The House that Ruth Built

A reflection and prayer to start the day with Andrea Rea.

Good morning.

Baseball, to some Americans, is like a religion. And the stadiums where baseball is played can take on the significance of a cathedral to ardent fans.

In Minnesota, where I was born, there are many worshipful followers of the game – my grandmother was one of them – but I don’t think any of the ballfields where the Minnesota Twins have played over the years, is quite as revered as Yankee Stadium, in New York. That, by any measure, is hallowed ground. The Yankees are considered the most successful professional sports team in American history.

Yankee Stadium, originally constructed in 1923, was called “a place of legends in American Sport” by legendary newscaster Walter Cronkite. Fifty years ago today, it re-opened after two years of much-needed renovations. Fifty two and a half thousand fans attended that re-opening game, including baseball royals Joe DiMaggio and Mrs. Babe Ruth, widow of the baseball player who had such a distinguished career at Yankee Stadium, they called it “the house that Ruth built”. As well as countless baseball games, the stadium hosted concerts and Pope Paul the 6th celebrated mass in Yankee Stadium in 1965.

That 100-million-dollar face-lift of the stadium 50 years ago retained the much-loved façade of the original. The improvements were needed for the safety and comfort of the fans, but the original ‘look’ of the place remained.

As you’d expect, the Yankees won that famous re-opening game in their revered stadium. Their opponents? The Minnesota Twins, who at one point were 4 runs ahead – but couldn’t, on this occasion, beat the Yanks in their gleaming new ballpark.

Lord God, thank you for spaces where community thrives and human achievement is valued. May we continue to gather and enjoy shared experience, sacred and secular.

Amen.