With Wednesday's playoff opener getting underway at 6 p.m. a lot of Yankee fans will surely be coming to the game straight from the office or school. On Tuesday, the Yankees let them know that they shouldn't be bringing backpacks with them.
In a change to their policy from the regular season, the Yankees are prohibiting backpacks of any size from entering Yankee Stadium during the postseason. The ban is nothing new for Yankee fans as post-9/11 games at the old Stadium featured the same ban. It was lifted this summer, however, in favor of an airline-type system that allowed in bags of a certain size. Briefcases, coolers and other larger items remained banned under the new regulations.
The Yankees say that they agreed to the ban based on requests from the New York Police Department and Major League Baseball, and may be related to the recent terrorism warnings that were directed at sporting venues across the United States.
While avoiding any kind of terrorist incident at a crowded stadium is undoubtedly in everyone's best interest, the timing of the announcement will surely be an inconvenience for many fans heading to the Bronx this month. And it will also create some logjams at the gates as some fans used to being allowed in with their backpacks will surely miss the announcement and cause some delays. In past years fans have been able to check their bags at the bowling alley on River Avenue, but the Yankee release doesn't make it clear whether that's the case this season.
Chances are they will be, as it's a nice revenue stream during the games for the bowling alley and it does make an inconvenient situation a bit easier for the fans coming from other places.
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.
