Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball by Harvey Frommer

Harvey Frommer on Sports

Yankee Stadium Firsts (A Very Partial List)

As the days draw closer to a precious few for Yankee Stadium, herewith some "firsts" on the big ballpark in the Bronx that has been with us since 1923.

First regular season game at Yankee Stadium, April 18, 1923, a 4-1 win over Boston.

First pitch thrown in Yankee Stadium, Bob Shawkey, Yankees, April 18, 1923.

First batter at Yankee Stadium, Chick Fewster, Red Sox April 18, 1923.

First hit at Yankee Stadium, George Burns, Red Sox April 18, 1923, second inning single.

First Yankee hit at Yankee Stadium, Aaron Ward April 18, 3rd-inning single.

First error, Babe Ruth, April 18, dropped fly ball in 5th inning.

First home run in Yankee Stadium, Babe Ruth hits a two-run shot in third inning off Boston's Howard Ehmke in a 4-1 Yankee victory, April 18, 1923.

First Yankee winning pitcher in World Series, Joe Bush, October 14, 1923.

First loss at Yankee Stadium, 4-3 to Washington , April 22, 1923.

First World Series game in Yankee Stadium, first one heard on a nationwide radio network, October 10, 1923.

First World Series home run at Yankee Stadium, Casey Stengel of the New York Giants hit an inside-the-park shot in Game 1 of the 1923 World Series.

First player to have his number retired, Lou Gehrig, #4, on Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day, July 4, 1939.

First night game at Yankee Stadium, May 28, 1946, a 2-1 loss to Washington.

First World Series pinch-hit home run, Yogi Berra against the Brooklyn Dodgers, Game 3 of the 1947 World Series.

First rookie to get two hits in one inning, Billy Martin, in a nine-run, eighth-inning rally at Fenway Park, April 18, 1950.

First Yankee Stadium day game completed with lights, August 29, 1950.

First Yankees game behind the microphone for Bob Sheppard, April 17, 1951, New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox.

First home game outside of Yankee Stadium since 1922, April 6, 1974, as the Yanks begin playing the first of two seasons at Shea Stadium.

First home run at refurbished Yankee Stadium, Dan Ford of Minnesota, April 15, 1976.

First Yankee winning pitcher at refurbished Yankee Stadium, Dick Tidrow, April 15, 1976.

First home run by a Yankee at refurbished stadium, Thurman Munson, April 17, 1976.

First championship series game at Yankee Stadium, October 12, 1976, a 5-3 win over Kansas City.

First World Series game played by Yankees at night, October 17, 1976, at Cincinnati, a 4-3 loss to Reds.

First night World Series game at Yankee Stadium, October 19, 1976, a 6-2 loss to Cincinnati.

First team to host both the All Star Game and World Series in the same season, 1977.

First pitcher to throw a regular-season perfect game at Yankee Stadium, David Wells May 17, 1998.

First time a U.S. President visits Yankee Stadium during the World Series, George W. Bush, who threw out the first ball, Game 3, October 30, 2001

First November World Series Game, November 1, 2001, Yankees beat Arizona Diamondbacks, 3-2, at the Stadium.

First team in postseason history to win two straight games when trailing after eight innings, 2001 World Series, games four and five.

*Adapted from the just published REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM: AN ORAL AND NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE THAT RUTH BUILT

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You can reach Harvey Frommer at:

Email: harvey.frommer@Dartmouth.EDU

I am at work on my newest effort - - REMEMBERING FENWAY PARK: AN ORAL AND NARRATIVE HISTORY, a companion book to REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM (The Definitive Book) Fall 2008 (Abrams, STC). If you or those you know have specific stories and memories of times (first game, marker moments, oddity) at the Fens - please get in touch with me and hopefully we can set up a date and time for me to interview you. I would appreciate that.

All best,
Harvey

About the Author:

Harvey Frommer is his 33rd consecutive year of writing sports books. The author of 40 of them including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball," his REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published September 1, 2008 as well as a reprint version of his "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball.".

Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed.

FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in excess of one million and appears on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~frommer.

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Harvey Frommer along with his wife, Myrna Katz Frommer are the authors of five critically acclaimed oral/cultural histories, professors at Dartmouth College, and travel writers who specialize in cultural history, food, wine, and Jewish history and heritage in the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean.