The Bleacher Security Guys/Lady

[YankeePride1967]

I don't know why you assume it's only casual fans who would be annoyed by banging-on-a-box sort of noise. I see it the opposite way - that seems like amateur crap to me.

Hate the cowbell in Tampa, hate the drums in Cleveland, hated when Freddy Sez was anywhere close to my seat and a microphone.

[GordonGecko]

I don't know why you assume it's only casual fans who would be annoyed by banging-on-a-box sort of noise. I see it the opposite way - that seems like amateur crap to me.

Not saying that particular banging on a box noise is acceptable, I'm saying there is a line somewhere that gets crossed when as the OP reported ushers tell people to quiet down for the benefit of a couple of fans, which yes I absolutely assume are casual fans that don't make out to the stadium more than once a year

[BRNXBMRS]

Has anyone on this message board sat in the bleachers in old Yankee Stadium in the late 1980's or early 1990s? I once saw an Orioles cap taken right off of a 9 or 10 year old kid and ripped to shreds. The "bald vinny" of the era was apologetic, but would only replace the cap with a Yankees cap. These truly are different times...

Yes, I sat a few rows from Ali the original cowbell guy a few times. One time in an afternoon game vs Texas before the first pitch was thrown two girls were beating the pi$$ out of each other. They flew down a few rows and kept on fighting. Other time I saw people get beer dumped on thier head.

[BRNXBMRS]

Couple of years ago, took my son to a game and sat in the first row of the "batters eye' seats...heavily discounted through a Yankees Universe promotion. The 4 people next to me were 2 couples who were thrashed; harmless, relatively quiet, but to the point where they could not purchase any more beer. There was a guy in row 2 who was screaming profanities at the Toronto outfielder non stop. Suddenly, security comes en masse and demands to see the 4 tickets of the drunk, but otherwise behaved, people next to me. When they produced the paper tickets, security ripped them in half and said "this is your warning". The drunks had no idea what they did, but they were goofing saying 'we're in trou-ble, oooh'.
The obnoxious guy behind them, thinking security is gone, starts in with another long 4 letter word tirade...and immediately security (waiting right behind the 2nd row) grabs him and pulls him out...I don't think his feet were touching the ground as he was kicked out. I guess they had the wrong people at first thinking the 4 were the ones cursing. I ask a female security chick what was with the tearing of the tickets, and she said it is a warning. If someone does something unruly and security demands to see your ticket, and it is torn already, its considered strike two and you are gone. I never heard of this and I wonder if this actually is the policy.

MSG does the ripping of the tkt, it happend to me at a Phish concert (not for being drunk).

[bl73]

I sat out there. It was a war zone, that stuff did happen. Before the Yankees got hot at the box office often we would be let in for free. Everything was crazy until a few things happened:

1. There was a Sunday Night game where ESPN placed a crowd mike in the RF bleachers, every chant was audible including a very loud F*ck YOU ALBERT towards Albert Belle. As the rumor mill goes, George Steinbrenner was livid watching from Tampa, the free admissions stopped, the security was ramped up a lot less was tolerated.

2. The biggest mistake some guys made out there was being part of that Daily News column. Bondy even reported how the Yankees were letting us buy playoff and Series tickets at face in the section before the onsale (so they stopped that courtesy..I don't blame the Yankees I am sure they got tons of complaints for it). Enough people read the column, decided to sit there, and it became a cool thing to do. Then the internet exploded and there were videos of the crap going on out there. It's one thing to overlook it with a wink, its another thing for the Yankees to overlook a hat burning or fight when its out there on You Tube. The "newbies" wanted to be part of a show, and the core people slowly stopped going.

3. Season Tickets. in the old days, people would get tossed, pay another $4, and walk back in. With partial and season tickets the Yankees could now revoke your plan and playoff rights.

4. Taking out the beer, obviously changed the dynamic

5. The Stadium became expensive enough families started sitting out there, even on weeknights. They would complain about the language, the Yankees started to crack down harder.

It is a different experience now. The roll call is as forced as the YMCA, the fans are not die hards anymore that went to 60 games a year in the pre assigned seating, section 39 days.

Not saying this is bad, some of the stuff that went on out there, looking back older and wiser, I am ashamed I participated in. But it is different

Thanks for the great historical summary. I wasn't aware of that Daily News column or the ESPN piece. By any chance do you have links to either of them? Singing "Take me out to the ball game" at a baseball game hasn't been the same since those bleachers days. The "alternate" lyrics are ingrained in my mind....

[theDurk]

Thanks for the great historical summary. I wasn't aware of that Daily News column or the ESPN piece. By any chance do you have links to either of them? Singing "Take me out to the ball game" at a baseball game hasn't been the same since those bleachers days. The "alternate" lyrics are ingrained in my mind....

Don't forget "Why are you gay?"--not that there is anything right with that.

[bl73]

Thanks for the great historical summary. I wasn't aware of that Daily News column or the ESPN piece. By any chance do you have links to either of them? Singing "Take me out to the ball game" at a baseball game hasn't been the same since those bleachers days. The "alternate" lyrics are ingrained in my mind....

One more tidbit worth adding: Durng at least one game I attended (I only sat in the Bleachers a few times) the right fielder taking the abuse was.....Tino Martinez of the Seattle Mariners. Most people may not realize it is a small miracle that he signed with the Yankees.

[Mr Coffee]

Being a drum all day would be very irritating the rest of it is very much overbearing.

No doubt.

[yankees2010]

Thanks for the great historical summary. I wasn't aware of that Daily News column or the ESPN piece. By any chance do you have links to either of them? Singing "Take me out to the ball game" at a baseball game hasn't been the same since those bleachers days. The "alternate" lyrics are ingrained in my mind....

Flip Bondy wrote a series of Bleacher creature columns 1996-2001 or so for teh Daily News. You should be able to Google them all. ESPN was not a piece, it was Sunday Night baseball, and after that night game, things changed, and that was the reason we got from the guys out there, including Sonny Hight, who at the time was security head and would do a round every night around the 7th inning

Long time bleacher fans may remember a security guard we nicknamed Saddam for his dogged determination to end the cursing as well. They stuck him out there around this time.

[yankees2010]

One more tidbit worth adding: Durng at least one game I attended (I only sat in the Bleachers a few times) the right fielder taking the abuse was.....Tino Martinez of the Seattle Mariners. Most people may not realize it is a small miracle that he signed with the Yankees.

There were a few outfielders that won us over out there too. Bo Jackson was given a Mets Suck button and wore it on his glove when he played RF and would flash it, for example, and dance to the cow bell

[mandrake]

There were a few outfielders that won us over out there too. Bo Jackson was given a Mets Suck button and wore it on his glove when he played RF and would flash it, for example, and dance to the cow bell

Went to a game where the fans were singing "Barfield takes it up #######, do dah, do dah" (and later he became a Yankee.)

When they got bored with that, they started chanting 'box seats suck' to which the fans in the RF porch answered back 'get a job, get a job'.

[GordonGecko]

And the cops sometimes used to be worse than Yankee fans. Bleachers used to have cops instead of ushers, and if an away fan was talking any smack the cop would tell him to sit down and shut up. If the fan spoke one more word, in a split second he was in a headlock with two cops dragging him out of the park

[yankees2010]

And the cops sometimes used to be worse than Yankee fans. Bleachers used to have cops instead of ushers, and if an away fan was talking any smack the cop would tell him to sit down and shut up. If the fan spoke one more word, in a split second he was in a headlock with two cops dragging him out of the park

Fenway is notorious for this as well. maybe not in the expensive boxes, but in the bleachers for sure

[bl73]

Went to a game where the fans were singing "Barfield takes it up #######, do dah, do dah" (and later he became a Yankee.)

When they got bored with that, they started chanting 'box seats suck' to which the fans in the RF porch answered back 'get a job, get a job'.

Yup. Replace "Barfield" with "Tino". Over and over again, and yet he stilled signed with the Yanks!

All these years later....I finally get the "Deliverance" reference at the end of that chant.

[bl73]

Over in left field in the early 1990s, Rickey Henderson (after his Yankees stint) would have fun with the fans. One guy was giving him a hard time and Rickey used a hand gesture to comment in the size of the fan's belly (b/c for some reason the fan was lifting his shirt and beating his stomach at Rickey) and then flashed his own six pack.

[BronxBombers92]

Almost impossible to do, but it would be funny to set up a flash mob in a bleacher section where one guy complains to security about the noise and when security comes to tell people to be quiet every one in the section just gets up and leaves except for the complainer

That'd be funny, but only thing that would top that would be instead of just leaving, have the 100 or so people just jump on to the field 70's style lol

[lolwut]

How dare you guys go to the stadium to enjoy a Yankees game.

[Sparky]

Interestingly, there is a full story about Lena Watson, Head of Security, in the September issue of Yankees Magazine. Would put the TSA to shame.

" . . advised to be proactive instead of reactive . " explains a lot.

So does, "A lot of times, it is easy for people to walk away from an event and say, 'We did good. There weren't too many incidents. If there was one incident, we look at that like we failed. If there were no incidents but we weren't operating as efficiently as we should, that's a fail." [Paraphrased, spoken by a direct report of hers].

[number23forever]

This thread brings back some memories. I sat out there a lot from 1986-1995. On a Wednesday night in 1990, in general, anything went. I loved the chants, etc. Lotsa fun (if you were a Yankee fan).

[snooplives]

I was at both games in 95 at old YS against seattle. One if RF one if LF box seats. Never forget the "Buhner takes it up the a-s doo dah" chants. When they had to stop play every time the Yankees had a big hit because of all the trash thrown on the field from the upper decks.

And in 96 against the O's and the Rangers every game in the RF bleachers for the DS and LCS. We used to call the chicago ticketmaster number and get right through. Didn't work for the World Series though. Anyway, if the bleachers were 25 seats wide, there must have been 40 people in each row. It was intense and if you were a Yankee fan, it was great. The bathroom lines were so long that people would just piss right in the bleachers in a cup and put it under the seat. Some didn't even use a cup. I have never experienced anything so wild at any sporting event in my life since then.

I was 23 then and full of piss and vinegar, and pretty immature. And if you were wearing any other teams jersey you got beer thrown at you, spit on, etc. God help those people. Now I never threw anything at anyone or spit at anyone, but the level of drunkenness was probably pretty unsafe and stupid, myself included.

I equate the security at YS to the aholes at JFK who work for the TSA. These guys are on a complete powertrip and think they are cops and can do whatever they want. I get it that people need to have a good experience when they come to the ballpark, but I know better than to bring my kids to the bleachers in an intense game. I don't want my kids subjected to that kind of language or behavior. But getting scolded by those a-holes for cheering too load or banging on a seat. C'mon! No wonder the new YS is so freakin quiet.

The bleachers are a shadow of what they used to be. I decided not to renew them after this year, and that's part of the reason.

[demarco5]

bleachers are an absolute joke now, cant chant anything anymore, god forbid you curse or chant asshole to someone they want to throw you out. itsnothing like it used to be, no wonder the stadium isnt loud anymore is right, as much as i love being at the game id rather go to billys across the street, thats where all the real fans are that arent allowed to act up in the bleachers

[BronxBombers92]

bleachers are an absolute joke now, cant chant anything anymore, god forbid you curse or chant asshole to someone they want to throw you out. itsnothing like it used to be, no wonder the stadium isnt loud anymore is right, as much as i love being at the game id rather go to billys across the street, thats where all the real fans are that arent allowed to act up in the bleachers

Word. I had a new experience this Game 1. We had a "Team Leader" rush the bleacher section I was in to tell us we couldn't say "sucks". Nothing. No Detroit Sucks, Dirks Sucks (the LF), Arod sucks, whatever. If you say sucks, you will get thrown out. Obviously, there are things you could say with "sucks" that could get pretty bad, but really? Getting thrown out for saying Detroit Sucks is too f***ing far in my book.

And I'm not even going to start on the people that get mad when you stand up and make some noise with 2 strikes with 2 outs, who otherwise just sit and play on their phone and talk with their friends. It's the Postseason in Yankee Stadium for christ's sake MAKE SOME NOISE. Other than Raul's ALDS game three, every game I've been to this postseason it's been like a tomb in YS. With 50,000+, that shouldn't be happening

[GordonGecko]

Word. I had a new experience this Game 1. We had a "Team Leader" rush the bleacher section I was in to tell us we couldn't say "sucks". Nothing. No Detroit Sucks, Dirks Sucks (the LF), Arod sucks, whatever. If you say sucks, you will get thrown out. Obviously, there are things you could say with "sucks" that could get pretty bad, but really? Getting thrown out for saying Detroit Sucks is too f***ing far in my book.

My immediate response would be to yell back "you f******* suck". How times have changed

[BronxBombers92]

My immediate response would be to yell back "you f******* suck". How times have changed

Oh yeah, you can pretty well imagine how well that went down. Let's just say the section had been thinned out a bit by the third inning.

[useref15]

There was a lady sitting behind my row last night in 332A and when there were 2 strikes everyone would stand and she tapped the guy next to me on the shoulder and said " Can you sit down, I'm trying to watch the game". Needless to say, she finally stood up.