An ode to baseball's cathedral

The new Yankee Stadium stands in the shadows of the original, which many consider a baseball cathedral. AP Tom Verducci's Mailbag Submit a comment or question for Tom. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND

From the Polo Grounds the Yankees were evicted
With jealously were McGraw's Giants inflicted
Kicked from Manhattan
Lost as Latin
"The fans will forget them," McGraw predicted

So to the Bronx the New York Yankees did go
To a former lumber yard, which was apropos
Built in 284 days
The Stadium did amaze
Majesty and wonder had a new status quo

Ruppert and Huston were the ones who built it
Two and a half million bucks they did commit
For that kind of dough
(Still paying Pavano?)
Today, 12 season tickets is all you can get

Inspiration was the Roman Colosseum
A kind of triple-decked modern sports museum
Billy Graham, Milt Plum
Among those who did come
Christians and Lions, here you could have seen 'em.

Yankee Stadium was famous from Day One
In '23 the Babe hit its first home run
(Short porch in right
his own launching site)
And wolfed down the first frankfurter on a bun

Gehrig soon was added to the Yankee script
More than 2,000 games, none of them skipped
Because of a headache
The Streak he could partake
And so was born what it means to get Pipped.

Five years after Ruth's opening round-tripper
Eight years until the debut of the Yankee Clipper
In a famous speech
Rockne did beseech
The Fighting Irish to "Win one for the Gipper."

Gehrig gave his "luckiest" speech 11 years later
Many historians regard it as even greater
In '40 and '42
Did movies debut
Hollywood being mythology's new creator

When Huggins died the Yankees didn't dally
An on-field monument; the ultimate finale
450 feet from the plate
As if in repose state
It gave a whole new meaning to Death Valley

Four former Cardinals, as known to the wry,
Have plaques in Monument Park nearby
A trivia question
That leaves an impression
Maris and three popes is the blessed reply.

Ruth hit 60, Maris hit 61 (Babe second fiddle?)
But there was a bigger hit, goes the riddle
Not Babe or Roger
Or a Brooklyn Dodger
It happened when Bednarik hit Gifford over the middle

Tape-measure shots were Mantle's expertise
In '63 he hit the famed roof in right with ease
(Not a façade
Though it sounds odd)
The picture-perfect shot was worth saying, "Frieze!"

Renovation in '76, the frieze we did miss
With the new stadium something was amiss
No more overhang
But its own big bang
The first year opened with the homer by Chambliss