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No one was singing in the rain at Yankee Stadium last night.
There were a lot of empty seats visible during Monday night's Yankees-Red Sox game. Unlike the April games, though, no one could blame the economy for the lack of fans in the seats. In fact, it appears that the Yankees only had themselves to blame.
According to a report in the Daily News, Yankee employees told many fans that Monday night's game was rained out. Those fans filed out of the stadium, only to rush back when they found out that the game would actually be played. They weren't met with open arms.
When a 9:20 p.m. start time was eventually announced over the public address system, a crowd on the sidewalk outside Gate 6 tried to get back into the Stadium, only to have the employees working the turnstiles promptly close the doors in their faces. Panicked fans began racing up and down the sidewalk, trying to find a way back into the ballpark, while others remained at Gate 6 either pleading or demanding to be let back in.
The scene exploded into chaos, leading to the arrest of one fan and scores of angry reactions. According to the report, no one seemed to have any idea what to do as some gates briefly allowed fans to return before barring others and Gate 6, the stadium's main gate, eventually let people back in after the majority of the horde had dispersed. A Daily News photographer taking pictures of the scene was told to return to the press area or he'd have his credentials revoked by the team.
"This is unfair what they did to the people," said one Yankee employee who witnessed the entire scene outside Gate 6. He declined to give his name for fear of losing his job, but added: "For the people who left the game, what are they going to do about their money?"
A Yankees spokesman said that the team has a firm policy against re-entry, but there are always times when rules are meant to be broken. One of those times is during a two-hour rain delay before a May game against your biggest rival. The Yankees obviously don't disagree, since they started letting people back into the stadium eventually. It's a new stadium, there are kinks to work out, blah blah blah. The Yankees need to have better communication among their staff, and a better PR strategy in general, if they want to start having positive stories written about the Yankee Stadium experience.
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com.
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