All-Stars at the Garden

Posted in NYBG in the News on July 15 2008, by Plant Talk

Nick Leshi is Associate Director of Public Relations and Electronic Media and a die-hard Yankees fan.

Legions of baseball fans and sports journalists are flocking to the Bronx today for the 2008 All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium. Our borough has lots to offer, and the home of the Bronx Bombers is just one of many great attractions for people to see.

Over the years, The New York Botanical Garden has been visited by a few of the “boys of summer” who have worn those classic pinstripes and played in baseball’s historic cathedral. Former Yankees center fielder and All-Star Bernie Williams dropped by during the winter of 2004 (seen at right with Bob Heinisch, our VP for Site Operations). Joe Torre, who guided the Yankees through four World Series Championships and was an All-Star player himself during his career, toured the Holiday Train Show with his family a few years ago as well. Other Yankee heroes and All-Stars who have enjoyed a visit to the Botanical Garden included Joe Pepitone and Willie Randolph (seen below, again with VP Bob). Yankee broadcaster Michael Kay even served as Master of Ceremonies for the Garden’s Holiday Tree Lighting ceremony in 2007.

This is the last year people will be able to step foot inside the “House That Ruth Built”—the new stadium opens next year. But you can wax nostalgic and still see a replica of the original Yankee Stadium—made of plant parts—at the Garden’s Holiday Train Show, which opens November 23.