Yankee Stadium Legacy

The Yankee Stadium Legacy set is a 6,752-card[1] compilation chronicling every single game the New York Yankees ever played at the original Yankee Stadium since April 18, 1923. The card set was manufactured by Upper Deck and made its official debut by being randomly inserted into packs of Upper Deck’s 2008 Series 1 Baseball.[2]

Yankee Stadium Legacy
TypeTrading cards
CompanyUpper Deck
CountryUnited States
Availability2008–2008
FeaturesNew York Yankees players
Sports events at Yankee Stadium

As part of a promotion related to the set, the first five collectors who completed the set of all 6,661 cards inserted into 2008 Upper Deck Baseball products, were to travel to New York during the 2009 New York Yankees season to attend a game at the new Yankee Stadium and meet Yankee Captain, Derek Jeter.[3] The Yankee Stadium Legacy cards representing the 2008 New York Yankees season appeared in 2009 Upper Deck Series One Baseball packs in February 2009 and put an end to the Yankee Stadium Legacy promotion.[2] The five contest winners would receive the 82 cards representing the final season at Yankee Stadium.

Tommy Baxter, a 36-year-old from Little Rock, Arkansas, was the first collector to put together Upper Deck’s Yankee Stadium Legacy (YSL) Collection. Baxter was a Cubs fan.[4] Baxter's accomplishment was commemorated with a card in 2009 Upper Deck Series One Baseball.[5]

Notable cards

Some of the notable cards in the set commemorate some of the most famous sporting events that have taken place at Yankee Stadium. Some of these events include:

The #1 card (featuring Babe Ruth) commemorating the first game on April 4, 1923. Yankees (4) v Red Sox (1)
Event Date Card #
College Football:Notre Dame vs. Army, Win One for the Gipper Speech(November 10, 1928)473HM
Lou Gehrig's "Luckiest Man Alive" Speech(July 4, 1939)
1939 Major League Baseball All-Star Game(July 11, 1939)1288HM
Babe Ruth's "Final Visit to Yankee Stadium"(June 11, 1948)
Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling heavyweight title bout(June 19, 1936, Schmeling won)
1958 NFL Championship Game between the New York Giants and the Baltimore Colts(December 28, 1958, Baltimore won)2835HM
1960 Major League Baseball All-Star Game (second game)(July 13, 1960)2946
Roger Maris breaks Babe Ruth's Home Run Record(October 1, 1961)3073
Muhammad Ali's title defense against Ken Norton(September 28, 1976, Ali won)4131 HM
Reggie Jackson, Three Home Runs in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series(October 18, 1977)
Pine Tar Incident(July 24, 1983)

Guinness record

According to a January 2008 Upper Deck press release,[2] Guinness World Records would certify Yankee Stadium Legacy as the largest baseball card set ever produced, once all the cards are released.[6]

However, the 1998 Topps TEK set contained 90 different player cards, that were each available in 90 different variations, for a total of 8,100 different cards which some collectors consider to be an even larger complete set.[7]

Distribution

The various sets where the Yankee Stadium Legacy cards were inserted into were: Spectrum; Piece of History; SPx; Upper Deck Series Two; SP Legendary Cuts (Hobby-only); SP Authentic; UDx; and UD Masterpieces. Upper Deck started the website www.OwnTheLegacy.com so that collectors could find out more about the Yankee Stadium Legacy set. Alphanumeric codes found on the backs of Yankee Stadium Legacy cards can be entered at the site, and collectors will can use the site to manage their collections online, and track their collections against other collectors via a leader board.

The cards commemorating the 2008 New York Yankees season were featured in Series 1 of 2009 Upper Deck baseball.[1] Two of the more notable cards include YSL-AG (commemorating the 2008 Major League Baseball All-Star Game) and card YSL-6742 featuring Andy Pettite commemorating the final game at Yankee Stadium).

References
  1. 2008 Upper Deck Yankee Stadium Legacy on Baseball Card
  2. Upper Deck Releases Record-Setting Card Collection: The Yankee Stadium Legacy Set! Upper Deck press release, 18 Jan 2008
  3. Upper Deck Offers Yankee Fans the Opportunity to Meet Derek Jeter on Upper Deck
  4. Tommy Baxter of Little Rock, Arkansas, Completes Upper Deck's Yankee Stadium Legacy Collection! by Jay Cochran, 10 Mar 2009
  5. ARKANSAS COLLECTOR COMPLETES YANKEE STADIUM LEGACY COLLECTION on Beckett.com
  6. A Beginner's Guide to Sports Card Collecting by John Cook, 27 Jan 2019
  7. Dear Guinness workd records
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