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Yankee Stadium Opening Day 1923 Photo Gallery
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One-Hundredth Anniversary of Yankee Stadium!
Thanks to Michael Keedy for reminding me that yesterday was the one-hundredth anniversary (April 18, 1923) of the opening of Yankee Stadium and the first game played there. To honor the occasion, I thought it might be fun to take a look at some of the details from that game.
In the inaugural game, the Yankees prevailed against the visiting Red Sox, 4-1, thanks to a three-run homer by the great Bambino, Babe Ruth. It was a fitting christening for the stadium that later became known as the “House that Ruth Built.”
(In the featured photo above, we see the Babe crossing the plate after hitting his three-run homer. Catcher is Al DeVormer. Also present are mascot Eddie Bennett and umpire Tom Connolly).
The game was played in a brisk 2:05 in front of 74,200 fans on hand to witness the stadium’s premier game. The umpires included two who were later enshrined in the Hall of Fame: Tom Connolly and Billy Evans, plus Ducky Holmes.
The Babe’s blast came in the bottom of the third, driving in Whitey Witt and Joe Dugan ahead of him. The Bambino would go on to hit 41 for the season. Bob Shawkey was the starting and winning pitcher for the Yankees, allowing just three hits, two walks, and striking out five while earning a complete-game victory.
Loser Howard Ehmke got the call for the Red Sox and lasted seven innings while giving up all four Yankee runs. He then gave way to reliever Carl Fullerton, who finished the game. Notable Red Sox players in the game included John “Shano” Collins, who emerged from the 1919 Black Sox scandal with his reputation intact as one of the “Clean Sox;” and George Burns, who John McGraw once described as one of the best players he ever managed
The Yankees, managed by Miller Huggins, went 98-54 that year en route to capturing their third-straight pennant and their first World Series championship, defeating John McGraw and their cross-town rivals, Giants, four games to two. It was the third straight match-up between the two New York teams, with the Giants coming out victorious in the first two. Meanwhile, the Red Sox, led by manager Frank Chance (he of “Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance” fame) went 61-91 and finished last in the American League.
The Yankee lineup, First Game at Yankee Stadium, April 18, 1923:
Whitey Witt, CF (1-3, walk)
Joe Dugan, 3B (1-4)
Babe Ruth, RF (1-2, walk)
Wally Pipp, 1B (0-3, walk)
Bob Meusel, LF (1-4)
Wally Schang, C (0-4)
Aaron Ward, 2B (1-3)
Everett Scott, SS (1-2)
Bob Shawkey, P, (1-3)
A few words about the Yankees (besides Babe Ruth) who played in the game:
Whitey Witt: Played ten seasons in the majors (.287/18/300). He was the last surviving member of the 1923 Yankees World Series championship team. Witt is remembered for being knocked unconscious by a thrown soda bottle at a game in Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis in 1922.
“Jumping” Joe Dugan: Played 14 years in the majors (.280/42/557) and was considered one of the best defensive third basemen of his era. He was also known as a roommate of Babe Ruth. Dugan is remembered as the hero of the 1923 World Series due to his spectacular defensive performance and timely hitting which included five RBIs. In 1924, he was a near-unanimous selection as the best third baseman in the American
Wally Pipp: Considered one of the best power hitters (.281/90/1004) of the Dead Ball Era, but is mostly remembered as the player who lost his starting job at first base to Lou Gehrig on June 2, 1925, after experiencing a headache. This began Gehrig’s streak of 2,130 consecutive games. Pipp had three seasons with a .300+ batting average, and two seasons with 100 or more RBIs. His 226 sacrifices as a Yankee remain a team record.
Bob Meusel: Remembered for being a member of the “Murderers’ Row” teams of the mid-1920s (.309/156/1071) which included Ruth, Gehrig, Lazzeri, and Combs. He shares the major league record for the most times hitting for the cycle with three, Meusel had one of the strongest arms of the era. Casey Stengel, was quoted as saying that he had never seen a better thrower. He was also known to be quiet and reserved. His manager Miller Huggins called him “indifferent.” He was known for his lazy attitude, such as refusing to run out ground balls, which many said kept him from achieving greatness and possibly out of the Hall of Fame.
Walter Schang: (.284/59/710) played in the majors 19 years as a catcher. He was the starting catcher for six American League pennant-winning teams. He was considered one of the best major league catchers of his era, both offensively and defensively. He was a switch-hitter who batted above .300 six times and posted a career .393 on-base percentage, second only to Mickey Cochrane among major league catchers.
Aaron Ward: Played 12 seasons in the majors (.268/50/446) and is famous for collecting the first hit by a member of the Yankees in Yankee Stadium, and for his base running blunder when he was thrown out at third base to end the eighth and final game of the 1921 World Series.
Everett “Deacon” Scott: Played 12 seasons in the majors as a shortstop (.249/20/551). A natural leader, he was the captain of both the Red Sox and Yankees over his career. He led American League shortstops in fielding percentage seven straight seasons (1916–22) and appeared in 1,307 consecutive games from June 20, 1916, through May 6, 1925, setting a record later broken by Lou Gehrig. As of 2022, it is still the third-longest streak in history. After retiring from baseball, Scott became a professional bowler.
Bob Shawkey: Played 15 seasons in the majors (195-150/3.09). He’s remembered as the starting pitcher in the first game played in Yankee Stadium, and set the franchise record for 15 strikeouts in a single game, which stood unt 1978. A good hitting pitcher, Shawkey compiled a .214 batting average with 90 runs, 3 home runs and 95 RBIs.
The Yankee pitching staff included ace Bullet Joe Bush, Hall-of-Famers Herb Pennock and Waite Hoyt, Sad Sam Jones, and the surly Carl Mays. Also on the team was a rookie named Lou Gehrig who appeared in 13 games and went on to have a pretty good career himself!
Gary Livacari
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Information: Excerpts edited Yankee-Red Sox boxscore, April 18, 1923 found on Baseball-Reference. Player information from their Wikipedia pages.
Hi Gary,
As you know with Ruth playing in the Polo Grounds for the Yankees when he came over from the Red Sox, Yankee Stadium dimensions were made similarly to have the Babe take his best advantage. It’s interesting to think that the 1921 and 1922 World Series had ALL games played at the Polo Grounds before the 1923 series as you note. I am sure it made a lot of baseball fans sick of New York!
I took a look at HOFer Earle Combs 12 year MLB career. He did hit .325 for his career with a good OBA. But his presence in Murderer’s Row and the fact that he was a career Yankee are really the only notable achievements. He was a slightly better than average fielder. Nice career but would he be elected today? I wonder.
And thank you Michael! My apologies for not noting that before!
Great essay! Always a great read
Thanks Chris! I can always count on my little sister to come through for me!
Very impressive, Gary! I’m amazed how quickly you were able to assemble so many detailed and informative facts about these teams.
Yankee Stadium cost a flimsy $2.4 million to build, a figure today’s utility infielder wouldn’t take to ride the pines. Of course the new park, finished in ’09, came in a tad higher at $2.3 billion. Wow.
As Everett Dirksen (your man in Illinois) might say: “Ten billion here, ten billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking serious money.”
Turn back the clock!
Best regards,
Michael
Yeah…I don’t fool around! And thanks for the kind words, and for giving me the idea!
I always found it amazing that the original Yankee Stadium was built in approximately eleven months! I attended my first game there in 1959 as an eight year old and if I close my eyes, I can still smell the old ballpark- the cigar smoke, the stale beer, and all of the typical smells of the stadium; nothing else like it. The hots dogs were the best (they probably weren’t that good, but they sure tasted like it!) my Dad and his co-workers wearing their suits and hats (to a ballgame!) and me in my “good clothes”, and I still can’t get over my first glimpse of the field- I never saw grass that green before! When my Dad told me we were going to the game, I was scared, because he said we were going to sit in the ‘mezzanine”; I had no idea what that was!
What an experience for an eight year old! And I still can hear the voice of Bob Sheppard, the PA announcer (the Voice of God); even thinking about his voice gives me goosebumps. Have to go, my allergies are making my eyes all watery.
Thanks Steve! Great info! I always love the personal stuff like this! Better take some allergy pills! Haha!
Excellent post, Steve, I had similar vivid impressions back in the day at the Polo Grounds. And as Humphrey Bogart once said, “A hot dog at the ballpark is better than steak at the Ritz.”
Terrific, Gary, that’s why you’re our, Marvelous Mentor! (but where was Christine when I needed her?) Just a few thoughts from my ghost writer, The Phantom:
(1) The Incredible Keedy mentions Everett Dirkson, possessor of the most amazing baritone voice in the history of the senate. “He speaks and the words…undulate in measured phrases…he fills his lungs and blows rings like smoke.”
(2) Umpire Tom Connolly, according to a future BHCA Mystery player, was a soft, precise speaker with just the hint of an Irish brogue, avoiding controversy at all times. He was one of the truly great umpires.
(3) Loved your Bob Meusel note. He never reached out to people until late in life, prompting one scribe to say, “He was saying ‘Hello’ when it was time to say ‘Goodbye.'”
(4) Until recently, I thought Jumping Joe was so dubbed because he could leap high for line drives. But in 1919, with the A’s and not playing well, he was booed outrageously by fans when having a bad outing. Often, Dugan would then “jump” the club the next day and disappear for awhile. But Connie Mack would always take him back.
(5) Struck me that 41 homers in ’23 was a small number for the Bambino. The book says he walked 170 times that year, the most in his career. He also had a stupendous .545 OBP, the highest in his career! Heck, anybody can club a paltry 41 homers, right?
Thanks for the great comments Bill and the kind words.
Believe it or not, Among the crazy baseball things I’ve committed to memory, I can recall by memory the Babe’s home run totals year by year. I had to think twice about that 41 number to be sure I hadn’t lost a step!
Here’s another of my many “talents”: I can recite from memory the National League and American League pennant winners each year, plus the managers of each team and who won the World Series. Actually, with the National League, I can take it back all the way to 1876. Plus I can do the same for the American Association (1892-1891). Some people count sheep when they wake up in the middle of the night…I go through baseball year-by-year, decade-by-decade naming the pennant winners, WS winners, and the managers of each team!
Bet you didn’t know “Your Friendly Editor,” aka “DD,” is a man of so many “talents” (using the team loosely!) all this time, did you? Haha!
PS: I’ll see if I can get my little sister Chris to comment on one of your posts, too!. Of course, next thing you know, Keedy will want to get on it also!
Excellent recap of such a momentous game! Thanks Gary. And how ironic it is that on this day 100 years later the one player who could actually be compared to Ruth, Shohei Ohtani, hits a home run in Yankee Stadium.
Thanks Steve…that’s neat!
That’s something DD! And, with $3.75, on a good day, it will get you on a NY subway. But be careful, there are crazier people in the City, then even me or Keedy. But, all seriousness aside, your splendid memory is most impressive.
When I was kid of nine (100 years ago) I could listen to a Giants game on radio, and by just writing the lineups of each team on a piece of paper, with no other marks, could recite what happened at each at bat for every player. So, when Steve Ellis, or later Russ Hodges, would say, “Del Ennis has no hits but has hit he ball hard every time up” I’d scream at the radio, “No! He lined out his last time up, but before that he popped to second and grounded weakly to short!” They would have loved me.
No use, Gary, The Phantom says unless your sister responds spontaneously, with no prompts, her kind comments about me are invalid. Don’t you dare get into the act!
I knew you were a man of talent Bill!
Hi Bill, Gary tells me wonderful things about you and what a great writer you and Keedy are. He’s never been known to lie. 😊
U Thant! To think my wife calls ME certifiable.
We must all hurry and GET LIVES!
Never mind.
It’s too late.
Cheers,
Hurricane Hazle
MK, by innuendo, are u calling me crazy? I resemble that remark!
Terrific stuff
Of some note? The Giants Casey Stengel hit the first WS home run ever hit at Yankee Stadium in Game 1, 1923.
It’s one that Damon Runyon wrote of: “This is the way old Casey Stengel ran, running his home run home.”
Right…and his shoe came off while he was rounding the bases! Here’s a pic: https://www.baseballhistorycomesalive.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/1-agony6.jpg
That is so choice.
Thanks much, Christine, that was just great! But did you have to include Keedy, also?
Love those quotes, John. Stengel was a pretty good hitter-didn’t he bat .366 one year?
Casey made one of his funniest comments about a Yankee player. Unfortunately, it can’t be printed in these spaces. Capt. Gary runs an immaculate ship.
Right…especailly now that I got my little sister reading this stuff! We have to keep it clean!
Well, here goes anyway…Casey says, “Well, you finally got me a…” OK so far Chief?
What? If I go any further, it’ll be 40 lashes and I’ll have to climb the mast? Oh, alright, I’ll take another look for the missing strawberries and then go to bed.
Wise decision!
Hard to tell whether Herr Schaefer has delusions of being Dr. Queeg, B. Budd, or a blend of the two. Either way, though, he is one Herman’s creation or another. Of that we can be sure.
Teched in the noggin, and bound to hang, Poor Boy!
(What was the topic — ?)
Hard to tell what was more entertaining…….the Yankee Stadium history, or the banter by Chief Livacari and the two “literary co-horts” – Schaefer and Keedy. The comments regarding the youthful impressions of old Yankee Stadium, Polo Grounds, Fenway, Wrigley, etc. make me reminisce about my own times as a young lad going to that “baseball mecca of the south shore” @ 35th & Shields : Comiskey Park. The smells, the sounds, the ghosts of all the legends that played there. There’s nothing else like it. In closing, here’s some current, “useless trivia” for ya: Today the Mets’ Max Scherzer got tossed for using a foreign substance. He is only the 3rd pitcher to be ejected for such an infraction in the last three seasons. There was one such ejection in 2021, one more in 2022, and today’s ejection was the third…..all three by the SAME umpire…Phil Cuzzi ! Always enjoy these BHCA posts Thnx, gentlemen.
Thanks a lot Tom…great useless trivia that only guys like us could enjoy!
May God bless Dr. Marshall, and I mean it sincerely. But please, Gary, let it be known that any contributor caught encouraging a pair of hyenas otherwise known as Wilhelm and Mikey is bound to regret it sooner or later. They need to be put away.
Highest regards,
/s/ Anon.
To : ” Anon”,
As quoted by FDR : “The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself “. Carry on. Hahahaha.
Hey, Mr. Webmaster, can you handle all this high hilarity?
Oh, the BHCA pharmacy just called. Michael Keedy’s medication is ready.
And Tom Marshall is ready to help him into his new custom fitted jacket. The arms automatically cross in front.
“. .(A)nd the oozy weeds about me twist.”
/s/ This Budd’s For You