Found: Red Sox Jersey Buried in New Yankee Stadium

The three-day quasi-nightmare for-superstitious Yankees fans is over: The Red Sox jersey buried in cement by a Yankee-hating construction worker along the third base line at the new Yankee Stadium has been found and will be removed today in an "extraction ceremony."

At first, the thought of Red Sox jersey buried in the new stadium seemed like a joke, but yesterday the NY Post published photographs worker Gino Castignoli claimed he took while after placing a David Ortiz jersey under the concrete. Yesterday, two workers remembered where Castignoli worked (he was only on the site for day) and told a construction manager:

They led the manager to a service corridor near the site of the planned Legends Club restaurant, behind home plate and toward the third base side.

After the hardhats pointed to the spot, workers brought out jackhammers and dug furiously for five hours, creating a 2-foot- by-3-foot, gravel-filled pit in their search for the tainted threads.

They spotted the jersey at 3:25 p.m. and called Yankee brass. The cursed shirt was about two feet deep in cement.

Yankees spokeswoman Alice McGillion said, "We want to thank The Post for raising the issue. The [two] workers were terrific in coming forward. They wanted the shirt out of there."

Hank Steinbrenner said of Castignoli, "I hope his coworkers kick the s--- out of him." Castignoli, who was paid $88/hour to work on the site and had previously pleaded guilty to being part of a "$40 million illegal gambling operation with ties to the Gambino crime family," told the Post, "Tell Hank he can come meet me if he wants to try - and tell him to bring [catcher Jorge] Posada, because he's the one Yankee I can't stand."

As amusing as this story is, what New Yorkers need are some wider angle photographs of the excavation site to smack down doubts that this could be at any other construction site, the way some people believe the moon landing really took place in New Mexico. And here's what the new stadium's views will look like.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on April 13, 2008 11:24 AM

Comments [rss]

hchinaski

that was not the shirt.

sorry folks it's a hoax.

the real cement covered shirt is somewhere else.

what a bunch of dopes!

Toby von Meistersinger

Sounds like an inside job from the Steinbrenner PR machine.

BootyInMyEye

watching the yankees/red sox game on espn right now and they just aired some footage of the jersey being removed from the concrete. so apparently, some of the media was invited to witness the event. silly red sox fans.

TimSPC

Dave, actually I meant he argues to much at bat. I get the feeling that his bad mouthing while at bat might have some carry over to when he's behind the plate and he might not get the benefit of the doubt.

DarkGemini

$88/hr?

Clearly, I'm in the wrong field...

David

Dave, that was five years ago, though.

Dave Hogarty

kane, oh jeez. OK, some people need to get lives when baseball degenerates to gunplay. When I see a shootout on the red carpet outside of the Oscars, I'm retiring from public comment altogether.

blablanyc

This feud is insane. It can likened to the Hatfields and McCoys of sports. I can understand why he wants Posada. The BoSux have always have had a problem with the Yankee catchers. Thurman Munson was a target of the BoSux.

JacqueMehoff

did this make it into SWPL yet?

kane

Sorry, Dave, but nothing in this world is sacred anymore:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?id=1625187

Dave Hogarty

Tim, that's part of a good catcher's job. Rather than have the pitcher staring daggers at the homeplate umpire, which would lead to some calls that go the wrong way, Jorge jaws occasionally to fill the gap. The guy is a consummate pro, who is as responsible for what happens at the plate as anyone else. And he's almost as good at the plate as behind it. Sorry, I love Posada.

[5] Everyone takes something too personally. In my case, it's movies and then baseball. I like them both b/c no one ever gets into blood feuds over either.

edgar

They also take bullshit "curses" too seriously.

What kind of a brain-dead moron believes in this shit? Moreover, what kind of an idiot spends thousands of dollars for this superstitious garbage?

Most importantly, how can I get those thousands of dollars to come my way?

eyekantspel

people take sports way too seriously.

Think2wice

Now all we need to finish the de-hexing are chickens, Kabbalah string, and flagelents. All appropriated from the city Treasury of course.

chris

$88/hr?!

TimSPC

I can understand that, Dave. The guy is a bit of a complainer, he's always arguing with umps. As a Yankees fan, he drives me a little nuts sometimes.