Patrick Reusse: When Yankee Clipper, Disco Dan took center stage

The New York Yankees spent the 1974 and 1975 seasons playing their home games in Shea Stadium. Those were also the first two years that a fellow from Fulda was assigned to cover the Twins for the St. Paul newspapers.

The lasting memory from those visits to Shea was reliever Tom Burgmeier flashing a switch-blade knife late one night in the clubhouse.

What's with the knife, Burgy?

"This came flying into the bullpen tonight," he said. "Guy knew what he was doing. Stuck it right in a piece of wood down there."

The Yankees moved back to a rebuilt Yankee Stadium in 1976. The Twins were the visiting team when the big ballpark in the Bronx was reopened on April 15, a Thursday.

The crowd was announced at 54,010 (52,613 paid). It was the largest opening crowd at the stadium in 30 years.

The only thing the Yankees do better than win championships is hold pregame ceremonies. And this one was an all-timer:

The Yankees also broke out the widows of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, as was their custom on special days.

How do you beat this for a sporting life experience:

A sunny spring afternoon in Yankee Stadium -- new, shiny and still filled with tradition -- and now Bob Sheppard is introducing Joe Louis, the Brown Bomber.

And then Sheppard waits for the cheers to subside, only to remind the crowd that it was on this hallowed ground that Louis knocked out Max Schmeling in the first round of their rematch.

On that day, Louis reflected on his victory over Schmeling and thus Adolf Hitler's concept of Aryan supremacy.

And even if you didn't believe it to be true, there was something grand when Sheppard offered the introduction that traditionally greeted DiMaggio when he returned to the stadium:

"Number 5, the Yankee Clipper, the greatest living ballplayer, Joe DiMaggio."

The Twins followed these 45 minutes of pregame ceremonies by taking a 3-0 lead in the first inning against Rudy May, a lefthander who was a longtime nemesis for Rod Carew and other Twins.

Jerry Terrell drew a four-pitch walk to open the game. May then threw a curveball to Dan Ford, and the right fielder hit a smash that carried out in left-center field.

This was the notorious "Death Valley" of Yankee Stadium. It was 457 feet to deepest left-center before the reconstruction and still was 430 feet for the reopening in 1976.

"May got me out with curveballs all last season," Disco Danny said. "I was waiting for this one. But I didn't believe it was going out."

The Twins' 4-0 lead after 2 1/2 innings disappeared by the bottom of the fourth. The Yankees reopened their marvelous home with an 11-4 victory.

The hitting hero was Oscar Gamble, the Yankees' new right fielder. He was shorn of his famous Afro because of the team's grooming rules. He went 3-for-4, including a double and a triple, with two runs scored and two RBI.

The original ballpark was nicknamed "The House that Ruth Built." After the reopener, the St. Paul ball writer said to Gamble:

"Do you realize last time they opened Yankee Stadium, in 1923, the right fielder was Babe Ruth?"

OK, how about this: "After today, should we start calling this 'The House that Oscar Rebuilt?' "

Gamble gave a blank look at the reporter and said, "What are you talking about?"