Yankees found one more way to screw fans with Spring Training tickets
Forget being forced out of Tampa by the Rays’ new stadium plan; the MLB lockout is by far the more realistic bad thing that could happen to Yankees Spring Training in 2022, and the franchise appears to have made sure to trickle that pain down to the fans.
Along with the rest of the league, New York’s ownership released its Spring Training ticket salvo to the fans on Wednesday morning, offering the Bomber faithful the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to pay the team money for something that may not exist and definitely won’t be on time.
Throughout baseball, teams are being forced to reckon with the lockout at least a little bit day by day. Winter Warmups have been axed after optimistically being scheduled for mid-January with player participation (nope!). Minor-league transactions are taking center stage because they’re the only thing moving. Hall of Fame discourse is at an all-time high.
Shoutout to finding an ego-created disaster that’s knocking games off the schedule just two years after the initial burst of the COVID-19 pandemic did it naturally! It takes skill to watch what the pandemic did and decide, “Yes, we want to bring that back and do it ourselves.”
But, now the tide is turning — well, not really, but the two sides are set to meet this week, which means it’s time for the Yankees and the rest of the league to reach for your wallet!
Yes, today you can buy individual Spring Training game tickets, and the fan base is thrilled not to participate.
The Yankees want to sell you fake Spring Training tickets.
Not only did the Yankees not solve the shortstop vacancy before the lockout (or center field, or catcher, or first base, or a No. 2 … or the manager …), which already turned off fans, but they now want you to come support a team you hate by paying cash for games that’ll be axed by Feb. 1. What a time to be alive.
Oh, but wait! There’s more!
MLB and the Yankees also snuck some fine print in there alongside your purchase. If the MLBPA and ownership continue warring and have to play, say, five-inning Spring Training games, they won’t refund you a cent and that’s your problem!
Enjoy that single beer and the third-inning stretch!
Next thing you know, the Yankees will be emailing you a reminder that the purchase price won’t change if the games are comprised entirely of randos who broke the picket line. Sort of an “Oops! All Scabs” situation.
Best of luck to any saps who already booked their Florida transit. This is a slap in the face.