The original Yankee Stadium opened in 1923 as baseball’s first triple-decked ballpark, with the largest seating capacity in the major leagues. In the words of a sportswriter at the time, it "loomed up like the great Pyramid of Cheops from the sands of Egypt." It offered as many as 82,000 seats by 1927 (reduced to about 67,000 in the years between 1947 and 1957). Thousands of additional fans could stand and still more could watch from the 161st Street elevated subway platform or from their apartments. It was built with left-handed sluggers like Babe Ruth in mind; the Babe hit a home run on opening day.

The Glory Days: New York Baseball, 1947-1957 was on view at the Museum of the City of New York from June 27 to December 31, 2007.