Yankee Stadium

If you grew up in the 50's and early 60's there were only half as many major league teams to root for as there are today. The only TV games were on Saturdays billed as "the game of the week". I don't remember who the play-by play man was but I do know Dizzy Dean was the color commentator and he really added color to the game. There is no one like him today. It seemed to me the game of the week meant the Yankees were playing.
If you were a young kid back then playing in the back yard or the playground as the game was starting, you yelled out which major leaguer you wanted to be. In my neighborhood the first name usually called was "Mickey Mantle". If you weren't first then you had to be someone else. And then some other Yankee, "Yogi" or maybe "Roger" would probably be called out. Regardless if you picked someone on the Yankees you had chosen a real good player. Probably a Hall-of-Famer. Most guys I knew dreamed of playing for the Yankees or at least seeing Mickey hit one out of the park to win another World Series.
In the early 60's I had the pleasure of seeing the Yankees play a double header in Kansas City and number 7 hit three home runs. This summer I finally got around to going to a game in Yankee Stadium. We got there via the subway about 3 hours early. After walking around the outside and seeing several players arriving at the park, we sought out a place to eat before entering the stadium ourselves. We were guided by a security person to the Yankee Tavern about a block away. Like most everything in that part of the Bronx it was old and a little rank, but the food and drink were good and plenty. One of the above pictures is a mural from inside the tavern. Our seats were high down the third base line near the foul pole. You can see the pole in one of the pics. It was cap night for the first 1800 through the gates and I think we were in the first 18. Up to 45 minutes before game time you can parade through Monument Park where many of the former Yankee greats are immortalized. We took our turn along with several thousand other folks. This is the last year they will play in this old Stadium that Ruth built so that makes the trip even that much more special.(Click on collageto enlarge)