Nelson Mandela statement about the US: "“If there is a country that has
committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States
of America. They don’t care for human beings.” via cbsnews.com" 1/30/03
12/8/13, "Mandela, Self-Declared Yankee, Gets Plaque in Monument Park," NY Times, David Waldstein
Mandela in Yankee hat, 6/21/90 |
To commemorate that moment and the life of Mandela, the South African leader who died last week at 95, the Yankees
will place a plaque in Monument Park. It will be unveiled on Jackie
Robinson Day, April 15, when the Yankees play the Chicago Cubs.
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Robinson, the three popes who have visited the stadium and the victims
of the Sept. 11 attacks are other non-Yankees to be honored at Monument
Park, beyond the center-field wall. Pope Paul VI led a Mass at the
stadium in 1965, Pope John Paul II did so in 1979, and Pope Benedict XVI
led one in 2008.
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The idea to honor Mandela came from Service Employees International
Union Local 32BJ, whose president, Hector Figueroa, called the Yankees’
president, Randy Levine. The Yankees’ hierarchy — including the managing
general partner, Hal Steinbrenner; the chief operating officer, Lonn
Trost; the senior vice president, Deborah Tymon; and Levine — decided on
placing the plaque in Monument Park.
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When Mandela visited a packed Yankee Stadium
on June 21, 1990, the concert featured Richie Havens, Tracy Chapman,
Mighty Sparrow and Judy Collins. He placed a Yankees cap on his head,
Mayor David Dinkins draped a team jacket over his shoulders, and Mandela
declared: “You know who I am. I am a Yankee.”
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The Yankees’ principal owner, George Steinbrenner, who died in 2010 and
is also honored in Monument Park, was said to have been so pleased with
Mandela’s declaration that he did not charge the city for having hosted
the event.
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A soccer fan and a boxer in his youth, Mandela long understood the
importance of sports as a politically unifying force, which he
demonstrated by enthusiastically supporting the South African rugby team
in its 1995 World Cup championship drive, even though rugby had
traditionally been a sport for the white South African minority.
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His proclamation that he was a Yankee, especially at a time when the
team was in last place in the American League East, endeared him not
only to Steinbrenner, but to many baseball fans as well." photo from NY Times. via btf. Yankees ended 1990 with 67W, 95L.
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