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Yankee Stadium by Teresa Frady
Babe Ruth joined the Yankees baseball team in 1920, after his contract was sold by the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees. Babe Ruth's popularity drew huge crowds to the Polo Grounds, the field that the Yankee's had shared with the New York Giants since 1913. In fact, the Yankees became the first professional baseball team to draw more than one million fans in a single season. Facing eviction by the indignant Giants, the owners of the Yankees decided to build a spectacular ballpark of their own.
In 1921, the Yankees purchased ten acres of land that had been part of the estate of William Waldorf Astor, famous capitalist and author. The land was located in the west Bronx, directly across the Harlem River from Polo Grounds, and cost the team $675,000. After a year of construction costing $2.5 million, Yankee Stadium opened for its inaugural game on April 18, 1923 against the Boston Red Sox.
Reportedly, 74,200 baseball fans packed Yankee Stadium for a first glimpse of baseball's grandest facility. Thousands more milled around outside after the fire department finally ordered the gates closed. During the inaugural game, Babe Ruth christened his new home with the first home run in the stadium. Since it was widely recognized that Ruth's tremendous drawing power made the new stadium possible, it would immediately become known as "The House That Ruth Built". Later in that season, Yankee Stadium hosted the first of 33 World Series and the Yankees won their first World Championship over their former landlord, the Giants.
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