Yankee Stadium: Baseball's Cathedral

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"I want to thank the good Lord for making me a Yankee."

That quote is from Joe Dimaggio, The Yankee Clipper, and it hangs over the door of the home team locker room. There was reason to give thanks. Yankee Stadium has hosted 37 of 84 World Series over the years, and the Yankees have won the Series 26 times.

A lot has happened at Yankee Stadium since it opened in 1923, and it's certainly timely to commemorate those events and the tremendous Yankee legacy and mystique this final year of play in the grand old ballpark. In fact, "Yankee Stadium: Baseball's Cathedral" comes with a Yankee Stadium final season "ticket," with a nickel-sized commemorative solid bronze medallion attached that features the stadium facade and the years 1923-2008. The reverse depicts the Yankees logo in the center, plus the script "New York Yankees, Est. 1903." It's stuck to the "ticket" with gum, so both can be mounted and displayed, or the coin can be carried by Yankees fans as a pocket piece. An even better collectible is the second disc of bonus features, which includes excerpts and highlights of some of the most memorable baseball-related events at the storied ballpark. But I get ahead of myself.

First, let's talk about two-hour main production. Yankee fans should be happy with this two-disc DVD, and baseball fans of all persuasions also ought to find it interesting. But if truth be told, the format is a little staid, and the historical footage everyone is dying to see seems eclipsed at times by the insistent narrative that keeps driving home the single point that Yankee Stadium is like a cathedral. Talking head after talking head attests to that, so much so that at some point you're likely to throw up your hands and shout, "Okay, okay, I get it." Sheesh. All they really had to do was show footage of the three papal masses that were held there, and it would have more than proven the point. But that footage comes later.

Like the Yankees of late, this DVD from Major League Baseball Productions is good, but not great. Overall, it's a pretty standard, template-style documentary that follows the cathedral thesis in the first chapter titled (big surprise) "Baseball's Cathedral." Other chapters are The House that Ruth Built, Heroes Immortalized, History Made Here, Pitching Perfection, Only in New York, Monuments & Icons, Mystique & Aura, and If These Walls Could Talk. There's both recent and ancient history here, though there's also a lot left out.

Most conspicuously absent is Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who has owned the team for 35 years. There's also not nearly the vintage photos and footage you'd expect to see of Babe Ruth, since this was, after all, The House That Ruth Built. There's also not nearly as much footage of the All-Star games that were held here in 1939, 1960, or 1977--though there is a segment describing this year's All-Star game. Fans will also appreciate seeing extensive footage of the 2008 home opener, which featured former Yankees Reggie Jackson and Yogi Berra in the opening ceremonies.

Rather than doing the Ken Burns thing and incorporating a "moving" slide show of photographic still shots, the producers rely almost exclusively on available newsreel footage intercut with talking heads. For my taste, the edits are a little quick. I would have preferred more extended vintage footage with voiceover to the back-and-forth of the clips and interviews, but it's still a fascinating profile of one of America's most famous landmarks. If you're not a Yankee fan, or even a baseball fan, most likely you're still heard of all the greats--names like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe Dimaggio, Mickey Mantle. And they're all here, along with many other former big-name players and a few lesser-knowns. President Bush even makes an appearance, and Yankee fans will be delighted to see extensive interviews and behind-the-scenes footage of famed announcer Bob Shepard and organist Eddie Layton.

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