The B Train that heads north from Penn Station, past the lush, green grass of Central Park, and emerges from the tunnel that runs under the Harlem River arrives at a monument more famous than the Statue of Liberty and has a facade more recognizable than the Empire State Building.
Yankee Stadium was born as “The House That Ruth Built” on April 18, 1923. It closed on Sunday when Brian Roberts grounded weakly to first base to end the Yankees’ 7-3 win over the Orioles.
The Orioles, a team from Babe Ruth’s hometown.
The Orioles, a team that was the St. Louis Browns when Ruth died Aug. 16, 1948.
The Orioles, a team that through the years had seen so many promising seasons take a downward spiral in the Bronx.
The Orioles, a team from a city whose football teams — the Colts, Navy and Morgan State — all played on the hallowed grounds at 161st Street and River Avenue.
Yankee Stadium closed its doors after its 6,580th baseball game was attended by a crowd of 54,610, which included Ruth’s granddaughter, Linda Ruth Tosetti. She acknowledged Baltimoreans played quite a role in Ruth’s career by making sure the legacy of “The Great Bambino” endured, even if his stadium will not.
“They’ve always been behind my grandfather, their native son,” Tosetti said of Baltimoreans. “They were the only people to come out on his 100th birthday. It was a blizzard. People came out by the droves. I know what happens in Baltimore with a blizzard, everything stops normally. Baltimore has always been first and foremost with Babe. I’m always proud to say that. I love Baltimore.”
Tosetti, 53, and her husband Andy, 54, live in Durham, Conn., but tour the country frequently because their family is forever linked to the National Pastime. Andy Tosetti remembers a conversation between his wife and former Yankees manager Joe Torre: “Linda, remember one thing. Your grandfather started it. Your grandfather finished it. There will be nobody better than your grandfather, ever. Ever.”
Ruth hit a then-record 714 home runs in his career, and his larger-than-life status brought baseball to uncharted heights in the 1920s and 30s. Most of it happened in Yankee Stadium, a building tailor made for his talents. It was enormous in seating capacity, but small enough to enhance his power.
“The Yankees realized easily what they had, so that’s why it was so big,” said Mike Gibbons, executive director of the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum. “As far as the ballpark dimensions, certainly the short porch in right field was designed so that Ruth could give the fans what they came to see him do: hit moon shots into the right field bleachers. That ballpark was all about Babe Ruth.”
“He considered Yankee Stadium his second home,” said Ruth’s daughter, Julia Ruth Stevens, 92, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch on Sunday. “He was very honored that the reporters nicknamed it ‘The House That Ruth Built.’ He was very, very excited about that. We all were.”
And let’s not forget the Yankees’ origin. The Yankees were originally the Baltimore Orioles of the International League in 1901 before becoming the New York Highlanders when they moved to the Big Apple in 1903. The team became the Yankees in 1913.
Ruth played for those Orioles — then a Red Sox affiliate — for five months before he was promoted to the major leagues.
But the ties between Baltimore and Yankee Stadium run much deeper than the city simply turning a Baltimore boy into the sport’ biggest legend.
The city celebrated its first National Football League championship when a national television audience on NBC watched Alan Ameche power across the goal line to give the Colts a 23-17 overtime victory over the New York Giants in what’s simply known as “The Greatest Game Ever Played.”
Morgan State’s football team went 1-11 against legendary coach Eddie Robinson and Grambling from 1968 to 83.
In 1930, with the country mired in the Great Depression, President Herbert Hoover asked Navy and Army to play a football game against each other for the first time in three years to generate money for the Salvation Army. The Black Knights won, 6-0, and came back the next year to post a 17-7 victory over the Midshipmen.
The Orioles went 190-241-1 in the stadium, with only Toronto (100-124) fairing better among American League teams.
“You hate to see the old parks go, especially Yankee Stadium,” Orioles legend Brooks Robinson said. “It’s sad, but it’s like Memorial Stadium to Camden Yards. You have to move on.”
On Sunday, the Orioles helped close Yankee Stadium, with All-Star second baseman Roberts making the final out, a “3-unassisted” in most scorebooks.
“I figured I’d either make the last out, or get the last hit or something,” Roberts said. “I couldn’t go wrong. But [Yankees closer Mariano Rivera] is pretty good at getting outs.”
The Orioles’ greatest success against the Yankees perhaps occurred in 1996 and 1997, when the teams were two of the best in baseball. The Orioles won the Wild Card in 1996 and the East Division title in 1997, with the Yankees winning the division in 1996 and the Wild Card in 1997.
“There is no better feeling than going into Yankee Stadium when they are good and you are good,” Cal Ripken Jr. said. “Another powerful memory was my last series at Yankee Stadium. It was right after 9/11 and I met several kids of policemen and firefighters who died and that was very emotional.”
For the Ruth family, Sunday was emotional.
“I’m really sad. It’s the end and his house is coming down,” Linda Ruth Tosetti said. “You have a grandfather whose house you’ve visited. This is the only house I’ve known. It’s like ripping down that family house.”
