It's been eighty-five years since Yankee Stadium opened. Soon the Yankeeswill leave the field, fans will file out and the lights will fade. Butthe lights will never go out on the Stadium that has proudly worn themoniker "The House That Ruth Built."Yankee Stadium: The Official Retrospective recounts the story ofthis extraordinary American landmark. It captures the creation of a homefor the New York Yankees that began in 1923 and was driven by co-ownerJacob Ruppert, who envisioned a ballpark grander than any other conceived at the time. It takes the reader from the field to the dugout, from thepress box to the clubhouse, from principal owner George Steinbrenner'soffice to Monument Park. Every corner of the stadium is revealed.But Yankee Stadium is more than a ballpark. The most iconic moments inhistory have taken place within its walls: Lou Gehrig's poignant farewell to his team and the fans who would never forget him; epicheavy-weight fights, from Louis versus Schmeling to Ali versus Norton; the 1958 National Football League championship, christened the "GreatestGame Ever Played"; exciting college football games, including the oneimmortalized by Knute Rockne in which he asked Notre Dame to "win one for the Gipper"; and the unrivaled record-breaking successes of the NewYork Yankees, from the very first home run hit at the Stadium by BabeRuth to Alex Rodriguez' 500th.With the unprecedented cooperation of the New York Yankees organization,photographs have been culled from every conceivable source. More than 250photographs - many never before published - will allow you to walk in the Stadium beside Mantle and Maris, witness the only perfect game inWorld Series history, and see the Stadium during the stirring 2001World Series. Yankee Stadium: The Official Retrospective is more than justphotographs. It is also graced with firsthand accounts of what it was like to be there as history unfolded. Some of the contributors include:George Steinbrenner, Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, former Vice President Dan Quayle, former New York City Mayor RudyGiuliani, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former New York Gov.Mario Cuomo, Paul McCartney, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, Don Shula, Sugar Ray Leonard, Frank Gifford, Regis Philbin, Joe Torre, Derek Jeter, DonMattingly, Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez, Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto,Reggie Jackson, and Cal Ripken Jr.It has been said that the shaded outfield of Yankee Stadium houses theghosts of long-gone Yankee greats - at least that's what the playersswear they feel as the long days of summer wane into the heated race for the pennant. Or could it be the knowledge that, within those walls,they will always be measured against the titans who came before them? It is the power of the place that led Sports Illustrated to callYankee Stadium the greatest venue of the twentieth century. And only here,within the pages of Yankee Stadium: The Official Retrospective, can you feel what they feel.