I want to tug on your coat here about something. I’d like to throw a little anguish your way about an issue that’s been simmering within me for a few years now, and it’s only gotten worse with the new stadium.
Yankee Stadium III, as it is currently being run, is not a fan-friendly environment. In fact, it seems to be administered by security, ushers, stadium-personnel-- whatever you want to call them--that appear to be auditioning for some Neo-Nazi secret storm trooper security battalion.
For the longest time my reaction to this unfortunate fact was complete denial. I choose to see the problem through pinstripe glasses. The glasses were kind of tight, though, and they restricted some blood flow, so now I take them off from time to time.
People would call me or email me. I recall one such communiqué last summer from my friend Paul: “Dude, what’s up with the fascists that run the Stadium? How can you root for a team that allows these brown shirts to keep order?”
But I’ve learned to separate my love of the Yankees from my reaction to how the stadium is run. I root for the team and I always will, but that doesn't mean I won't be critical of how the team runs things. And now with the new stadium, in addition to treating people like criminals, they have added the well-publicized caste system with those empty seats behind home plate.
The other night, before the Yanks took on the Orioles, I saw a blue-haired elderly woman, probably around 80. They searched her bags and made her transfer some belongings to a clear, plastic bag before she could bring them in. I couldn’t quite make out what she was transferring, for all I know it was the medication she needed to stay alive while she spent three hours being harassed by Yankee Stadium security.
Maybe I missed it in the news, but I haven’t heard of too many 80-year old women from Yonkers or Far Rockaway flying airlines into buildings or trying to sneak dirty bombs into the sporting events.
I can see the ads on YES now. “Come, spend hundreds dollars and be treated like a felon.”
That same night I saw stadium personnel rush to a man who was playfully slapping his friend’s back after a superb defensive play by Mark Teixeira. The thugs were on the guy before you could say “Heinrich Himmler.”
Back in the 1930s, before Larry McPhail ran the Dodgers, local thugs were hired to “keep order” at Ebbets Field. What they really did was harass the few loyal fans that came to see a bad team. When McPhail took over, he kicked the thugs out. He hired professional ushers with some understanding of humanity.
Speaking of ushers, do you remember when they actually helped you to your seat? Now they basically take on the attitude of a prison guard. If you don’t believe me, try to sneak out to the men’s room in the 7th inning. I half-suspect that there’s a backroom in the bowels of the new stadium all decked out with water boarding equipment. Perhaps Dick Cheney himself administers the procedure.
You may also factor in the well-publicized episodes where the thugs denied the Angel and Twin broadcasters the access they needed to do their jobs, not to mention kicking Paul O’Neill out of the infield during batting practice.
Hey, if they treat Paul O’Neill like that, how do you think they will treat you?
Even when security is just standing around doing nothing, they have mastered that cold, icy stare that says "Just try something. I dare you."
The vibe from security does not make for a fun day or night at the old ball game. And it's a pity; the team is a lot of fun to watch this year.
Phil is a staff writer for NYYFans.com, and he writes a weekly column for the website of WCBS News Radio 88, the home of the Yankees. You can reach him at PhilAllard27(at)hotmail.com.
