New Yankee statium is tough for autograph seekers
Michigan
Posts: 4,942 ✭
in Sports Talk
From the New York Times:
Outside the old Yankee Stadium, fans young and old would gather along barricades near the players’ entrance, waiting for a chance to get the most coveted of baseball keepsakes — an autograph.
Players had to walk from their parking lot across a small street, Ruppert Place, to a private stadium entrance by the press gate, exposing them — even just for a minute or two — to the pleas of Yankee-crazed kids and autograph seekers before and after games.
But the new Yankee Stadium has ended this beloved ritual in the Bronx. The Yankees relocated the players’ parking area behind the stadium walls, meaning that players now drive in and out in luxury vehicles, protected from curious eyes by tinted windows.
“It’s a shame now,” said David Thoreen, who arrived at a recent game with his two young sons from Worcester, Mass. “Things have gotten too elite. They’re totally separating players from the fans.”
The change has left some fans circling the new stadium in vain, looking for the autograph spot they remember from the old ballpark.
And it has brought an element of desperation to the postgame autograph routine: With few other options, fans will sometimes wait for the players’ cars to emerge, then sprint through traffic hoping to catch a player at a red light.
“Basically, now you have to chase down a car,” said Donnell Smith, who works the hot dog stand across the street from the new stadium. He said he had watched the scene unfold repeatedly during the young season. “The players will usually keep going. Sometimes they roll down their windows and sign.”
The Yankees’ gleaming new ballpark opened this spring to mixed reviews, with criticism for sky-high ticket prices, obstructed views and the ease with which batters hit home runs there. But the difficulty in getting autographs at the new stadium has particularly chafed many fans, who routinely add three or more hours to their game outings for the chance at personal interaction with a player.
The situation is little better inside the stadium, where visitors continue to be restricted from the prime autograph areas — near the dugouts — during batting practice, unless they have tickets in those sections. The best of those tickets now go for $1,250, which reflects the Yankees’ recent 50 percent discount. The team had an even more restrictive policy, but eased it last month; fans can now watch batting practice from the field-level box seats in the outfield.
The loss of these traditional access points has fans complaining of the further widening of the already huge gulf between those who make millions playing the game and the fans who support the team with their hearts, time and money.
Doug Geller, 52, of Flagtown, N.J., has amassed a large collection of autographs over his 24 years as a season-ticket holder and continues to show up early in the dimming hope of adding new signatures. Getting players’ autographs at the old Yankee Stadium “wasn’t easy, but it was easier,” he said. “Here, it’s impossible.”
Jason Zillo, a Yankees spokesman, said that players and fans were still adjusting to the new space and that the Yankees were making efforts to better connect players with fans. “Autographs are a part of that,” he said.
In the meantime, the complaints are growing. “The way they made the ballpark, they’re kind of hiding the players from the people,” said Louis DiLullo, who commutes to games from his home in Providence, R.I. “I don’t think the players realize these kids, when they’re 60 years old, remember getting that autograph. That’s how they become season-ticket holders.”
Inside the stadium on a recent Sunday, fans tried to get autographs during batting practice, young children and their parents lining up against the right-field wall and calling out to players as they warmed up. When Joba Chamberlain, a promising pitcher known for being somewhat generous with his signature, sauntered into right field, the crowd cried for his attention. After a short warm-up, he left without signing an autograph.
Among the disappointed were David Thoreen’s two sons, Sam, 9, and Henry, 13. Each year, the family has driven from their home in Worcester, Mass., to attend a Yankee game and meet players and get their autographs outside the player parking lot.
A short while later, Randy Lester and his son, Ethan, 10, emerged from Yankees-Steiner Collectibles, a high-end autograph store inside the stadium. They had just spent hundreds of dollars to buy a signed, poster-size photo of Mr. Chamberlain. “We were down there a minute ago trying to get an autograph,” said Mr. Lester, pointing to right field. “Then we saw this.”
AJ Romeo, director of Yankees-Steiner Collectibles, said the bustling store, styled like a museum, offers a remedy for the shrinking access that the stadium provides fans. “We still give the fans an opportunity to get an autographed baseball,” he said. Prices for the baseballs on display ranged from $50 to $2,500.
The company maintains an exclusive contract with the Yankees for jerseys, bats and other memorabilia used in games, as well as exclusive signing contracts with players like Derek Jeter, a fan favorite who earns more than $20 million a year for playing baseball and millions more in endorsements. (Though the company would not disclose the terms of those contracts, Mr. Romeo said they permit players to sign free for fans.)
“An autograph should be free,” said Glenn DiResto, 39, walking out of the store shaking his head. “The players make millions a year and they can’t sign a few balls for the fans?”
That was the sentiment outside the new player entrance that Sunday, where upset fans — many of whom did not know about the change until they arrived — watched as the players drove their cars into the stadium, slowing just enough for two security guards to open the driveway gate.
“At the old stadium, they used to say hi, or a few would even sign balls,” said Shari Allen, a 23-year-old student from Mount Laurel, N.J. “Here, they are just driving in. It’s kind of frustrating. They just put their head down.”
Ms. Allen had hoped to meet Derek Jeter — “If he even looked my way, I think I’d fall on the floor” — but she and her friend were no longer optimistic they would be able to tell who passed by. They peered as two cars rolled into the stadium, but in both cases tinted windows hid the occupants.
“Who is that?” she asked her friend as another car approached. As the car turned, the driver could be glimpsed through a partly opened window. “It’s Jeter! It’s Jeter!” she exclaimed. She began crying his name, jumping and waving, “Jeter! Jeter!”
Looking amused, Mr. Jeter glanced over, waving his hand casually as he disappeared beneath the stadium. It was a fleeting interaction, one without a keepsake to commemorate it, but it suggested that some fans were already adjusting to the new arrangement. Ms. Allen declared herself satisfied. “That was so worth waiting for.”
Outside the old Yankee Stadium, fans young and old would gather along barricades near the players’ entrance, waiting for a chance to get the most coveted of baseball keepsakes — an autograph.
Players had to walk from their parking lot across a small street, Ruppert Place, to a private stadium entrance by the press gate, exposing them — even just for a minute or two — to the pleas of Yankee-crazed kids and autograph seekers before and after games.
But the new Yankee Stadium has ended this beloved ritual in the Bronx. The Yankees relocated the players’ parking area behind the stadium walls, meaning that players now drive in and out in luxury vehicles, protected from curious eyes by tinted windows.
“It’s a shame now,” said David Thoreen, who arrived at a recent game with his two young sons from Worcester, Mass. “Things have gotten too elite. They’re totally separating players from the fans.”
The change has left some fans circling the new stadium in vain, looking for the autograph spot they remember from the old ballpark.
And it has brought an element of desperation to the postgame autograph routine: With few other options, fans will sometimes wait for the players’ cars to emerge, then sprint through traffic hoping to catch a player at a red light.
“Basically, now you have to chase down a car,” said Donnell Smith, who works the hot dog stand across the street from the new stadium. He said he had watched the scene unfold repeatedly during the young season. “The players will usually keep going. Sometimes they roll down their windows and sign.”
The Yankees’ gleaming new ballpark opened this spring to mixed reviews, with criticism for sky-high ticket prices, obstructed views and the ease with which batters hit home runs there. But the difficulty in getting autographs at the new stadium has particularly chafed many fans, who routinely add three or more hours to their game outings for the chance at personal interaction with a player.
The situation is little better inside the stadium, where visitors continue to be restricted from the prime autograph areas — near the dugouts — during batting practice, unless they have tickets in those sections. The best of those tickets now go for $1,250, which reflects the Yankees’ recent 50 percent discount. The team had an even more restrictive policy, but eased it last month; fans can now watch batting practice from the field-level box seats in the outfield.
The loss of these traditional access points has fans complaining of the further widening of the already huge gulf between those who make millions playing the game and the fans who support the team with their hearts, time and money.
Doug Geller, 52, of Flagtown, N.J., has amassed a large collection of autographs over his 24 years as a season-ticket holder and continues to show up early in the dimming hope of adding new signatures. Getting players’ autographs at the old Yankee Stadium “wasn’t easy, but it was easier,” he said. “Here, it’s impossible.”
Jason Zillo, a Yankees spokesman, said that players and fans were still adjusting to the new space and that the Yankees were making efforts to better connect players with fans. “Autographs are a part of that,” he said.
In the meantime, the complaints are growing. “The way they made the ballpark, they’re kind of hiding the players from the people,” said Louis DiLullo, who commutes to games from his home in Providence, R.I. “I don’t think the players realize these kids, when they’re 60 years old, remember getting that autograph. That’s how they become season-ticket holders.”
Inside the stadium on a recent Sunday, fans tried to get autographs during batting practice, young children and their parents lining up against the right-field wall and calling out to players as they warmed up. When Joba Chamberlain, a promising pitcher known for being somewhat generous with his signature, sauntered into right field, the crowd cried for his attention. After a short warm-up, he left without signing an autograph.
Among the disappointed were David Thoreen’s two sons, Sam, 9, and Henry, 13. Each year, the family has driven from their home in Worcester, Mass., to attend a Yankee game and meet players and get their autographs outside the player parking lot.
A short while later, Randy Lester and his son, Ethan, 10, emerged from Yankees-Steiner Collectibles, a high-end autograph store inside the stadium. They had just spent hundreds of dollars to buy a signed, poster-size photo of Mr. Chamberlain. “We were down there a minute ago trying to get an autograph,” said Mr. Lester, pointing to right field. “Then we saw this.”
AJ Romeo, director of Yankees-Steiner Collectibles, said the bustling store, styled like a museum, offers a remedy for the shrinking access that the stadium provides fans. “We still give the fans an opportunity to get an autographed baseball,” he said. Prices for the baseballs on display ranged from $50 to $2,500.
The company maintains an exclusive contract with the Yankees for jerseys, bats and other memorabilia used in games, as well as exclusive signing contracts with players like Derek Jeter, a fan favorite who earns more than $20 million a year for playing baseball and millions more in endorsements. (Though the company would not disclose the terms of those contracts, Mr. Romeo said they permit players to sign free for fans.)
“An autograph should be free,” said Glenn DiResto, 39, walking out of the store shaking his head. “The players make millions a year and they can’t sign a few balls for the fans?”
That was the sentiment outside the new player entrance that Sunday, where upset fans — many of whom did not know about the change until they arrived — watched as the players drove their cars into the stadium, slowing just enough for two security guards to open the driveway gate.
“At the old stadium, they used to say hi, or a few would even sign balls,” said Shari Allen, a 23-year-old student from Mount Laurel, N.J. “Here, they are just driving in. It’s kind of frustrating. They just put their head down.”
Ms. Allen had hoped to meet Derek Jeter — “If he even looked my way, I think I’d fall on the floor” — but she and her friend were no longer optimistic they would be able to tell who passed by. They peered as two cars rolled into the stadium, but in both cases tinted windows hid the occupants.
“Who is that?” she asked her friend as another car approached. As the car turned, the driver could be glimpsed through a partly opened window. “It’s Jeter! It’s Jeter!” she exclaimed. She began crying his name, jumping and waving, “Jeter! Jeter!”
Looking amused, Mr. Jeter glanced over, waving his hand casually as he disappeared beneath the stadium. It was a fleeting interaction, one without a keepsake to commemorate it, but it suggested that some fans were already adjusting to the new arrangement. Ms. Allen declared herself satisfied. “That was so worth waiting for.”
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Comments
<< <i>"statium"? should be "stadium" of course, sorry. >>
You could have edited your original post and changed the spelling in the title and NOBODY would have known! LOL
Doug
Liquidating my collection for the 3rd and final time. Time for others to enjoy what I have enjoyed over the last several decades. Money could be put to better use.
<< <i>
<< <i>"statium"? should be "stadium" of course, sorry. >>
You could have edited your original post and changed the spelling in the title and NOBODY would have known! LOL >>
Didn't discover the error until after it had been posted.
nice way to blow "hundreds of dollars"
Suburbia is slowly engulfing everything that used to be!!
looking for low grade t205's psa 1-2