Yankees: Ways They Irritate Their Fan Base – Not The 1%

The Yankees have a way of irritating their fans sometimes that has nothing to do with their baseball front office, but everything to do with their business plan and public relations department. Following are a few examples of things the franchise does to alienate 99% of their fan base, save the 1% who wouldn’t care and are hardly fans anyway.

The Yankees “Hands On History Experience”

Buried deep within the team’s Official MLB Page is a section called “Fans”. And within that section, there is what the Yankees call the Hands On History Experience. Reading through the page, it looks like something all fans would want to do when they attend a game.

Quoting from the page:

Have You Ever Dreamed Of Holding Babe Ruth’s Bat?
How About Mickey Mantle’s Glove?
Or Derek Jeter’s Jersey?
How About Trying On A World Series Ring?

Hell yeah! Where do I sign up? And everything is fine until you get to the bottom of the page and you read this, “Price is $125 per person and does not include a ticket to the game.” Are you kidding me? So if I want to take the wife and two kids to a game, the so-called “Experience” is gonna me $500, and that’s not going to include the cost of tickets, hot dogs, caps, scorecards, yearbook, and parking. What a deal?

Trump Has His Wall, And So Do The Yankees

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The Yankees wall extends around the perimeter of the lower grandstand and is built with ushers who appear to be operating under strict orders to not let anyone who does not have a ticket (think Green Card) for those seats anywhere near the field.

Now, I don’t know about you but dreaming about getting an autograph or two from players in the flesh was always something I looked forward to as a kid. Phooey on that say the Yankees. Let them keep dreaming because those sets are reserved for the 1% who don’t want to be bother by a bunch of kids scruffling at their feet while they’re checking the latest on their stock holdings in the Wall Street Journal.

Back in 2009 when the Stadium first opened, the New York Times did a piece on this subject that included the following “are you kidding me?” quote:

"“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.”"

Along those same lines, the Yankees now let fans roam the outfield area where players have to purposely run from shagging balls in center field to one of the foul poles to sign. Good luck with that happening.

What Are The Yankees Hiding Behind Tinted Glass?

For fans who can afford it, the Mohegan Sun Sports Bar looks like it might be worth going for instead of purchasing a regular ticket. But for one fan who was given free tickets, the experience was less than expected:

"“There is a ritual at Yankees Stadium known as roll call. The fans chant each player’s name during the top of the first until each player turns and recognizes the crowd with a wave. Inside the sports bar, the roll call chant was muffled. We could see the players turn and acknowledge the crowd, but we couldn’t hear their names chanted clearly. There was certainly a lot of clapping inside, but I couldn’t help but feel separated from the enormous, excited crowd on the other side of the glass.”"

The Yankees And Their Corporate Mentality – Oh, Please

In researching this piece, I came across a story that appeared in the Sports Cheat Sheet that I believe sums it up best:

"“Clearly, the Yankees did not create a stadium for the people when they moved the fabulously valuable franchise across 161st Street. New York has assumed separations for the super-rich and 99% already, so that part is to be expected. When they built physical partitions that began blocking the game from fans’ eyes, they crossed another line. This brand is about exceptional baseball and the thrill of the live event. Taking that away from fans — all fans — undoubtedly has The Boss rolling over in his grave.”"

Next: The Yankees Have Unfinished Business Before Opening Day

At least we can say that they put a good product on the field, and we can be happy about that. But as for the rest of the Yankees so-called “brand”, they left their (real) fan base behind a long time ago.