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To date, the Yankees have won a staggering 26 world titles, thus the Stadium also became known as "The Home of Champions". The new stadium greatly favored left-handed hitters. Under the original configuration, the outfield distances were 295 feet from home plate to the right field foul pole, 395 feet to left field, 460 ft to left center, and 490 ft to straightaway center. Left-center field became known as Death Valley for hitters, and the term "Death Valley" would be commonly used for the outfield areas of baseball parks where it was difficult to hit a homerun.
Many of baseball's greatest players have called Yankee Stadium home including Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Phil Rizzuto, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. Monuments to past Yankee greats were placed deep in Death Valley. The first monument honoring manager Miller Huggins was unveiled in 1932, and Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth followed with plaques in 1941 and 1949, respectively. Another monument was dedicated for Joe DiMaggio in 1999, and other plaques commemorate Yankee greats such as Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Lefty Gomez, Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle, Don Mattingly, Phil Rizzuto, and Casey Stengel.
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