Old Yankee Stadium was built on a lumberyard near Coogan's Bluff in the west Bronx, which the owners of the Yankees bought from William Waldorf Astor for $675,000.
The New York Yankees had debuted as the New York Highlanders in 1903, when a couple of bartenders bought the minor league Baltimore Orioles for $18,000. From 1903 until 1912 the Highlanders played at Hilltop Park in Washington Heights, Manhattan. Following the 1912 season the team changed its name to the Yankees and their lease at Hilltop expired. They signed a 10 year agreement to play alongside the Giants at the Polo Grounds. From the start the Yankees had been a mediocre team at best and this continued through their years at the Polo Grounds, until of course the famous deal with the Boston Red Sox following the 1919 season.
Yankee owners Jacob Ruppert and Tillinghast Huston were aware that Red Sox owner Harry Frazee was having financial difficulties and armed with this knowledge offered to buy star pitcher Babe Ruth. Frazee had already refused an offer of Shoeless Joe Jackson and $60,000 from the Chicago White Sox for Ruth and demanded $125,000 from the Yankees but eventually settled for $100,000 ($25,000 up front and 3 subsequent yearly payments of $25,000, plus a $300,000 loan guaranteed by Fenway Park).
During the 1920 season, joyous Yankee fans came out in droves to see their new star. Attendance that year reached 1.3 million, easily topping the figures for the host Giants. In 1921 the Yankees won the American League pennant and played the Giants in the World Series (the Giants won the best of nine series in eight games, all played at the Polo Grounds). Relations between the two teams had always been acrimonious, but now the Yankees were actually rivals and this proved to be the tipping point. Giant's owner Charles Stoneham "suggested" that perhaps it was time for the Yankees to find a new place to play, hoping they would move out in the boroughs and leave his fan base alone.
On April 18, 1923 the New York Yankees moved into their new home. It was the largest ballpark yet built and apparently, the first to be called "Stadium". It cost Ruppert and Huston $2.5 million to construct and had a seating capacity of nearly 60,000 in an era when the standard was about half of that. It was originally designed to have three decks completely encircling the field, but was eventually scaled back. It used 26,000 cubic meters of specialized hardened concrete (developed by Thomas Edison). The original field dimensions were 295 ft. in right, 490 ft. in center (where it was fittingly called Death Valley) and 281 ft. in left. The success and popularity of the Yankees led to the stadium quickly being expanded in 1928 and again in 1937 bringing the capacity to nearly 80,000.
1932 marked the beginning of what would become Monument Park, when a monument to legendary manager Miller Huggins was erected. Huggins was joined by Lou Gehrig in 1941 and Babe Ruth in 1949. These monuments were actually in fair territory in dead center field. In 1972 the Yankees sold the stadium to the City of New York. The city closed the stadium after the 1973 season for much needed renovations. The Yankees played the '74 and '75 seasons at Shea Stadium with the Mets. The $160 million renovations were completed in time for the 1976 season. Center field had been shortened by 40 ft. leaving the monuments behind the new fence. Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle had also been given monuments. Plaques were steadily added to the area and would eventually include Ed Barrow, Jacob Ruppert, Casey Stengel, Joe McCarthy, Pope Paul VI, Thurmon Munson, Pope John Paul II, Billy Martin, Whitey Ford, Lefty Gomez, Roger Maris, Allie Reynolds, Elston Howard, Phil Rizzuto, Bill Dickey, Yogi Berra, Reggie Jackson and Don Mattingly.
In 2005 the Yankees announced plans to build a new Yankee Stadium across the street from the original. Construction began on the new stadium in 2006 and was completed in time for opening day, 2009. The Yankees played their final game in "old" Yankee Stadium on September 21, 2008. Demolition was completed in 2010 and a park is being built on the site of the old lumberyard.
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