New York
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, The World’s Most Famous Arena, is located in Manhattan on Seventh Avenue between 31st and 33rd Streets. Also located in the heart of
Yankee Stadium
The date, August 16, is already famous in Yankees history as the same date on which Babe Ruth died 58 years ago, but in 2006, it undoubtedly took on a new meaning as the Yankees broke ground for the construction of a new stadium.
The new Yankee Stadium will open in 2009, replacing the third-oldest stadium in the Major Leagues. Yankee Stadium has held up for 84 years, surpassed only by
"This new stadium will present new comforts, new features and be state-of-the-art in every way," Yankees president Randy Levine said. "It will be the most spectacular fan-friendly stadium ever built."
The new Yankee Stadium will seat fewer than the current stadium, but it will have 60 luxury suites, including three outdoor suites and eight party suites. It will have many restaurants, larger concourses and entertainment areas.
But the Yankees will also carry over some of the time-honored traditions of their current stadium. The field dimensions will be the same, and
The design will even go further back to recreate some of the original park"s features. It will have the tall cathedral windows, auxiliary outfield scoreboards, a right-field Yankees bullpen and a frieze on the roof, which is commonly known as the façade and was a feature of the original stadium.
Along with the $800 million the Yankees have fronted, the city and state are pitching in more than $200 million to build recreational parks along the waterfront and other facilities around the ballpark.
A hotel, convention center and $45 million Yankee Stadium Metro-North Station are also in the plans. Four new parking garages will be built, creating approximately 10,000 vehicle spaces.
New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, said that the stadium"s construction will create 6,500 jobs during the next four years and up to 1,000 permanent jobs. The city will spend $1 million in training
For the Yankees and their fans, the date August 16 will again be a date they won"t forget. That is, until the day the new Yankee Stadium opens. Then, it will be a time for all new memories
Shea Stadium
Shea Stadium is located on
The architectural firm of Praeger-Kavanagh-Waterbury designed the stadium to be the first all-purpose facility capable of hosting baseball and football games, seating 55,300 for baseball and 60,000 for the New York Jets football team.
With the Mets in a new ballpark adjacent to the World"s Fair,
At Shea Stadium"s opening ceremonies, Bill Shea christened the Mets" new home with two symbolic bottles of water: one from the
Jack Fisher started the first game at Shea with a called strike to
In 1964,
Over the years, Shea Stadium has hosted many other sports, entertainment and cultural events. The Stadium has opened its gates to college and pro football, soccer, boxing, religious conventions, a visit from Pope John Paul II, numerous musical events and even the Ice Capades. An overwhelming crowd of 60,000 screaming Beatles fans packed the stadium for the first major outdoor stadium concert on August 15, 1965. The Beatles were followed by other rock and roll legends including the Rolling Stones, The Who, The Police, Simon & Garfunkel, Elton John and Eric Clapton. Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix also made a little known appearance at Shea for the 1970 Summer Festival for Peace.
Shea Stadium has even served as the home field for the Mets" crosstown rivals, the New York Yankees. After the Yankees completed their stadium"s 50th anniversary season in 1973, the team moved to Shea for the 1974 and 1975 seasons while Yankee Stadium underwent extensive renovations. Again in the 1998 season, the Yankees were forced to play at Shea due to a fallen piece of concrete at Yankee Stadium. On Wednesday April 15, the Yankees played
In 1982, the giant DiamondVision video display screen debuted in left-center field. The screen -- 35 feet, 8 inches wide by 26 feet, 3 inches high -- shows replays, special in-game features, statistics and more. The 12-person production staff captured two 2001 I.D.E.A. Golden Matrix Awards for best overall video and best overall matrix scoreboard display.
Between 1985 and 1987 major stadium renovations included the addition of 50 suites on Shea"s press level. The orange and blue panels were removed from the exterior and large blue wind screen panels were installed. Neon outlines of baseball players were placed on each of the six panels, making the present facade consistent with the stadium"s principal function and foremost association -- the home of the New York Mets.
In their illustrious history, the Mets have captured four Eastern Division titles, two Wild Card titles, four National League Pennants and two World Series titles. On October 16, 1969 the team won its first World Championship with a 5-3 victory over the Orioles before 57,397 screaming fans at Shea. In October of 1986, the Mets did it again. Delayed one day by rain, the Mets defeated the Boston Red Sox 8-5 at Shea in Game 7 of the World Series to become World Champions for the second time in franchise history.
Shea has also been the site of several Major League Baseball records. Dwight Gooden established a Major League rookie record with 276 strikeouts in 1984. During that season, he hurled a one-hitter to defeat the Cubs, 10-0 on September 7. In that same season he became the first teenage rookie to lead the Majors in strikeouts. On September 14, 1996, Todd Hundley surpassed Roy Campanella"s 43-year-old Major League record for the most home runs by a catcher in one season (41) in the seventh inning off of
The inception of Interleague Play set the stage for the first "Subway Series" at Shea Stadium on June 26, 1998. All three games of the series sold out, drawing 160,740 fans, the most for a three-game series in Mets history.
On July 8, 2000 the Mets and Yankees were involved in yet another historic doubleheader, with the first game at Shea Stadium and the second at Yankee Stadium. This event took place due to a makeup game from a rainout during the previous series at Yankee Stadium in June. It was the first time in 97 years that two teams played each other twice in one day at two different ballparks. Three months later the Fall Classic came back to Shea when the Mets faced the Yankees in the first
Shea also served as a relief center after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Most of the gate areas were filled with food, supplies and makeshift lodging for the massive rescue effort. Ten days later, on September 21, the Mets made a star-spangled return against the Atlanta Braves. On one of the proudest nights in Shea Stadium history, 41,275 fans attended the symbolic comeback for