The original Yankee Stadium was built in 1923. As with many other jewel box ballparks of the era, the flag pole was placed in play. With a distance to straightaway center field, the flag pole rarely interfered in play. Yankees manager Miller Huggins died suddenly in 1929, and the team erected a free-standing monument in front of the flag pole in his honor in 1932. The monument consisted of a bronze plaque mounted on an upright block of red granite resembling a headstone. This, in turn, led many Yankee fans over the years, particularly children, to believe that the players honored were also buried there upon their death.