Saturday, November 28, 2009
Remembering Bob Sheppard - By Harvey Frommer
Harvey Frommer on Sports
Remembering Bob Sheppard
Back in the late 1980s on assignment for "Yankees Magazine," a stint I held down for almost 18 years, I entered the tiny public address booth high up and behind home plate at Yankee Stadium.
My objective was to do an interview with the legendary Bob Sheppard.
A cordial and elegant man, Sheppard took both my hands in his and smiling told me to take a seat and we would talk. The game was in progress. He was at work. I was concerned that my questions would interfere with his game announcements.
"No problem," he said, "Go right ahead. I have been doing this for a while now."
He had. His first game was on April 17, 1951, Opening Day. The lineup at Yankee Stadium that day was:
Jackie Jensen lf
Phil Rizzuto ss
Mickey Mantle rf
Joe DiMaggio cf
Yogi Berra c
Johnny Mize 1b
Billy Johnson 3b
Jerry Coleman 2b
Vic Raschi p
Looking back at that long ago profile I did with the former St. John's quarterback and first baseman, I see that his favorite Yankee moments included: Larsen's Perfect Game, Maris hitting 61 home runs, Reggie's three home runs against the Dodgers and Mantle's shot almost over the roof.
Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle are on Sheppard's all time favorite list. "DiMaggio's name was symbolic of the early Yankees," Sheppard said, "and "Mickey Mantle has a nice ring to it because the two 'Ms' make it alliterative. "I just loved announcing his name. And one day, shortly before he died, we were both being interviewed on a television program. All of a sudden, he turned to me and said - right there on the air - that every time he heard me announce his name, he got goose bumps. And I felt the same way about announcing him."
Hundreds of eulogies have been written and delivered by Sheppard. "They ask me to do a eulogy. I try to tailor my remarks to the person I am eulogizing. Thurman Munson, Dick Howser, Billy Martin. Mickey Mantle's seemed to strike a cord because he died the night before."
Now the man some call "The Voice of God" will no longer grace the Yankee mystique with his voice. Over Thanksgiving the 99-year-old announced his retirement as Public Address announcer for the New York Yankees:
"I have no plans of coming back," Sheppard said. "Time has passed me by, I think. I had a good run for it. I enjoyed doing what I did. I don't think, at my age, I'm going to suddenly regain the stamina that is really needed if you do the job and do it well."
Bob Sheppard surely did his job well. He was honored with a plaque in Monument Park on May 7, 2000, commemorating his 50th season with the Yankees: "For half a century," the plaque reads, "he has welcomed generations of fans with his trademark greeting, 'Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Yankee Stadium.' His clear, concise and correct vocal style has announced the names of hundreds of players - both unfamiliar and legendary - with equal divine reverence, making him as synonymous with Yankee Stadium as its copper façade and Monument Park."
When I began work on my "Remembering Yankee Stadium: An Oral and Narrative History of the House That Ruth Built," the first one I thought of to interview and to write the book's foreword was Bob Sheppard. How fortunate and honored I was that he agreed to do both.
Here is the foreword:
Good Afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome to Yankee Stadium.
By Bob Sheppard
It's hard to believe that almost 60 years have past since I first delivered this greeting to Stadium fans. I could never have imagined when I joined the Yankees that I would be the public address announcer for almost 5,000 games of baseball played on these hallowed grounds. Although I wasn't a part of the Yankees during the Ruth-Huggins-Gehrig era, I've been privileged to announce the names of almost all of the great baseball stars of the past half century. Considering that my public address announcing career as merely been an avocation to my decades as a professor of public speech, I find this most remarkable indeed.
From the old days of the Stadium's visage wrapped with a copper façade and the sounds of Bronx cheers to the recent days of the Stadium's visage wrapped with Diamond Vision and the sounds of "We Will Rock You," the Yankee Stadium has been the citadel of sport. Where in one place could so many baseball icons display their rare talents with such regularity? Where could I have viewed the transformation of Yankee fans from the jacket and tie required cognoscenti of the 50s to today's bleacher creatures. The public address announcer's chair has afforded me a virtual front row seat to Mickey Mantle's s and Reggie Jackson's' towering home runs, Joe DiMaggio's final year of his brilliant career, the magic of Don Larsen's and David Cone's perfect games, 23 World Series & dozens of playoff contests, Roger Maris' 61st homer clouted under tremendous pressure from the press and the fans, the nimble play of Phil Rizzuto, Bobby Richardson, Elston Howard, Willie Randolph, Graig Nettles & Scott Brosius, the crackling sliders of Whitey Ford & Sparky Lyle, the dazzling sinkers of Mel Stottlemyre, the sublime fastballs of Ron Guidry, Rich Gossage, & Mariano Rivera, the determined perseverance of Yogi Berra, Gil McDougald, Lou Pinella & Paul O'Neill, the steady leadership of Thurman Munson & Don Mattingly, and the recent sheer pleasure of watching Derek Jeter blossom from raw rookie into classic Yankee champion. And what other chair could have given me the opportunity to observe the strategic and individual brilliance of Casey Stengel, George Weiss, Ralph Houk, Lee MacPhail, Gabe Paul, Billy Martin, Gene Michael, and Joe Torre?
From my cat-bird seats, first in the loge along the third base line and now from the press box behind home plate, I've witnessed the Stadium go from brown & green to white & blue and now to brand new. Bounties of treasured events and memories have sprung forth from this grand cathedral for me and for several generations of Yankee fans. I extend my thanks and gratitude to Yankee owners Dan Topping & Del Webb, CBS & Mike Burke, and George Steinbrenner for allowing me this opportunity.
As author Harvey Frommer, in these pages, brings the Yankee Stadium past back to us in its full and vivid glory, I'll reflect upon my privileged past and present herein: I wish to be remembered as an announcer who carried the dignity and the style of the Yankee organization and tradition of this magnificent Stadium through the spoken word. My clear-concise-correct point-of-view has never allowed me to be a barker, a rooter, a screamer or a cheerleader. I've always aspired to be in harmony with the Yankee gestalt.
Not a bad aspiration and accomplishment for a professor of public speech who arrived at the Yankee Stadium as a New York baseball Giants' fan!
My greatest wish is that the new Yankee Stadium brings yet another four score and five years of cherished and exciting memories to new generations of Yankee fans.
Bob Sheppard added a grace, an intelligence, an elegance to the New York Yankee experience. He was one of a kind.
====
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 acclaimed REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published in 2008 as well as a reprint version of his classic "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball." Frommer's newest work CELEBRATING FENWAY PARK, an oral and narrative history, will be published in 2010.
Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed.
FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in the millions and is housed on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.
Remembering Bob Sheppard
Back in the late 1980s on assignment for "Yankees Magazine," a stint I held down for almost 18 years, I entered the tiny public address booth high up and behind home plate at Yankee Stadium.
My objective was to do an interview with the legendary Bob Sheppard.
A cordial and elegant man, Sheppard took both my hands in his and smiling told me to take a seat and we would talk. The game was in progress. He was at work. I was concerned that my questions would interfere with his game announcements.
"No problem," he said, "Go right ahead. I have been doing this for a while now."
He had. His first game was on April 17, 1951, Opening Day. The lineup at Yankee Stadium that day was:
Jackie Jensen lf
Phil Rizzuto ss
Mickey Mantle rf
Joe DiMaggio cf
Yogi Berra c
Johnny Mize 1b
Billy Johnson 3b
Jerry Coleman 2b
Vic Raschi p
Looking back at that long ago profile I did with the former St. John's quarterback and first baseman, I see that his favorite Yankee moments included: Larsen's Perfect Game, Maris hitting 61 home runs, Reggie's three home runs against the Dodgers and Mantle's shot almost over the roof.
Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle are on Sheppard's all time favorite list. "DiMaggio's name was symbolic of the early Yankees," Sheppard said, "and "Mickey Mantle has a nice ring to it because the two 'Ms' make it alliterative. "I just loved announcing his name. And one day, shortly before he died, we were both being interviewed on a television program. All of a sudden, he turned to me and said - right there on the air - that every time he heard me announce his name, he got goose bumps. And I felt the same way about announcing him."
Hundreds of eulogies have been written and delivered by Sheppard. "They ask me to do a eulogy. I try to tailor my remarks to the person I am eulogizing. Thurman Munson, Dick Howser, Billy Martin. Mickey Mantle's seemed to strike a cord because he died the night before."
Now the man some call "The Voice of God" will no longer grace the Yankee mystique with his voice. Over Thanksgiving the 99-year-old announced his retirement as Public Address announcer for the New York Yankees:
"I have no plans of coming back," Sheppard said. "Time has passed me by, I think. I had a good run for it. I enjoyed doing what I did. I don't think, at my age, I'm going to suddenly regain the stamina that is really needed if you do the job and do it well."
Bob Sheppard surely did his job well. He was honored with a plaque in Monument Park on May 7, 2000, commemorating his 50th season with the Yankees: "For half a century," the plaque reads, "he has welcomed generations of fans with his trademark greeting, 'Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Yankee Stadium.' His clear, concise and correct vocal style has announced the names of hundreds of players - both unfamiliar and legendary - with equal divine reverence, making him as synonymous with Yankee Stadium as its copper façade and Monument Park."
When I began work on my "Remembering Yankee Stadium: An Oral and Narrative History of the House That Ruth Built," the first one I thought of to interview and to write the book's foreword was Bob Sheppard. How fortunate and honored I was that he agreed to do both.
Here is the foreword:
Good Afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome to Yankee Stadium.
By Bob Sheppard
It's hard to believe that almost 60 years have past since I first delivered this greeting to Stadium fans. I could never have imagined when I joined the Yankees that I would be the public address announcer for almost 5,000 games of baseball played on these hallowed grounds. Although I wasn't a part of the Yankees during the Ruth-Huggins-Gehrig era, I've been privileged to announce the names of almost all of the great baseball stars of the past half century. Considering that my public address announcing career as merely been an avocation to my decades as a professor of public speech, I find this most remarkable indeed.
From the old days of the Stadium's visage wrapped with a copper façade and the sounds of Bronx cheers to the recent days of the Stadium's visage wrapped with Diamond Vision and the sounds of "We Will Rock You," the Yankee Stadium has been the citadel of sport. Where in one place could so many baseball icons display their rare talents with such regularity? Where could I have viewed the transformation of Yankee fans from the jacket and tie required cognoscenti of the 50s to today's bleacher creatures. The public address announcer's chair has afforded me a virtual front row seat to Mickey Mantle's s and Reggie Jackson's' towering home runs, Joe DiMaggio's final year of his brilliant career, the magic of Don Larsen's and David Cone's perfect games, 23 World Series & dozens of playoff contests, Roger Maris' 61st homer clouted under tremendous pressure from the press and the fans, the nimble play of Phil Rizzuto, Bobby Richardson, Elston Howard, Willie Randolph, Graig Nettles & Scott Brosius, the crackling sliders of Whitey Ford & Sparky Lyle, the dazzling sinkers of Mel Stottlemyre, the sublime fastballs of Ron Guidry, Rich Gossage, & Mariano Rivera, the determined perseverance of Yogi Berra, Gil McDougald, Lou Pinella & Paul O'Neill, the steady leadership of Thurman Munson & Don Mattingly, and the recent sheer pleasure of watching Derek Jeter blossom from raw rookie into classic Yankee champion. And what other chair could have given me the opportunity to observe the strategic and individual brilliance of Casey Stengel, George Weiss, Ralph Houk, Lee MacPhail, Gabe Paul, Billy Martin, Gene Michael, and Joe Torre?
From my cat-bird seats, first in the loge along the third base line and now from the press box behind home plate, I've witnessed the Stadium go from brown & green to white & blue and now to brand new. Bounties of treasured events and memories have sprung forth from this grand cathedral for me and for several generations of Yankee fans. I extend my thanks and gratitude to Yankee owners Dan Topping & Del Webb, CBS & Mike Burke, and George Steinbrenner for allowing me this opportunity.
As author Harvey Frommer, in these pages, brings the Yankee Stadium past back to us in its full and vivid glory, I'll reflect upon my privileged past and present herein: I wish to be remembered as an announcer who carried the dignity and the style of the Yankee organization and tradition of this magnificent Stadium through the spoken word. My clear-concise-correct point-of-view has never allowed me to be a barker, a rooter, a screamer or a cheerleader. I've always aspired to be in harmony with the Yankee gestalt.
Not a bad aspiration and accomplishment for a professor of public speech who arrived at the Yankee Stadium as a New York baseball Giants' fan!
My greatest wish is that the new Yankee Stadium brings yet another four score and five years of cherished and exciting memories to new generations of Yankee fans.
Bob Sheppard added a grace, an intelligence, an elegance to the New York Yankee experience. He was one of a kind.
====
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 acclaimed REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published in 2008 as well as a reprint version of his classic "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball." Frommer's newest work CELEBRATING FENWAY PARK, an oral and narrative history, will be published in 2010.
Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed.
FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in the millions and is housed on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.
Story on SAVE THE GATE Volunteer Worker Program:
Story on SAVE THE GATE Volunteer Worker Program:
http://nhregister.com/articles/2009/11/27/news/b1-fri_beachclmngate.txt
Sign Up & Save the Gate at:
savethegate@gmail.com
http://nhregister.com/articles/2009/11/27/news/b1-fri_beachclmngate.txt
Sign Up & Save the Gate at:
savethegate@gmail.com
Friday, November 27, 2009
Right mix of personalities, not talent on bloated payroll, put NY Yankees over the top
Right mix of personalities, not talent on bloated payroll, put NY Yankees over the top
By Marc Carig/The Star-Ledger
November 07, 2009, 8:21PM
Jennifer Brown/The Star-LedgerYankees captain Derek Jeter holds the World Series Trophy above his head as the Steinbrenner family applauds at a celebration on the steps of City Hall Friday honoring the Yankees and their World Series championship.NEW YORK — Scraps of plastic sheeting covered the replica Yankee Stadium facade that rings the ceiling of the home clubhouse. Drained champagne bottles sat tucked away in lockers that would soon be emptied. A few caps rested on the floor, their labels still attached, “World Series Champions,” stitched to their fronts.
Saturday morning, days after clinching their 27th world championship, signs remained of what the Yankees accomplished together.
But soon, the physical evidence in the clubhouse will be wiped away. Soon, new players will come and old ones will go. Soon, all that will remain of the 2009 Yankees will be a bond, one that will last forever.
“That bond is always there, no matter if you don’t see each other for a month, six months, a year,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “That bond is always special.”
Before taking the Yankees to the championship in his second season as the manager, he played on three championship teams during the franchise’s dynasty. He was reminded of this constantly this postseason, as former teammates Paul O’Neill, Tino Martinez, David Cone, Charlie Hayes and Scott Brosius each came to participate in pregame ceremonies.
With each, despite the passage of time, Girardi felt the connection.
By proving themselves as the best team in baseball — and doing it with a sense of chemistry despite a clubhouse filled with big names and even bigger paychecks — Girardi said the 2009 Yankees have earned the same destiny. They, too, will feel a bond.
“To be able to maintain that in this city, with the scrutiny that we have, and the egos that come with the big players we’re attracted to, it’s a remarkable job by our manager and our coaching staff,” said Yankees general manager Brian Cashman.
The payroll hovered at a staggering $206 million and the roster boasted some of the best talent in baseball, which has been standard operating procedure in the Bronx for years. Yet, for the first time since the fall of the last dynasty, the Yankees also discovered the right mix of personalities, too.
“If you look at it, our guys have been able to check their egos at the door,” Girardi said earlier this season, when asked about one of his favorite qualities about the team. “You have to have a sense of pride for what you do. But you don’t necessarily have to have pride.”
These Yankees, Girardi said, proved over and over that they understood the distinction.
Derek Jeter, the captain, consented to a change in his familiar spot in the batting order. Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia, who combined to fetch $341 million in free agency last offseason, emerged as steady clubhouse influences.
But the most important shift came from Alex Rodriguez, who at long last, became just one of the guys.
“I’m a baseball player,” the Yankees’ star said. “My goal was to simplify things. I’ve done that.”
To celebrate something so ordinary seems strange. Yet in Rodriguez’s case, ordinary was an achievement. Already saddled with a perception that he was self-centered, Rodriguez’s steroids admission and hip surgery only brought on more scrutiny.
But this season, Rodriguez may have best personified the unselfishness that Girardi had preached. In the clubhouse, Girardi praised Rodriguez for mentoring the team’s younger players. At the plate, he lauded Rodriguez for show a level of patience that proved he trusted the players around him to come up with big hits.
Rodriguez spoke of forming bonds, whether with other stars or with unheralded players, such as third-string catcher Francisco Cervelli.
“Whether Cervelli, CC or Teixeira, we’re all the same,” he said. “We’re all one, and we’ve enjoyed that.”
Then, Rodriguez shared a thought that would have been unthinkable at the start of the season: “I really enjoyed this year.”
Before the World Series began, designated hitter Hideki Matsui was asked what he believed was the biggest difference between the current Yankees and teams from recent seasons past. Matsui, who during his tenure watched as talented players who proved to be poor fits came and went, answered without hesitation.
“I think every year we had some really good quality, great players,” Matsui said through a translator. “But I think the biggest between this year’s teams and the prior teams is the team chemistry. I think (with) this year’s combination, everybody clicked. We have great players but everybody sort of just blended into one team. That’s the biggest difference.”
The signs of that chemistry showed as early as spring training, where golf putting contests broke out in the middle of morning drills, where Sabathia took teammates to Orlando Magic basketball games at night, and where Girardi suspended workouts one day to take the entire team on a billiards outing.
“It was just a way to have everybody connect on every level possible,” Cashman said.
Those connections produced walk-off wins, cream pies and kangaroo court fines. And they were evident again Saturday morning in the artifacts that could be seen in an otherwise empty clubhouse.
Right fielder Nick Swisher started a collage on one of his locker walls at the start of the season, featuring photos of all his teammates. It nearly stretches to the ceiling.
Reliever Alfredo Aceves began charting wins and losses on a team schedule he taped to his locker wall halfway through the season, preserving in blue marker the second-half surge that propelled the Yankees to a championship.
Catcher Jose Molina taped a photo of the Yankees to his locker at the start of the postseason, in silver ink the words “we are a team.”
Yes, all of those tangible signs of their bond will soon be gone. But what the Yankees really accomplished this season will forever remain.
“We’re champions,” left fielder Johnny Damon said. “You can’t take that away. And it’s going to be that way for history.”
© 2009 NJ.com. All rights reserved.
By Marc Carig/The Star-Ledger
November 07, 2009, 8:21PM
Jennifer Brown/The Star-LedgerYankees captain Derek Jeter holds the World Series Trophy above his head as the Steinbrenner family applauds at a celebration on the steps of City Hall Friday honoring the Yankees and their World Series championship.NEW YORK — Scraps of plastic sheeting covered the replica Yankee Stadium facade that rings the ceiling of the home clubhouse. Drained champagne bottles sat tucked away in lockers that would soon be emptied. A few caps rested on the floor, their labels still attached, “World Series Champions,” stitched to their fronts.
Saturday morning, days after clinching their 27th world championship, signs remained of what the Yankees accomplished together.
But soon, the physical evidence in the clubhouse will be wiped away. Soon, new players will come and old ones will go. Soon, all that will remain of the 2009 Yankees will be a bond, one that will last forever.
“That bond is always there, no matter if you don’t see each other for a month, six months, a year,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “That bond is always special.”
Before taking the Yankees to the championship in his second season as the manager, he played on three championship teams during the franchise’s dynasty. He was reminded of this constantly this postseason, as former teammates Paul O’Neill, Tino Martinez, David Cone, Charlie Hayes and Scott Brosius each came to participate in pregame ceremonies.
With each, despite the passage of time, Girardi felt the connection.
By proving themselves as the best team in baseball — and doing it with a sense of chemistry despite a clubhouse filled with big names and even bigger paychecks — Girardi said the 2009 Yankees have earned the same destiny. They, too, will feel a bond.
“To be able to maintain that in this city, with the scrutiny that we have, and the egos that come with the big players we’re attracted to, it’s a remarkable job by our manager and our coaching staff,” said Yankees general manager Brian Cashman.
The payroll hovered at a staggering $206 million and the roster boasted some of the best talent in baseball, which has been standard operating procedure in the Bronx for years. Yet, for the first time since the fall of the last dynasty, the Yankees also discovered the right mix of personalities, too.
“If you look at it, our guys have been able to check their egos at the door,” Girardi said earlier this season, when asked about one of his favorite qualities about the team. “You have to have a sense of pride for what you do. But you don’t necessarily have to have pride.”
These Yankees, Girardi said, proved over and over that they understood the distinction.
Derek Jeter, the captain, consented to a change in his familiar spot in the batting order. Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia, who combined to fetch $341 million in free agency last offseason, emerged as steady clubhouse influences.
But the most important shift came from Alex Rodriguez, who at long last, became just one of the guys.
“I’m a baseball player,” the Yankees’ star said. “My goal was to simplify things. I’ve done that.”
To celebrate something so ordinary seems strange. Yet in Rodriguez’s case, ordinary was an achievement. Already saddled with a perception that he was self-centered, Rodriguez’s steroids admission and hip surgery only brought on more scrutiny.
But this season, Rodriguez may have best personified the unselfishness that Girardi had preached. In the clubhouse, Girardi praised Rodriguez for mentoring the team’s younger players. At the plate, he lauded Rodriguez for show a level of patience that proved he trusted the players around him to come up with big hits.
Rodriguez spoke of forming bonds, whether with other stars or with unheralded players, such as third-string catcher Francisco Cervelli.
“Whether Cervelli, CC or Teixeira, we’re all the same,” he said. “We’re all one, and we’ve enjoyed that.”
Then, Rodriguez shared a thought that would have been unthinkable at the start of the season: “I really enjoyed this year.”
Before the World Series began, designated hitter Hideki Matsui was asked what he believed was the biggest difference between the current Yankees and teams from recent seasons past. Matsui, who during his tenure watched as talented players who proved to be poor fits came and went, answered without hesitation.
“I think every year we had some really good quality, great players,” Matsui said through a translator. “But I think the biggest between this year’s teams and the prior teams is the team chemistry. I think (with) this year’s combination, everybody clicked. We have great players but everybody sort of just blended into one team. That’s the biggest difference.”
The signs of that chemistry showed as early as spring training, where golf putting contests broke out in the middle of morning drills, where Sabathia took teammates to Orlando Magic basketball games at night, and where Girardi suspended workouts one day to take the entire team on a billiards outing.
“It was just a way to have everybody connect on every level possible,” Cashman said.
Those connections produced walk-off wins, cream pies and kangaroo court fines. And they were evident again Saturday morning in the artifacts that could be seen in an otherwise empty clubhouse.
Right fielder Nick Swisher started a collage on one of his locker walls at the start of the season, featuring photos of all his teammates. It nearly stretches to the ceiling.
Reliever Alfredo Aceves began charting wins and losses on a team schedule he taped to his locker wall halfway through the season, preserving in blue marker the second-half surge that propelled the Yankees to a championship.
Catcher Jose Molina taped a photo of the Yankees to his locker at the start of the postseason, in silver ink the words “we are a team.”
Yes, all of those tangible signs of their bond will soon be gone. But what the Yankees really accomplished this season will forever remain.
“We’re champions,” left fielder Johnny Damon said. “You can’t take that away. And it’s going to be that way for history.”
© 2009 NJ.com. All rights reserved.
Volunteer brigade fighting time to save Yankee Stadium Gate 2
BEACH: Volunteer brigade fighting time to save Yankee Stadium Gate 2
Friday, November 27, 2009
By Randall Beach
A call has gone out for volunteers who want to help save the endangered gate at the original Yankee Stadium.
There is precious little time to make this happen and overcome the New York City bureaucrats as well as the uncooperative Yankees ownership.
Since I wrote about the effort in this space last June, citizens from many states have joined in the Committee to Commemorate Old Yankee Stadium. Although virtually all of the old stadium is doomed to be demolished, these activists still hope to preserve the original Gate 2.
Their plan is to maintain the gate as part of Heritage Field, which will replace the stadium with three ballfields. Those fields are needed because the new Yankee Stadium was built on existing baseball diamonds and other park land.
New York City Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said the city intends to knock down the entire old stadium. “Preserving the facade would make it difficult to maximize the park space,” he said.
Moreover, a spokesman for New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has repeated other city officials’ claims that restoring the gate would cost $15 million.
But the Save the Gate brigade, including Tim Reid and Mark Costello, believe it can be done for $1 million or less, especially with all of the volunteers stepping up to the plate. They also proposed raising funds through a commemorative brick drive that would place bricks at plazas around the stadium.
Reid recently e-mailed me the announcement of a “Save the Gate volunteer worker program.” It’s designed to eliminate all labor costs associated with saving Gate 2.
“Join with other architects, engineers, construction foremen and laborers, iron workers, cost estimators, lawyers, historians, preservationists, painters, masons, waterproofers, safety and security professionals, insurance and contracts experts, among others, all helping to save this irreplaceable treasure,” said the announcement.
“The more volunteers, the better!” it added.
Anybody who wants to help is asked to contact the Committee to Commemorate Old Yankee Stadium by going to savethegate@gmail.com. If you do this, state your skill or trade and the number of days you can volunteer.
One of those volunteers is historic architect Jeffrey Bianco of Middletown.
Although Bianco told me this week that he has sometimes felt like “a voice crying out in the wilderness,” he now thinks the gate-savers are making solid progress.
“The New York City landmarks officials (the Design Commission) have heard us and agreed they’d like to see a new Parks and Recreation plan that we hope incorporates what we’ve proposed,” Bianco said.
“Knocking it all down is disturbing,” Bianco told me, and I certainly didn’t give him any argument about that. “It cuts against my grain as a Yankee fan and a Bronx native.”
Indeed, Bianco’s first job was selling peanuts at the Stadium “in the (Mickey) Mantle era.”
He said saving the gate “makes complete sense. It’s there already; it’s tremendously important culturally as a landmark.”
Bianco concluded, “The dream is for kids to walk through this gate and feel like Yankees.”
But ideas that make sense don’t always get acted upon by city officials. When the gate savers proposed their volunteer program, Benepe wouldn’t let Bianco and another architect make an on-site visit to evaluate the gate project.
In a follow-up letter to Benepe and other officials, Reid noted the volunteers would “save the city huge time and money.”
Reid has called the original Yankee Stadium “the most historic sports site in American history” and it’s tough to argue with that assessment. Reid wonders why Benepe is “dead-set on destroying all of the old Stadium, no matter what evidence and opportunities compel its preservation and commemoration.”
Reid noted Gate 2 is not scheduled for demolition for more than a month, so there is still time for the on-site visit and putting into gear the volunteer program.
But let’s face it, a month or so isn’t much breathing room when you’re dealing with bureaucrats.
That’s why Reid concluded in his appeal letter: “Time is of the essence.”
Randall Beach can be reached at rbeach@nhregister.com, or 203-789-5766 203-789-5766.
URL: http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/11/27/news/b1-fri_beachclmngate.prt
© 2009 nhregister.com, a Journal Register Property
Friday, November 27, 2009
By Randall Beach
A call has gone out for volunteers who want to help save the endangered gate at the original Yankee Stadium.
There is precious little time to make this happen and overcome the New York City bureaucrats as well as the uncooperative Yankees ownership.
Since I wrote about the effort in this space last June, citizens from many states have joined in the Committee to Commemorate Old Yankee Stadium. Although virtually all of the old stadium is doomed to be demolished, these activists still hope to preserve the original Gate 2.
Their plan is to maintain the gate as part of Heritage Field, which will replace the stadium with three ballfields. Those fields are needed because the new Yankee Stadium was built on existing baseball diamonds and other park land.
New York City Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said the city intends to knock down the entire old stadium. “Preserving the facade would make it difficult to maximize the park space,” he said.
Moreover, a spokesman for New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has repeated other city officials’ claims that restoring the gate would cost $15 million.
But the Save the Gate brigade, including Tim Reid and Mark Costello, believe it can be done for $1 million or less, especially with all of the volunteers stepping up to the plate. They also proposed raising funds through a commemorative brick drive that would place bricks at plazas around the stadium.
Reid recently e-mailed me the announcement of a “Save the Gate volunteer worker program.” It’s designed to eliminate all labor costs associated with saving Gate 2.
“Join with other architects, engineers, construction foremen and laborers, iron workers, cost estimators, lawyers, historians, preservationists, painters, masons, waterproofers, safety and security professionals, insurance and contracts experts, among others, all helping to save this irreplaceable treasure,” said the announcement.
“The more volunteers, the better!” it added.
Anybody who wants to help is asked to contact the Committee to Commemorate Old Yankee Stadium by going to savethegate@gmail.com. If you do this, state your skill or trade and the number of days you can volunteer.
One of those volunteers is historic architect Jeffrey Bianco of Middletown.
Although Bianco told me this week that he has sometimes felt like “a voice crying out in the wilderness,” he now thinks the gate-savers are making solid progress.
“The New York City landmarks officials (the Design Commission) have heard us and agreed they’d like to see a new Parks and Recreation plan that we hope incorporates what we’ve proposed,” Bianco said.
“Knocking it all down is disturbing,” Bianco told me, and I certainly didn’t give him any argument about that. “It cuts against my grain as a Yankee fan and a Bronx native.”
Indeed, Bianco’s first job was selling peanuts at the Stadium “in the (Mickey) Mantle era.”
He said saving the gate “makes complete sense. It’s there already; it’s tremendously important culturally as a landmark.”
Bianco concluded, “The dream is for kids to walk through this gate and feel like Yankees.”
But ideas that make sense don’t always get acted upon by city officials. When the gate savers proposed their volunteer program, Benepe wouldn’t let Bianco and another architect make an on-site visit to evaluate the gate project.
In a follow-up letter to Benepe and other officials, Reid noted the volunteers would “save the city huge time and money.”
Reid has called the original Yankee Stadium “the most historic sports site in American history” and it’s tough to argue with that assessment. Reid wonders why Benepe is “dead-set on destroying all of the old Stadium, no matter what evidence and opportunities compel its preservation and commemoration.”
Reid noted Gate 2 is not scheduled for demolition for more than a month, so there is still time for the on-site visit and putting into gear the volunteer program.
But let’s face it, a month or so isn’t much breathing room when you’re dealing with bureaucrats.
That’s why Reid concluded in his appeal letter: “Time is of the essence.”
Randall Beach can be reached at rbeach@nhregister.com, or 203-789-5766 203-789-5766.
URL: http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/11/27/news/b1-fri_beachclmngate.prt
© 2009 nhregister.com, a Journal Register Property
Volunteer brigade fighting time to save Yankee Stadium Gate 2
The New Haven Register (nhregister.com), Serving New Haven, CT
News
BEACH: Volunteer brigade fighting time to save Yankee Stadium Gate 2
Friday, November 27, 2009
By Randall Beach
A call has gone out for volunteers who want to help save the endangered gate at the original Yankee Stadium.
There is precious little time to make this happen and overcome the New York City bureaucrats as well as the uncooperative Yankees ownership.
Since I wrote about the effort in this space last June, citizens from many states have joined in the Committee to Commemorate Old Yankee Stadium. Although virtually all of the old stadium is doomed to be demolished, these activists still hope to preserve the original Gate 2.
Their plan is to maintain the gate as part of Heritage Field, which will replace the stadium with three ballfields. Those fields are needed because the new Yankee Stadium was built on existing baseball diamonds and other park land.
New York City Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said the city intends to knock down the entire old stadium. “Preserving the facade would make it difficult to maximize the park space,” he said.
Moreover, a spokesman for New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has repeated other city officials’ claims that restoring the gate would cost $15 million.
But the Save the Gate brigade, including Tim Reid and Mark Costello, believe it can be done for $1 million or less, especially with all of the volunteers stepping up to the plate. They also proposed raising funds through a commemorative brick drive that would place bricks at plazas around the stadium.
Reid recently e-mailed me the announcement of a “Save the Gate volunteer worker program.” It’s designed to eliminate all labor costs associated with saving Gate 2.
“Join with other architects, engineers, construction foremen and laborers, iron workers, cost estimators, lawyers, historians, preservationists, painters, masons, waterproofers, safety and security professionals, insurance and contracts experts, among others, all helping to save this irreplaceable treasure,” said the announcement.
“The more volunteers, the better!” it added.
Anybody who wants to help is asked to contact the Committee to Commemorate Old Yankee Stadium by going to savethegate@gmail.com. If you do this, state your skill or trade and the number of days you can volunteer.
One of those volunteers is historic architect Jeffrey Bianco of Middletown.
Although Bianco told me this week that he has sometimes felt like “a voice crying out in the wilderness,” he now thinks the gate-savers are making solid progress.
“The New York City landmarks officials (the Design Commission) have heard us and agreed they’d like to see a new Parks and Recreation plan that we hope incorporates what we’ve proposed,” Bianco said.
“Knocking it all down is disturbing,” Bianco told me, and I certainly didn’t give him any argument about that. “It cuts against my grain as a Yankee fan and a Bronx native.”
Indeed, Bianco’s first job was selling peanuts at the Stadium “in the (Mickey) Mantle era.”
He said saving the gate “makes complete sense. It’s there already; it’s tremendously important culturally as a landmark.”
Bianco concluded, “The dream is for kids to walk through this gate and feel like Yankees.”
But ideas that make sense don’t always get acted upon by city officials. When the gate savers proposed their volunteer program, Benepe wouldn’t let Bianco and another architect make an on-site visit to evaluate the gate project.
In a follow-up letter to Benepe and other officials, Reid noted the volunteers would “save the city huge time and money.”
Reid has called the original Yankee Stadium “the most historic sports site in American history” and it’s tough to argue with that assessment. Reid wonders why Benepe is “dead-set on destroying all of the old Stadium, no matter what evidence and opportunities compel its preservation and commemoration.”
Reid noted Gate 2 is not scheduled for demolition for more than a month, so there is still time for the on-site visit and putting into gear the volunteer program.
But let’s face it, a month or so isn’t much breathing room when you’re dealing with bureaucrats.
That’s why Reid concluded in his appeal letter: “Time is of the essence.”
Randall Beach can be reached at rbeach@nhregister.com, or 203-789-5766 203-789-5766.
News
BEACH: Volunteer brigade fighting time to save Yankee Stadium Gate 2
Friday, November 27, 2009
By Randall Beach
A call has gone out for volunteers who want to help save the endangered gate at the original Yankee Stadium.
There is precious little time to make this happen and overcome the New York City bureaucrats as well as the uncooperative Yankees ownership.
Since I wrote about the effort in this space last June, citizens from many states have joined in the Committee to Commemorate Old Yankee Stadium. Although virtually all of the old stadium is doomed to be demolished, these activists still hope to preserve the original Gate 2.
Their plan is to maintain the gate as part of Heritage Field, which will replace the stadium with three ballfields. Those fields are needed because the new Yankee Stadium was built on existing baseball diamonds and other park land.
New York City Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said the city intends to knock down the entire old stadium. “Preserving the facade would make it difficult to maximize the park space,” he said.
Moreover, a spokesman for New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has repeated other city officials’ claims that restoring the gate would cost $15 million.
But the Save the Gate brigade, including Tim Reid and Mark Costello, believe it can be done for $1 million or less, especially with all of the volunteers stepping up to the plate. They also proposed raising funds through a commemorative brick drive that would place bricks at plazas around the stadium.
Reid recently e-mailed me the announcement of a “Save the Gate volunteer worker program.” It’s designed to eliminate all labor costs associated with saving Gate 2.
“Join with other architects, engineers, construction foremen and laborers, iron workers, cost estimators, lawyers, historians, preservationists, painters, masons, waterproofers, safety and security professionals, insurance and contracts experts, among others, all helping to save this irreplaceable treasure,” said the announcement.
“The more volunteers, the better!” it added.
Anybody who wants to help is asked to contact the Committee to Commemorate Old Yankee Stadium by going to savethegate@gmail.com. If you do this, state your skill or trade and the number of days you can volunteer.
One of those volunteers is historic architect Jeffrey Bianco of Middletown.
Although Bianco told me this week that he has sometimes felt like “a voice crying out in the wilderness,” he now thinks the gate-savers are making solid progress.
“The New York City landmarks officials (the Design Commission) have heard us and agreed they’d like to see a new Parks and Recreation plan that we hope incorporates what we’ve proposed,” Bianco said.
“Knocking it all down is disturbing,” Bianco told me, and I certainly didn’t give him any argument about that. “It cuts against my grain as a Yankee fan and a Bronx native.”
Indeed, Bianco’s first job was selling peanuts at the Stadium “in the (Mickey) Mantle era.”
He said saving the gate “makes complete sense. It’s there already; it’s tremendously important culturally as a landmark.”
Bianco concluded, “The dream is for kids to walk through this gate and feel like Yankees.”
But ideas that make sense don’t always get acted upon by city officials. When the gate savers proposed their volunteer program, Benepe wouldn’t let Bianco and another architect make an on-site visit to evaluate the gate project.
In a follow-up letter to Benepe and other officials, Reid noted the volunteers would “save the city huge time and money.”
Reid has called the original Yankee Stadium “the most historic sports site in American history” and it’s tough to argue with that assessment. Reid wonders why Benepe is “dead-set on destroying all of the old Stadium, no matter what evidence and opportunities compel its preservation and commemoration.”
Reid noted Gate 2 is not scheduled for demolition for more than a month, so there is still time for the on-site visit and putting into gear the volunteer program.
But let’s face it, a month or so isn’t much breathing room when you’re dealing with bureaucrats.
That’s why Reid concluded in his appeal letter: “Time is of the essence.”
Randall Beach can be reached at rbeach@nhregister.com, or 203-789-5766 203-789-5766.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Sheppard: 'I had a good run for it'
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Sheppard: 'I had a good run for it'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ESPN.com news services
Bob Sheppard, the legendary public address announcer for the New York Yankees, told MLB.com his career is over.
Bob Sheppard worked his first Yankees game in 1951.
"I have no plans of coming back," Sheppard told the Web site. "Time has passed me by, I think. I had a good run for it. I enjoyed doing what I did. I don't think, at my age, I'm going to suddenly regain the stamina that is really needed if you do the job and do it well."
Sheppard turned 99 last month. He had started working as the Yankees PA person on April 17, 1951 -- Joe DiMaggio's final Opening Day -- and continued until the final weeks of the 2007 season. A bronchial infection that September forced Sheppard to miss the postseason. He did not return for the 2008 season.
Paul Olden took over PA duties during the new Yankee Stadium's opening season. Sheppard told MLB.com, he and Olden keep in touch.
"He seems to me to be a very quiet, dignified and professional fellow taking over my job after my 50 or more years up there," Sheppard told the site. "When I can hear him in the background when I'm listening to the TV, he sounds clear. He sounds dignified. I think he sounds professional. That's what the Yankees were looking for."
Shortstop Derek Jeter has continued to use a recording of Sheppard to introduce his plate appearances.
Sheppard: 'I had a good run for it'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ESPN.com news services
Bob Sheppard, the legendary public address announcer for the New York Yankees, told MLB.com his career is over.
Bob Sheppard worked his first Yankees game in 1951.
"I have no plans of coming back," Sheppard told the Web site. "Time has passed me by, I think. I had a good run for it. I enjoyed doing what I did. I don't think, at my age, I'm going to suddenly regain the stamina that is really needed if you do the job and do it well."
Sheppard turned 99 last month. He had started working as the Yankees PA person on April 17, 1951 -- Joe DiMaggio's final Opening Day -- and continued until the final weeks of the 2007 season. A bronchial infection that September forced Sheppard to miss the postseason. He did not return for the 2008 season.
Paul Olden took over PA duties during the new Yankee Stadium's opening season. Sheppard told MLB.com, he and Olden keep in touch.
"He seems to me to be a very quiet, dignified and professional fellow taking over my job after my 50 or more years up there," Sheppard told the site. "When I can hear him in the background when I'm listening to the TV, he sounds clear. He sounds dignified. I think he sounds professional. That's what the Yankees were looking for."
Shortstop Derek Jeter has continued to use a recording of Sheppard to introduce his plate appearances.
Yankees annoucer Bob Sheppard to retire
Yankees annoucer Bob Sheppard to retire
November 26, 2009 by NEIL BEST / neil.best@newsday.com
Bob Sheppard refused to use the word "retired," even at age 99 and with no plans to return to work for the Yankees.
"But," he acknowledged yesterday, "I don’t intend at this moment to see myself back as a public address announcer at Yankee Stadium, feeling the way I do now."
Sheppard has not worked since late in the 2007 season and told Newsday last month that his contract expires in February, 2010.
He has inched closer and closer to acknowledging his unofficial retirement this year, but he went a step further than he has previously in an interview with MLB.com that was posted early yesterday, saying, "I have no plans of coming back."
Reached at his Baldwin home, Sheppard hedged, but only slightly, saying, "It wasn’t a resignation. It wasn’t quitting. It wasn’t throwing in the glove."
So he isn’t ruling out a future return? Sheppard laughed.
"Let me start from the bottom: I am now 99 years old," he said. "I don ’t think a man 99 years old goes back to work after two years of separation."
For decades, Sheppard adamantly has refused to discuss or confirm his age publicly. Why now? "It’s been in the paper," he said. "It’s been in Sports Illustrated. It’s no secret."
Sheppard said the Yankees have not contacted him about returning to work and noted they hired Paul Olden as a replacement. But he said it is a moot point because he has not been physically up to it for the past two years.
"I loved it while I did it, while I was able to do it, but I’m not sure I could do it now even if they said they wanted me to," he said.
"As far as I’m concerned the Yankees made a professional choice in getting Paul Olden to fill in. And he has been good to me. He gives me a call every couple of weeks or so just to touch base . . . Listening to the radio and listening to his voice in the background, the Yankees made a reasonable selection."
In his interview with MLB.com, Sheppard explained why even a single appearance in the p.a. booth for old times’ sake might be too much for him.
"It’s not just the two hours or three hours of baseball," he said. "It ’s the trip, the preparation, the trip home, and a long, long day. I think at my age, it's time to accept the fact that I had a great run. A great run. And I only made a few mistakes along the way."
Sheppard, who began with the Yankees in 1951 and also worked for decades for Giants and St. John’s, suffered from a bronchial infection in ‘07 that dropped his weight as low as 103 pounds – 62 below where he was as a quarterback for St. John’s 80 years ago.
"Now I’m up to 136 pounds," he said. "The doctor said, ‘You’re not going to be cured and cleared until you’re 145 pounds."
He suffered a further physical setback in March of this year when he fell down some steps and suffered bruises.
Sheppard said he was "thrilled" by the Yankees’ World Series victory, but he has not yet been to the new stadium, where a recording of his voice still introduces Derek Jeter's at-bats. He hopes to visit in 2010 if he is up to it physically.
"I’d like to go up and look at it," he said. "They tell me there is a Bob Sheppard dining room there." Would he like to check out the fare? "If the price is right," he said.
< back to article
November 26, 2009 by NEIL BEST / neil.best@newsday.com
Bob Sheppard refused to use the word "retired," even at age 99 and with no plans to return to work for the Yankees.
"But," he acknowledged yesterday, "I don’t intend at this moment to see myself back as a public address announcer at Yankee Stadium, feeling the way I do now."
Sheppard has not worked since late in the 2007 season and told Newsday last month that his contract expires in February, 2010.
He has inched closer and closer to acknowledging his unofficial retirement this year, but he went a step further than he has previously in an interview with MLB.com that was posted early yesterday, saying, "I have no plans of coming back."
Reached at his Baldwin home, Sheppard hedged, but only slightly, saying, "It wasn’t a resignation. It wasn’t quitting. It wasn’t throwing in the glove."
So he isn’t ruling out a future return? Sheppard laughed.
"Let me start from the bottom: I am now 99 years old," he said. "I don ’t think a man 99 years old goes back to work after two years of separation."
For decades, Sheppard adamantly has refused to discuss or confirm his age publicly. Why now? "It’s been in the paper," he said. "It’s been in Sports Illustrated. It’s no secret."
Sheppard said the Yankees have not contacted him about returning to work and noted they hired Paul Olden as a replacement. But he said it is a moot point because he has not been physically up to it for the past two years.
"I loved it while I did it, while I was able to do it, but I’m not sure I could do it now even if they said they wanted me to," he said.
"As far as I’m concerned the Yankees made a professional choice in getting Paul Olden to fill in. And he has been good to me. He gives me a call every couple of weeks or so just to touch base . . . Listening to the radio and listening to his voice in the background, the Yankees made a reasonable selection."
In his interview with MLB.com, Sheppard explained why even a single appearance in the p.a. booth for old times’ sake might be too much for him.
"It’s not just the two hours or three hours of baseball," he said. "It ’s the trip, the preparation, the trip home, and a long, long day. I think at my age, it's time to accept the fact that I had a great run. A great run. And I only made a few mistakes along the way."
Sheppard, who began with the Yankees in 1951 and also worked for decades for Giants and St. John’s, suffered from a bronchial infection in ‘07 that dropped his weight as low as 103 pounds – 62 below where he was as a quarterback for St. John’s 80 years ago.
"Now I’m up to 136 pounds," he said. "The doctor said, ‘You’re not going to be cured and cleared until you’re 145 pounds."
He suffered a further physical setback in March of this year when he fell down some steps and suffered bruises.
Sheppard said he was "thrilled" by the Yankees’ World Series victory, but he has not yet been to the new stadium, where a recording of his voice still introduces Derek Jeter's at-bats. He hopes to visit in 2010 if he is up to it physically.
"I’d like to go up and look at it," he said. "They tell me there is a Bob Sheppard dining room there." Would he like to check out the fare? "If the price is right," he said.
< back to article
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Yankee Stadium Demolition
You can follow the demolition at:
http://www.wcbs880.com/pages/4206617.php?
The CBS chopper has been tracking the demolition and photographing it.
Sad.
http://www.wcbs880.com/pages/4206617.php?
The CBS chopper has been tracking the demolition and photographing it.
Sad.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)