Minutes To Memories: Yankee Stadium Items Already For Sale
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Steiner Sports Offering Yankee Stadium Items
Such As Blue Carpet From Clubhouse |
Items from Yankee Stadium already "were for sale" yesterday, prompting "fears that the taxpayers who own the place were getting stiffed again," according to Greg Smith of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS. The Yankees played their final game at the ballpark Sunday, and Steiner Sports, which has "partnered with the Yankees to sell team memorabilia," yesterday began offering a 30-by-18-inch "piece of the center field scoreboard for $699 and a 10-by-10-foot hunk of blue carpet" with the Yankees logo from the clubhouse for $10,000. Also for sale were "five glass 31-by-60-inch shower stall doors from the clubhouse with Yankee logos for $2,000 apiece." N.Y. Economic Development Corp. President Seth Pinsky said the Yankees are "obligated to maintain most of the baseball operations-related infrastructure and equipment at Yankee Stadium," but they "have the right to sell those items that they pay for and maintain and for which they are not reimbursed" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 9/23). Yankees COO Lonn Trost said that the team and the city of N.Y. in the next week or two "will release information about how to go about purchasing memorabilia." Trost: "The city and the Yankees are still discussing how things are going to be handled." In Newark, Lisa Kennelly notes while there "won't be any more games played in the old stadium, the building will stand until early next summer." A final celebration is "scheduled for Nov. 9, and team offices won't make the move across the street [to the new ballpark] until January or February" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 9/23). In N.Y., Buffa & Calabrese report the NYPD "confirmed 18 arrests for possessing stolen property and two for running on the field" at the stadium's finale. Howard Rubenstein, Yankees Owner George Steinbrenner's spokesperson, said that the team "plans to hire a private force to protect the Stadium's exterior" (N.Y. POST, 9/23). WFAN-AM's Mike Francesa noted former Yankee P Don Larsen grabbed some dirt from the pitcher's mound before Sunday's Orioles-Yankees game, the last game at the ballpark, and said, "I thought maybe he went to work for one of those collectible companies or something and they sent him out there to get some dirt. They were probably selling it in the booth. ... They probably sold everything except somebody’s teeth" (“Mike Francesa,” YES Network, 9/22).
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Clemens Noticeably Absent From
Yankees' Pregame Ceremony |
RECREATING HISTORY: In N.Y., Richard Sandomir writes the Yankee Stadium finale "should have been a spectacle that thrilled those who witnessed it in person and those who watched it on television," but a "primary disappointment, or even sense of shock, rested with the goofy parade of faux dead guys" designed to represent the starting lineup during the park's first game in '23. Had the Yankees not implemented the "lazy 'Field of Dreams' derivative ... they could have done what was right for that time slot: pay tribute to [Babe] Ruth." The final game also "should have strived to do more than tweak the traditional Old-Timers' Day formula or revisit the introductions of dozens of [HOFers] at their positions" prior to July's All-Star Game. The ceremony also "should not have slighted" former Yankees manager and current Dodgers manager Joe Torre by not mentioning him (N.Y. TIMES, 9/23). In N.Y., McCarron, Red and O'Keeffe note the Yankees also did not honor former MLBer Roger Clemens, and a source said the team "didn't want boos to be the last memory of Roger at the Stadium." But several other players mentioned in the Mitchell Report, including Yankees 1B Jason Giambi, P Andy Pettitte and former MLBer Chuck Knoblauch, were present or acknowledged during the ceremony. Those players, however, have "admitted and apologized for using performance-enhancing drugs." Rubenstein said of the omission of Torre and Clemens from the ceremony, "A lot of great Yankees were not mentioned. There was no slight intended and perhaps both of them should have been mentioned during the celebration." Dodgers VP/PR & Broadcasting Josh Rawitch said that ESPN "had requested that Torre appear during the network's broadcast of Sunday's game." But Rawitch said Torre "already had plans ... when they asked" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 9/23). ESPN’s Mike Greenberg: "I understand not mentioning Roger Clemens. Not mentioning Joe Torre at all makes them look very small in my opinion.” ESPN's Jayson Stark: "Joe Torre managed the Yankees for 12 years. They went to the playoffs all 12. How you can omit his name from that ceremony is beyond me. It’s just petty" (“Mike & Mike in the Morning,” ESPN2, 9/23).
CAPABLE COVERAGE: On Long Island, Neil Best writes ESPN's coverage of the final game went "better than many [N.Y.] cynics expected," as the net was "properly reverential -- at times to a fault -- and avoided embarrassing gaffes." ESPN Senior VP/Event Production Tim Scanlan said that "some fans called the switchboard asking for more focus on the game." But Best writes it "made sense to mix booth guests, storytelling and historical footage." Best: "One nice touch was [ESPN's] Jon Miller inviting YES' Michael Kay to call the bottom of the seventh, and ESPN playing recordings of [former Yankees broadcasters] Red Barber and Mel Allen during a pitching change that half-inning." Meanwhile, YES Network was "doggedly thorough on its pregame and post, the latter including interviews with seven starters," but there was "little talk of the inconvenient fact that the team was all but out of contention" (NEWSDAY, 9/23).
FOCUSING ON THE WRONG THING: MARKETWATCH's Jon Friedman wrote, "I'm distressed to see the sports media buying into the franchise's brilliantly choreographed campaign to focus on nostalgia, not business, as the current model of Yankee Stadium closes its doors forever." Steinbrenner is shutting the ballpark because he "can make a lot more money by opening a state-of-the-art baseball stadium/cum amusement park for fans who probably care more about being entertained than watching nine innings of baseball." The Yankees also "can charge much higher ticket prices" (MARKETWATCH.com, 9/22).
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Kucinich Looking Into Financing Questions
Surrounding New Yankee Stadium |
CONCERNS ABOUT NEW BALLPARK: U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), who chairs the Domestic Policy Subcommittee that is looking into public financing for sports facilities, said ticket prices at the new Yankee Stadium will increase "anywhere from 140-600%. At the same time, city officials who help negotiate this deal are going to have the advantage of a luxury box where ... they’re not going to have to pay anything for tickets." Kucinich: "I think the taxpayers have to be concerned, and also the Yankee fans have to be concerned about that.” Fox Business' David Asman: “What you’re saying essentially is it essentially amounts to a bribe.” Kucinich: “I wouldn’t use the word bribe, but I will raise the question as to whether it’s fair to the fans.” Kucinich added his subcommittee is holding hearings on the topic because it has "come up with evidence that suggests that when the new stadium was built, that they assessed the land at about $275 a square-foot, yet the land across the street where the old stadium is at is about $45 a square-foot. It’s impossible to have that kind of discrepancy in property that’s so close" ("America's Nightly Scoreboard," Fox Business, 9/22).
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