Location | |
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Coordinates | 40°49′47.22″N 73°55′31.7″W / 40.8297833°N 73.925472°W |
Founder | New York Yankees |
Monument Park is an open-air museum located in Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York City. It contains a collection of monuments, plaques, and retired numbers honoring distinguished members of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball.
The history of the original Monument Park can be traced to the original Yankee Stadium in 1932, when the team posthumously dedicated an on-field monument to manager Miller Huggins in center field. Additional team members were honored with monuments and plaques in the area over the years. During the stadium's renovation in the mid-1970s, the center field fence was moved in 44 feet (13 m), enclosing prior monuments, plaques, and the flag pole outside the field of play. Over time, additional plaques were added; in 1985, the park was opened for public access. When the Yankees moved to their new ballpark in 2009, Monument Park was built beyond the center-field fences and the contents of the old one transported over.
Thirty-seven members of the Yankee organization have been honored in Monument Park, while 22 have had their uniform numbers retired. An additional honor, a monument mounted on a large red granite block, has only been awarded to six Yankees: manager Miller Huggins, players Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and Joe DiMaggio, and owner George Steinbrenner.