Scoreboard at Yankee Stadium - July 20, 1969
An estimated 650 million people would watch Neil Armstrong take man’s first step on the moon more than six hours later, but during the actual lunar landing, 32,933 were in the stands at Yankee Stadium on that Sunday afternoon. Ken McMullen was batting against Jack Aker with Epstein on third, a man on first and no outs.
As the umpires, according to prior arrangements, waved their arms and stopped play, an urgent voice came over the loudspeakers: “Here is a bulletin from WWDC News, Apollo 11 is 100 feet from the surface of the moon. We now switch live to the manned spacecraft center.” It was public address announcer Bob Sheppard, sharing the historic news with the crowd.
“Ladies and gentleman, your attention please,” Sheppard said. “You will be happy to know that the Apollo 11 has landed safely on the moon.“
The cheers from the crowd drowned out the final two words of his announcement, but the message displayed on the scoreboard in right-center field was loud and clear: “THEYRE ON THE MOON.”
The cheering at Yankee Stadium continued for about 45 seconds, according to the New York Times, as thousands of children waved the Hillerich & Bradsby Co. Louisville Sluggers they received on bat day.
Finally, the noise died down enough so the announcer could be understood, and he asked the crowd for a moment of silent prayer for the safe return of the astronauts. After a few seconds of silence, a recording of “America the Beautiful” played over the Yankee Stadium loudspeaker. The crowd sang and then cheered some more.
After the roughly four-minute stoppage, McMullen hit a grounder to third baseman Bobby Cox, who threw home to nail Epstein for the first out.
