If anyone can dig up a print of this, I will love you forever. (Click the picture for bigger views.)
Hat tip to my buddy Dave and Strangemaps.
No fun allowed! No fun allowed!
I’ve been sitting in the right field bleachers frequently this year, so the recent string of ejections has me worried. My buddy Mischa G, who also frequents the right field benches, has written a little something-something about the whole situation. As Ben’s mother pointed out yesterday, the Fascism in Yankee Stadium is not limited to the bleachers, but it’s certainly more emphatic there.
“Yo! Melky!”
So begins most home games this season in the right field bleachers. With Bald Vinny standing, surrounded by the most die hard of fans, Yankee Stadium’s Bleacher Creatures lead as the right field bleachers chant each Yankee’s name. As they player waves back, the fans move onto the next player, from Melky in center to Matsui in left and Bobby in right. And so on. After A-Rod’s name is chanted the fans turn to the section of box seats just across the divide and chant “Box seats suck!” several times before Vinny instructs everyone to “Sit down and shut up!” and the ball game really begins.
Except recently there’s a new tradition. Starting around the series vs. the A’s at the end of June, the chant of “Box seats suck!” was met with ejections. In fact a zero tolerance policy was instituted in the right field bleachers, far beyond any enforcement in any other section of the park.
Pointing at out-of-town fans and singing “Why are you gay?” during the YMCA is now met with immediate ejection in the bleahcers, and rightfully so. Those doing so are usually not the regulars anyway. Instead, those leading the stadium tradition of roll call have often been thrown from games before the first out for so little as shouting “sucks”. The enforcement is highly inconsistent from day to day, but is generally strict.
Slowly the Bleacher Creatures, saluted on billboards outside the park, are being killed off. Their cruder rituals like the gangbang song, have long since gone the way of the dodo in the stands. Now you only hear whispers of “Mets Suck” sung to every song piped through the stadium. “Box Seats Sucks” has only been chanted (and not met with ejection) a few times in the last month. The wave even occasionally ripples through the right field stands.
So these days roll call often ends a different way.
“Rob-in-son! Rob-in-son!”
“De-rek Je-ter! De-rek Je-ter!”
“A-Rod! A-Rod!”
“No Fun Allowed!”
Scranton bullpen: 9 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
Update on Miranda: Miranda rolled his ankle running after a foul pop-up the other day. Nothing major, but the Yanks are being overly cautious as always. That’s from our good pal Mike A., who should be out enjoying the sun.
Triple-A Scranton (5-2 win over Ottawa)
Kevin Thompson: 4 for 5
Alberto Gonzalez: 2 for 5
Angel Chavez: 2 for 5, 2 K
Erubiel Durazo: 2 for 5, 1 2B, 1 K
Justin Christian: 0 for 3, 1 BB, 2 K
Eric Duncan: 0 for 5, 3 K
Wil Nieves: 3 for 5, 1 K
Ben Kozlowski: 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K — not bad for having a reliever start
Ross Ohlendorf: 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K — gave up a solo shot
Scott Williamson: 1 IP, zeroes, 2 K — noice
Edwar: 1 IP, zeroes, 2 K — noicer
Jason Brower: 1 IP, zeroes
Scott Proctor vs. Barry Bonds
It’s late on the East Coast, but the West Coast is still enjoying live baseball. I see Grady Little is mirroring Joe Torre’s patterns as our old friend Scott Proctor is on the hill for the Dodgers for the second night in a row. With one out and runner on second, Barry Bonds, who hit home run number 749 off of Proctor, came to the plate. Proctor intentionally walked him. So Scotty, who I pegged as the victim for 755, dodgers that bullet.
Update: Scotty is showing why the Yanks traded him. He faced four batters, got one out, gave up a run and is leaving the game with runners on the corners. Good luck with that one, Grady.
Updates on the injured
Lots going on at the good ol’ SWB Yanks Blog. It spans a few posts, so I’ll sum it up for you.
- Chris Britton has been activated from the DL and has been added to the SWB roster.
- Brett Gardner has been cleared to play and is awaiting activation.
- Joba is back in Scranton, so it appears he’s not headed to New York this weekend. Then again, with the performance of Farnsworth today, that could change real quick.
- Jason Giambi will rehab in Scranton starting tomorrow, and will play first base while he’s there.
Plenty of roster moves have to be made at the top three levels of the organization in the next three days. Someone has to get axed for Hughes (guess: Henn, but it could be Bruney), and eventually Giambi (hope: Cairo). There’s also a logjam at AAA, as Joba, Gardner, Basak, and then Henn (or Bruney) have to be added to the roster. Jennings speculates that Ohlendorf could head to Trenton to hone his bullpen game.
Honestly, if they want to bring Joba up, just DFA Kyle and send him through waivers. Yes, I know that handicaps your ability to make a deal; but the mere fact that he’s Kyle Farnsworth already immeasurably handicaps any deal. Just rip it off like a Band-Aid.
It’s just so frustrating to have him in the bullpen while Britton and Ramirez are still in the minors.
Answer: Just DFA him
Question: What should the Yankees do with Kyle Farnsworth?
Yankee Stadium, now with less facepaint
A story from Tuesday, courtesy of my mom. She witnessed the following incident while putting the stuff she brought to the game in one of those flimsy terrorist-proof, clear plastic bags.
As I was putting food into a clear plastic bag, 3 guys were stopped by the person giving out the bags because their faces were painted. One face was half white and half blue; the other two had the interlocking NY on their cheeks. She told them that facepainting was not allowed in Yankee Stadium. She told them that they had to wash it off before entering the stadium. They were incredulous and asked where they were supposed to do that. After a bit of back and forth, she let the guy with the half white and half blue face into the stadium to wash his face while the other two waited for his return. I never did see the outcome because I went inside but I think the idea was that the friends were kind of like hostages so the first guy would come back out to get them. I don’t know if they had to wash off too, maybe one at a time.
I thought the whole incident was ridiculous. Who’s rule is that? How many times have I seen facepainted people on TV at other stadiums?
Last month, we wrote about the ban on the “Box seats suck” chant (which may or may not have been related to anti-Semitic slurs hurled at Shawn Green). But this story is ridiculous. The Yankees don’t allow facepaint in the Stadium. Are you kidding me?
If the Yankees really think facepainted fans are a threat to those around them or interfere with the enjoyment of the game, they need to remove the giant stick from their collective asses. Facepainting has long been a part of the fan experience, and to ban seems ridiculously over-the-top. If they haven’t banned facepaint, then this security guard needs a stern talking-to.