The New York Yankees have officially broken ground on their new $1.2 billion stadium, which will be across the street from the 83-year-old legendary Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.
Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig and New York Governor George Pataki were among those wielding shovels to scoop dirt on the spot where the new 51,000-seat stadium will open in 2009.
Yankees President Randy Levine called the project "the continuation of a great legacy." The current Yankee Stadium opened in 1923 and was christened with a home run by Babe Ruth on its opening day.
Nicknamed "The House That Ruth Built," Yankee Stadium is the third oldest park in Major League Baseball. Only Boston's Fenway Park, 1912, and Chicago's Wrigley Field, 1914, are older.