Football At Yankee Stadium
As the Yankees and their fans get ready to say goodbye to the "House that Ruth Built", and move across the street to "Yankee Stadium II" (or "Yankee Stadium III" depending on how you feel about the renovations in 1974 and 1975), it should also be noted that Yankee Stadium has been the site of some memorable football moments. As we prepare for tomorrow's game against the Bengals, lets take a look back as some of the great football moments at Yankee Stadium:
In 1926, after negotiations failed with the fledgling NFL and the Chicago Bears, Red Grange and his agent C.C. Pyle formed the first American Football League and fielded a team called the New York Yankees based in Yankee Stadium. The league failed after just one year.
A second New York Yankees football team, not related to the first, split its home games between Yankee Stadium and Downing Stadium as it competed in the second AFL in 1936 and 1937.
A third AFL New York Yankees took the field in 1940 and became the New York Americans in 1941. As you may or may not know, it was common practice in those days for professional football teams to attempt to capatilize on the popularity of the local baseball team by taking the same name. This was why the early days of pro football saw teams named the Yankees, Brooklyn Dodgers, Detroit Tigers, Cincinnati Reds, and yes, our beloved New York Giants.
The New York Yankees of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) played their home games at Yankee Stadium from 1946 to 1949.
The New York Giants began playing their home games at Yankee Stadium in 1956. In 1957, they won the NFL Championship game there against the Bears, 47-7.
In 1958, in a late season game played during a blinding snowstorm at Yankee Stadium, Pat Summerall kicked a "rumored" 49 yard field goal to beat the Browns 13-10 and force a one game playoff against the Browns for the division title. The playoff game was also played at Yankee Stadium, and also won by the Giants, 10-0. This set the stage for the "Greatest Game Ever Played", the NFL Championship played between the Colts and Giants at Yankee Stadium, and won by the Colts in overtime, 23-17.
In 1962, Yankee Stadium would play host to its final NFL Championship game, with the Packers defeating the Giants 16-7.
Due to the renovations of Yankee Stadium, the Giants were forced to move to the Yale Bowl for the 1973 and 1974 seasons. The Giants than played at Shea Stadium for one year before moving to the "Swamps of Jersey" in 1976.
One final thought on Yankee Stadium; as most of you know I am a Met fan, but like my father before me, I was a Yankee fan in my youth. I remember showing off the Lou Piniella bat I got on "Bat Day" to my friends, and wearing those cheap garbage bag "English Leather" jackets they gave away on "Jacket Day". Yankee Stadium to me always seemed like a living organism. The crowd "buzz" inside the Stadium always sounds different than anyplace else, as if the ghosts of Ruth, Gehrig, and Joe D were somehow creating a bombilation all their own. As crazy as it sounds, I came to hate that sound as much as the team itself. It remains to be seen if that sound can be duplicated across the street.
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The Yale Bowl games
I went to a few of those games played at the Yale Bowl. It was an interesting experience. And I did watch the last game the Giants played in Yankee Stadium. It was a game against the Dolphins. I think we won but I don’t remember. I was sitting near one of those big iron poles and had to constantly change my position to see the action. Spyder Lockhart made an acrobatic interception and I did get to see Paul Warfield lin person. I was always a big fan of his.
Oddly enough as long as I lived in New England I have never been inside Shea Stadium, though in 1965 I had tickets to the Beatles concert. At the last I minute didn’t go.
by giant fan since 57 on
Sep 21, 2008 6:37 AM EDT
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if it makes you feel better
i turned down a ticket to David Cone’s perfect game. i know that’s not exactly the Beatles legendary Shea show, but still, maybe the biggest regret of my life.
by SBakerTheTouchdownMaker on
Sep 21, 2008 11:38 AM EDT
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wow
can’t believe you had tickets to the Beatles and didn’t go! Despite being born 2 years after Lennon got shot, they’re pretty much my favorite band (I go through phases, but they are one of the few bands I can always listen to).
I’m a Mets fan, so obviously my opinion of Yankee Stadium is shaped by that to a degree, but I’m really not gonna miss the place. It has nothing to do with hating the Yankees though (well, maybe a little of that). I’m a student of baseball history, and I really try when I go there to envision the ghosts of Ruth and Gehrig and DiMaggio and Mantle, but I just can’t. To me, Yankee Stadium has never felt like anything more than a stadium that was built in the 1970’s. I’ve been to Wrigley and Fenway, and when you go to those stadiums, you can practically taste and smell the history. I went to a Wrigley day game, and felt like I could have seen Ernie Banks playing shortstop. At Fenway, I could just picture Ted Williams stepping up to the plate. At Yankee Stadium, not so much. I’m actually almost as excited for the new Yankee Stadium as I am for Citi Field, b/c to me it’s gonna look more like what Yankee Stadium should look like than the current stadium.
That’s a great picture though. I always wondered how exactly they fit the football stadium in there. Pretty cool. Does anyone know if they’re planning on honoring any of those old Giants at today’s Yankees game, or if it’s a baseball only affair? I know a lot of Mets fans are disappointed that they haven’t invited any of the old Jets to the last few days at Shea, like Namath and such. Would be cool if Gifford and Summerall and guys like that were at Yankee Stadium to close it out, since they did play the greatest game ever played there.
by cjmulrain on
Sep 21, 2008 11:39 AM EDT
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i really don't buy the whole
“well this isn’t the real Yankee Stadium” thing. yes the outside structure of it is much different than the “Old” Stadium, but the fact remains that Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Reggie Jackson and Derek Jeter all played on that field.
i’ve been to Wrigley and i agree that it has more of that “cathedral” feel but comparing the history at Wrigley compared to Yankee Stadium is like comparing the Rays franchise history to the Yankees.
it’s not even close.
by SBakerTheTouchdownMaker on
Sep 21, 2008 12:36 PM EDT
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to add on to that
i forget who it was, but someone once said that Wrigley, Fenway and the Stadium are all ballparks but only one is an American landmark.
by SBakerTheTouchdownMaker on
Sep 21, 2008 12:39 PM EDT
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One other question
I’m assuming the Giants played at the Polo Grounds originally (hence the name), but did they ever play anywhere else before moving to Yankee Stadium?
by cjmulrain on
Sep 21, 2008 12:01 PM EDT
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Doesn't appear so
Check out this page — http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nfl/nyg/nygiants.html.
Gives the complete history of the team. Interesting stuff.
by Ed Valentine on
Sep 21, 2008 12:38 PM EDT
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