal frame work.

The light towers maybe directly behind home plate, but each lighting element can be pointed to any direction. Most probably the light behind the home plate are direct high to the center field bleachers, above eyesight of the outfielders. Aiming the lights high would help accent the flight of fly balls

[Kentucky Bomber]

The light towers maybe directly behind home plate, but each lighting element can be pointed to any direction. Most probably the light behind the home plate are direct high to the center field bleachers, above eyesight of the outfielders. Aiming the lights high would help accent the flight of fly balls

I, too, am baffled by the presence of lights behind the plate. No matter how they are angled there will still be a glare coming from the plate area. I can't see why they are placed there, unless it is a temporary thing to aid in the construction process. Once again, as with everything else we've been talking about, time will tell.

[NYYfan09]

I just wish they left behind home plate free of lights.

Visually it would look a lot nicer with at least some part of the frieze free from bulbs and transformers. Doesn't look like one part of it will not have lights. It's a little overkill.

But glad to see it back on the roof. Sitting in the upper deck will look really nice have it hanging over you. Was too young to see the pre-renovated version.

[Jalper79]

If you look at this original drawing, it looks as if there was only going to be 4 sets of lights on top of the stadium. None of which would have been positioned directly behind home plate.
I guess they have changed that a bit.

[Kentucky Bomber]

I was just going thru some old Yankees Magazines loking for something else and I came across the 1/2002 edition with pictures of the Giuliani Monstrosity.

If nothing else, Bloomberg deserves a plaque in Monument Park for saving us from this... with the roof closed it looks like a sea turtle come ashore to lay its eggs.

[jimmyjimjimz]

I was just going thru some old Yankees Magazines loking for something else and I came across the 1/2002 edition with pictures of the Giuliani Monstrosity.

If nothing else, Bloomberg deserves a plaque in Monument Park for saving us from this... with the roof closed it looks like a sea turtle come ashore to lay its eggs.

Once again, that thing looks so ugly, and I'm so happy it's never gonna be built.

[CMart]

Well, once again, I guess I was wrong as the photos of the originally proposed stadium show that the field would have been situated in the same configuration as it will be now (I though it looked like it would be facing the 4 train).

Still glad they didn't do it after all as it would have been a soulless rendition.

If anything though -- it looks like we would have gotten a pretty cool looking subway station

[NYYfan09]

That looks more like an airport terminal than a ballpark.

Could you imagine what the posts would be like on this site if that was what was being built now.

[Yankeefan90]

Althought there is one thing I like about the original plans. The outfield, if you notice there is a pretty deep LCF-LF. So there would have a return to death valley. Other than the field it's one ugly monstrosity, I'm glad it was never built also.

[Kentucky Bomber]

Althought there is one thing I like about the original plans. The outfield, if you notice there is a pretty deep LCF-LF. So there would have a return to death valley. Other than the field it's one ugly monstrosity, I'm glad it was never built also.

From what was printed in the article it would have been designed to replicate the Stadium dimensions as they exist now, so the would not have been a Death Valley. And as we have already discussed, there is no reason for a Death Valley when our RH 3rd baseman is trying to get to 800 HR's.

[Yankeefan90]

From what was printed in the article it would have been designed to replicate the Stadium dimensions as they exist now, so the would not have been a Death Valley. And as we have already discussed, there is no reason for a Death Valley when our RH 3rd baseman is trying to get to 800 HR's.

I guess, but if you look at the pic it looks like LCF is slightly deeper than in the current stadium. Anyway, but like you said it's pointless to argue about it.

[stlfan]

Here is the image that someone posted earlier with an outline of the current field dimensions.

[locke40]

Do you think the new Yankee Stadium will be just as loud as the current one? All the new stadiums don't seem to be as loud as the older stadiums, and I am guessing it is because of the seating structure. Watching the World Series this past year really showed the difference between the new stadiums (Coors Field) and old (Fenway Park); it just seemed much more passionate at Fenway. I really hope this isn't lost in the new Yankee Stadium.

[nymdan]

Do you think the new Yankee Stadium will be just as loud as the current one? All the new stadiums don't seem to be as loud as the older stadiums, and I am guessing it is because of the seating structure. Watching the World Series this past year really showed the difference between the new stadiums (Coors Field) and old (Fenway Park); it just seemed much more passionate at Fenway. I really hope this isn't lost in the new Yankee Stadium.

I'm sure 99% of that had to do with Red Sox fans vs. Rockies fans.

But it probably won't be as loud, since the fans sitting in the upper deck won't be right on top of the players.