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 Move over, Joltin’ Joe, Babe Ruth, and Mickey Mantle, you’re about to be joined by someone with a lower batting average on Monument Park.
The Knights of Columbus are donating a bronze plaque to commemorate Pope Benedict XVI's April 20 Mass. The pontiff was expected to bless the plaque in a private ceremony before the Mass today. The 105-pound papal plaque, which is 39.5 inches tall and 27 inches wide, will be located in Yankee Stadium's Monument Park, along with plaques memorializing Masses celebrated there by Pope Paul VI (Oct. 4, 1965) and Pope John Paul II (Oct. 2, 1979), also gifts of the Knights of Columbus. The Benedict XVI plaque was crafted by United States Bronze of New Hyde Park, N.Y. There are other “did you know” ties, according to the Knights of Columbus and Yankee Stadium: In 1953, the Knights of Columbus acquired the acreage on which Yankee Stadium is built. It was sold to the city of New York upon the stadium's refurbishment in the 1970s. New York Gov. (and U.S. presidential candidate) Al Smith, a Knight of Columbus, threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Yankee Stadium's inaugural game, April 18, 1923. Yankee slugger and Hall of Famer Babe Ruth was a Knight of Columbus, and hit the stadium's first home run. Retired Yankee and Cy Young Award winner Ron Guidry is also a Knight. Both players' numbers (Ruth's #3 and Guidry's #49) have been retired and are a part of the Monument Park display, which will be relocated to the new stadium upon its completion.
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