Yankee Stadium, located in New York City's Bronx borough, is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's American League New York Yankees. Opened in 2009, it replaced the previous Yankee Stadium, which was built in 1923. The new ballpark was constructed across the street, north-northeast of the 1923 Yankee Stadium, on the former site of Macombs Dam Park.

Much of the stadium incorporates design elements from the previous Yankee Stadium, paying homage to the Yankees' history. The first game at the new Yankee Stadium was a preseason exhibition game against the Chicago Cubs played on April 3, 2009, which the Yankees won 7–4. The first regular season game was played on April 16, a 10–2 Yankee loss to the Cleveland Indians.

New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner began campaigning for a new stadium in the 1980s, but the project of building a new home for the Yankees spanned many years and faced many controversies. The stadium was built on what had been 24 acres (97,000 m2) of public parkland, and replacement ballfields, slated to open when the new stadium did, have not yet been completed. Also controversial was the price tag of $2.3 billion, including $1.2 billion in taxpayer subsidies., making it the third most expensive stadium in the world.

The previous Yankee Stadium was affectionately known as "The House That Ruth Built", referring to Yankee great Babe Ruth. Some feared that demolition of The House would result in a "curse" befalling the Yankees, much like "The Curse of The Bambino" plagued the Boston Red Sox for 86 years after they sold Ruth (nicknamed The Bambino) to the Yankees in 1919. Nonetheless, groundbreaking ceremonies for the stadium took place on August 16, 2006, the 58th anniversary of Ruth's death.

During building, a construction worker and avid Red Sox fan buried a replica jersey of Red Sox player David Ortiz underneath the visitors' dugout with the objective of placing a "hex" on the Yankees. After the worker was exposed by co-workers, he was forced to help exhume the jersey. The Yankees organization then donated the retrieved jersey to the Jimmy Fund, a charity started in 1948 by the Red Sox's National League rivals, the Boston Braves, but long championed by the Red Sox.

The worker has since claimed to have buried a 2004 American League Championship Series program/scorecard, but has not said where he placed it. But all superstitions were apparently for naught -- the Yankees won the World Series in their first year in the new stadium. **The 1923 Yankee Stadium: getglue.com/topics/1923/yankee_stadium.

Similar to 0 things you like: