A record number of home runs and mondo complaints from fans about limited autograph access before games won’t lead the Yankees to make any changes to the new Yankee Stadium, according to COO Lonn Trost.A record number of home runs and mondo complaints from fans about limited autograph access before games won’t lead the Yankees to make any changes to the new Yankee Stadium, according to COO Lonn Trost.
As you’ll recall, a record number of home runs were hit in the opening grandstand at the new Yankee Stadium. Since then the pace of home runs has slowed, and after 13 games 47 home runs were tallied — four off the record.
That’s led the Yankees and Trost to say the opening series might have been an aberration fueled by unusually brisk winds and bad pitching. Still, with most of these 47 homers hit to right field, the Yankees say they’ll monitor the situation.
The other issue — and one that has Gotham baseball fans miffed — is the team policy of preventing autograph seekers from walking down to the front-row seats in hopes of attracting the attention of a Derek Jeter or Alex Rodriguez. The team policy is clear: only those holding tickets to the expensive seats — the first nine rows, which are cut off from the rest of the ballpark with a concrete wall — are allowed that sort of access. That rankles the egalitarian fans of the New York City, especially when most of those expensive seats are still going unsold. And Trost’s comments didn’t give them much hope for a change in policy:
"There’s an area by the Legends Suite which is not an area that fans can get into," Trost told AP. "If you purchase a suite, do you want somebody in your suite? If you purchase a home, do you want somebody in your home?"
RELATED STORIES: Empty seats still dominate Yankee Stadium premium areas; Yankees respond to market, slash top-end ticket prices; Yankees reexamine ticket pricing for ’10; Yankees hold open house to push spendy seats at new ballpark; Did Yankees overestimate demand for high-end seating at new ballpark?
Subscribers to the weekly Ballpark Digest newsletter see articles before they’re posted to the site. You can sign up for a free subscription at the Newsletter Signup Page.
Join Ballpark Digest on Facebook and on Twitter!