'Remembering Yankee Stadium' book review

This is a visual book. What will jump out to you is the photos, which are truly remarkable. The quality and uniqueness of each one is something special.

They helped me understand that the post-1975 Stadium is really a different building than the 'original', and that I never got to see a game at the stadium that housed Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio and Mantle. The 'newer' Stadium was not 'The House That Ruth Built'.

Unfortunately, the text between the photos leaves something to be desired. I ran into many a typo or straight up error (the '98 LDS did not go five games; Game 7 of the '04 LCS was not on October 30th; and the Yankees did not beat the Twins in the '04 LDS to win the AL East title, to name a few).

There are some diamonds in the rough though, like interesting tidbits from Bob Sheppard:

If Nolan Ryan had done it, if Sandy Koufax had done it, if Don Drysdale had done it, I would have nodded and said, "Well, it could happen." But Don Larsen?

Jim Bouton:

It was heartbreaking to see them tear the ballpark apart [in 1973]... They made it ugly inside too. They painted all the lockers blue, making them look cheap and tacky. It was like a Disney-fied version of Yankee Stadium... The people in charge, the ones who were doing those terrible things, had no sense of class or style or history or reverence for the game.

Whitey Ford:

If a guy blew a game because he came to work late after a long night of drinking or bouncing around, that's when somebody like Hank Bauer settled it in a hurry. He'd grab you in the dugout and look you right in the eyes and growl, "Don't fuck with my money."

But they're interspersed with snippets from various fans (including Boston, LA and the Mets) that really don't add anything.

This book focused exclusively on the Yankees - I'd hoped for some passages regarding the historical boxing matches (Louis vs. Schmeling) and football games (1958 NFL Championship) that occurred there.

That's not too big a deal though. This isn't the kind of book that you learn Yankee history from - if you care about attendance figures, fan quotations, and short recaps of select games and seasons, then this is right up your alley.

This is meant as a coffee table book - to be skimmed through with a focus on the extraordinary photos. It will certainly make you excited for the new Yankee Stadium, and wonder what memories it will endow to the generations that follow.