How far down the generational line will the Yanks honor Ruth?

April 13, 2009 by Joe Pawlikowski 16 Comments

A few weeks ago, Ross at New Stadium Insider wondered why bloggers never pursue original stories. It’s a great thought, and one that we’ve been bouncing around at RAB for a while now. While we’re bouncing, Ross is out doing. He spoke with Linda Ruth Tosetti, Babe Ruth’s granddaughter, about her family’s treatment by the Yankees leading up to the opening of the new Stadium. Her family hasn’t been much involved since the new Stadium groundbreaking ceremony, in which the team declared that it’s time to “say goodbye to the House That Ruth Built and hello to the House that George Steinbrenner Built.” Ross does a great job framing the story, and asks a crucial question about a third of the way through: “After all, how far down the lineage of the great Babe Ruth should the Yankees cater to their every request?” Definitely a quality pre-game read.

http://www.puristbleedspinstripes.com Rebecca-Optimist Prime

Read it this morning. Excellent article. Really makes you think.
jon

It would be easy to confuse Tosetti’s frustration with an irrational sense of entitlement and selfishness.

I don’t see it any other way.
- http://newstadiuminsider.com Ross
  
  After speaking to Linda, it really seems that this isn’t anything selfish. She really wants the team to recognize the Babe in a way that is fan friendly.
  
  How great would it be if “meet at the Babe” was the new “meet at the bat?”
  
  Right now, Babe Ruth Plaza is just a means to an end – the way that the Yankees funnel you in to the main commerce center of the new Yankee Stadium – The Great Hall.
  - http://actyankee.blogspot.com Matt
    
    Right now, Babe Ruth Plaza is just a means to an end – the way that the Yankees funnel you in to the main commerce center of the new Yankee Stadium – The Great Hall.
    
    But how would adding a statue change that? Sure it’d be a nice meeting place, but would it really change anything in terms of going into the Great Hall?
    
    I’d be more than fine with a statue but if they leave it the way it is, fine. I’m just excited to go in May, ha.
    - http://newstadiuminsider.com Ross
      
      I think putting a statue there makes it more of a destination, instead of just a place to pass through. I went to both exhibition games and felt rushed and overwhelmed while in Babe Ruth plaza. There really wasn’t anything that inspired me to say, “hey, I need to stop here and look at this.”
      
      It seems like a petty thing, but statues really do have a powerful effect when done properly.
      - http://actyankee.blogspot.com Matt
        
        That’s a fair enough assessment and maybe I’ll change my tune when I head to a game but as of right now, statue or no statue, I’m fine.
        
        http://newstadiuminsider.com Ross
        
        Yea, to be honest it was not something I thought about until I communicated with Linda Ruth Tosetti. I did notice a lot of the other non-fan friendly aspects of the new park, though!
Steve S

Yeah she sounds somewhat psychotic.

“Tosetti hopes that placing a statue of Babe Ruth in Babe Ruth Plaza will bring the area to life, giving fans a reason to stop and remember the great Yankee.”

So in Babe Ruth Plaza, you need a Babe Ruth statue, in order to properly commemorate him? Perhaps since we are tearing down her “grandfather’s house” (again a little nutty there), we should just change the name of the borough Bronx = Babe Ruth City.
- http://actyankee.blogspot.com Matt
  
  See, part of me agrees with this as well. The Yankees always seem to have an eye to the past. I guess such thinking is inevitable when a team has such “tradition” and history; but on the other hand I feel as though if the Yankees keep this “looking to the past” mentality, they’ll end up sounding like that dude you went to HS with who still brags about the 3 touchdowns he scored in the 4th quarter of that game vs. Hilltop.
  
  I know it’s a stretch of an argument, but I feel what I’ve just stated–the history-centric Yankee mentality–is why so many fans want the Yankees to sign every big name or even putting Joba in the ‘pen. There is so little knowledge of the minor league system by most fans because the organization as a whole puts much more emphasis on the past than the future.
http://newstadiuminsider.com Ross

As for the idea about original stories, it was fun, but I just can’t see having the time to do it very often. This time, I took advantage of a lazy Easter weekend in Pennsylvania with the girlfriend’s family. Definitely needed to be removed from my every day craziness to do it.

If writing is a hobby, it really doesn’t feel like work. The question is, will it play with the readers? To people want blogs for off the cuff reaction? I feel like a little reporting mixed in keeps people honest, but who knows?
Lanny

The problem with blogs is all they really do is link to newspapers stories. When most papers go under I wonder how they’ll get most of their stories. Thats the real downfall of old media not adapting or finding economic models. Journalism will take a huge hit and bloggers cant fill it because bloggers arent reporting and developing stories.
- http://www.puristbleedspinstripes.com Rebecca-Optimist Prime
  
  Unfortunatley it won’t be very long before we find out.
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Joseph Pawlikowski
  
  Here’s the rub: Bloggers can’t get access, at least not with the Yankees. So if we do original stories it has to be things like Ross did, using subjects we can reach out to. We’ve been on the Yanks to get us press passes, but they’ve repeatedly declined.
- http://actyankee.blogspot.com Matt
  
  But the advantage blogs have over the mainstream is that blogging provides a much better approach to analysis than the mainstream. The analysis we see here and at places like RLYW and FanGraphs, etc. is just as valuable as traditional newspaper reporting.
- Rich
  
  I think you’re likely to see at least a partial paradigm shift as an increasing number of blogs, web magazines, etc. will do more original reporting and/or offer a unique analysis of existing information/data. It’s already happening at political blogs, and even here at RAB, e.g., analyzing FX data or the economic stratification of fan access at the new stadium.
  
  As for the other topic, I don’t think the Yankees owe the Ruth family anything at this point.
  - http://newstadiuminsider.blogspot.com Ross
    
    The true topic of the story I wrote is what the Yankees owe the fans. Yes, it started out as a story about Linda Ruth Tosetti and how she wants Babe Ruth commemorated. However, the Yankees attitude toward Linda Ruth Tosetti, as true of a Yankee fan as they come, spoke volumes about how out of touch the Yankees are with what it would take to make the new Yankee Stadium as great as the old one. So far, they have missed the mark with the new stadium. Not because there isn’t a Babe Ruth statue, but because it just isn’t about the fans. It is about money.
    
    Go back and read my blog from its inception back in 2007. The very first post on NYYStadiumInsider.com was touting the new stadium. Ever since the groundbreaking, I was looking forward to the new place, and making fun of the old. Once I stepped foot in the new stadium, I got a bad feeling – and I was one of its biggest supporters all along.
    
    Anyway, I’m glad that this story is able to spur on some interesting debate, but it looks like most fans are decidedly anti- Linda Ruth Tosetti. Fair enough, but I think some are missing the overriding theme of the story which is how the Yankees have decided to treat their fans.