Memories of the old Yankee Stadium from a friends article

SOUTH BRONX, NY — My friend Aristotle “Mugsy” Sakellaridis, known as Aris to all who can’t pronounce his last name, or understand Greek mythology and where “Aristotle” comes from is my type of friend because he, like me, “say’s it like it is.”

As a Puerto Rican that has been living walking distance from Yankee stadium for over 65 years. Yes, I had to move a lot to avoid the trials and tribulations of living in the poorest congressional district (and still is) in the country, I always wound-up living within walking distance of the stadium.

Yankee stadium was more than a baseball stadium, it was an escape from the poverty lifestyle that I witnessed every day. As a child walking to Yankee stadium was like going out of my neighborhood through a time tunnel  and being transported to another world. The number of Anglo’s I saw, the nice stores, the yellow cabs (no yellow cab would ever come to our neighborhood), the crowds, music, vendors was enough to let a young child like me see that there was another world outside of Cauldwell Ave and 156 St.

Growing up so close the stadium, I saw all the crowds and just about all the major events at the stadium. The Ali – Norton fight on Sept. 28, 1976, the Pope’s visit, the first ever Latin concert, the Fania All Stars, every Yankee World Series. Seeing Reggie Jackson smack his historic three homeruns in a World Series game. Sleeping on a line outside the stadium with my young son to be able to purchase tickets to one of those World Series game were all memorable moments and so many more that perhaps I’ll share in a future manuscript.

All that to say, that when I read Aris’ article, I could only agree with every word he wrote and had to share it with all our readers and my friends. Enjoy.

The REAL Yankee Stadium

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