BBTF's Newsblog Discussion :: Fitzpatrick: Welcome to New York, the worst seat in the house

Baseball Primer Newsblog
— The Best News Links from the Baseball Newsstand

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Fitzpatrick: Welcome to New York, the worst seat in the house

Four hours before Game 1, the main press box resembled the Tokyo subway. Bodies and computers made things impassable. The adjoining work rooms were overflowing too, the precious spots apparently having been claimed at dawn by savvy veteran journalists.

The poor Yankees. How were they know people would be interested in covering a World Series? Having hosted 39 others, there was no way they could possibly have anticipated a crowd.

Beat a hasty retreat for the auxiliary press box, a lofty, outfield perch where Philadelphia sportswriters were assigned seats and sherpas to get them there.

After rappelling up there, it was quickly apparent that more clothing, binoculars and oxygen would be required. The freezing wind howled like a New York cabbie. The puddles of water that two days of rain had left on our chairs and tables were icing over.

We all would have huddled near the TV monitors for warmth had there been any TV monitors. Apparently it was OK for the cream of the nation’s sportswriters to get wet but not for TVs.

Far below, set up atop the right-centerfield wall, we could see a pair of NYPD snipers. Had New Yorkers finally tired of the Yankees uber-obnoxious broadcast team of John Sterling and Susan Waldman?

ooof…imagine if they would have lost.

Repoz Posted: October 29, 2009 at 03:31 AM | 30 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: phillies, yankees

Reader Comments and Retorts

Go to end of page

Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.

1. Hugh Jorgan Posted: October 29, 2009 at 03:52 AM (#3369795)

What's that you say? The paper is owned by Rupert Murdoch

And I speak for all 20 mil Aussies, when I say thank effing christ this arsehole is no longer one of us.

2. Walt Davis Posted: October 29, 2009 at 03:59 AM (#3369800)

<i>The poor Yankees. How were they know people would be interested in covering a World Series? Having hosted 39 others, there was no way they could possibly have anticipated a crowd. <i>

Indeed. With all those empty seats in the Legends section, they could have easily fit the overflow press crowd in there ... and fed them really well too!

Ahh, the poor media. How were they to know other media outlets would be interested in covering a World Series? Having covered ... 108? ... of them before and knowing that for some unfathomable reason the Yankees didn't build their press box to meet the needs of 3-4 World Series games on occasion but rather to regular season capacity, there was no way they could possibly have anticipated a crowd. And with budget cutbacks, newspapers can no longer afford to send a stringer down there at 8 am to hold a spot for Wallace Matthews.

Won't somebody think of the poor media!!

3. Halofan Posted: October 29, 2009 at 04:10 AM (#3369811)

You are lower than a blogger when you complain about your comps.

4. TE Posted: October 29, 2009 at 04:15 AM (#3369814)

Far below, set up atop the right-centerfield wall, we could see a pair of NYPD snipers. Had New Yorkers finally tired of the Yankees uber-obnoxious broadcast team of John Sterling and Susan Waldman?

...look, I'm no fan of Sterling and Waldman in any way, but what the hell?

5. rLr Is King Of The Romans And Above Grammar Posted: October 29, 2009 at 04:21 AM (#3369820)

...look, I'm no fan of Sterling and Waldman in any way, but what the hell?

Yes, they deserve it and I hope they burn in hell.

6. RMc is the loyal supporter of the MLB event Posted: October 29, 2009 at 11:25 AM (#3369922)

You are lower than a blogger when you complain about your comps.

As a sometimes sportswriter/broadcaster, let me say this isn't about being "comped"; we're there to work. You'd think a brand-new gazillion-dollar stadium hosting the flippin' World Series would have better facilities for the working press.

7. Gonfalon Bubble Posted: October 29, 2009 at 12:25 PM (#3369940)

For the record, Sterling and Waldman do not deserve to be shot by snipers. Well, at least not in the head or chest.

8. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Griffin (Vlad) Posted: October 29, 2009 at 12:37 PM (#3369942)

I think I could live with chest, actually.

9. Repoz

Posted: October 29, 2009 at 12:45 PM (#3369946)

Sterling and Waldman do not deserve to be shot by snipers

I can picture Sterling doing a live remote from the Charles Whitman Sampler..."He is high! He is far!...'ping'......

10. The Yankee Clapper Posted: October 29, 2009 at 12:52 PM (#3369955)

The article indicates the Inquirer had 7 reporters at the game. Perhaps if they and other outlets were more efficient, the press box wouldn't be so crowded. I doubt accommodations are going to be any better in Philadelphia. Teams aren't going to move people out of the luxury suites so legions of reporters can work in comfort. Moreover, it appears that the writer's entire article is little more than an anti-NY screed designed to appeal to the baser instincts of his Philadelphia readership. This passes for journalism:

When New Yorkers brag about New York, they're actually talking about Manhattan, a place where none of them live. They all reside further from the Statue of Liberty than Philadelphians, residing like gerbils in grimy, overpriced hovels in the outer boroughs or, worse yet, Long Island.

I've never lived in NYC and have a (former) upstate NYer's ambivalence about the place, but that seems a bit much.

11. Smiling Joe Hesketh Posted: October 29, 2009 at 12:54 PM (#3369957)

I'd settle for Waldman being winged, at the very least. "OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS"

12. Shooty: Applying to be Fearless Leader

Posted: October 29, 2009 at 12:58 PM (#3369963)

When New Yorkers brag about New York, they're actually talking about Manhattan, a place where none of them live. They all reside further from the Statue of Liberty than Philadelphians, residing like gerbils in grimy, overpriced hovels in the outer boroughs or, worse yet, Long Island.

1.5 million people live in Manhattan.

13. salvomania Posted: October 29, 2009 at 02:19 PM (#3370036)

The puddles of water that two days of rain had left on our chairs and tables were icing over.

I thought they said the temperature was in the 50s last night....

14. GregQ Posted: October 29, 2009 at 02:40 PM (#3370072)

Wasn't there a former LA Times reporter that took pride in sitting in the bleachers and elsewhere in the stadium during big games to get a better feel for the overall event? I seem to recall that I liked his reporting and that he was losing his sight at the time I was reading him. I am pretty sure that he is now dead.

15. Dewey, Steven Wright Wannabe and Soupuss Posted: October 29, 2009 at 02:45 PM (#3370080)

Yeah, I don't think too many fans are going to sympathise with someone complaining about how they had bad seats for the World Series, working or no.

16. HowardMegdal

Posted: October 29, 2009 at 02:52 PM (#3370089)

I remember sitting in the auxiliary press box at Yankee Stadium for the 2008 All Star Game. Yes, it was way up in left field. No, I wasn't remotely upset that I had to sit far away-and cover the finest All Star Game of my lifetime.

Had it been that cold and rainy, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it as much. But I can't blame the Yankees for the weather.

17. Lassus Posted: October 29, 2009 at 02:54 PM (#3370093)

But I can't blame the Yankees for the weather.

GET WITH THE PROGRAM, HOWARD.

18. Howie Menckel Posted: October 29, 2009 at 02:57 PM (#3370102)

"I seem to recall that I liked his reporting and that he was losing his sight at the time I was reading him. I am pretty sure that he is now dead."

Jim Murray, I presume.

19. Van Lingle Mungo Jerry Posted: October 29, 2009 at 02:58 PM (#3370103)

I am pretty sure that he is now dead.

Most likely from exposure and starvation.

20. GregQ Posted: October 29, 2009 at 03:03 PM (#3370115)

HM- That was him- thanks

21. gef the talking mongoose Posted: October 29, 2009 at 03:22 PM (#3370154)

But I can't blame the Yankees for the weather.

Vile toady.

22. Tulo's Fishy Mullet (mrams) Posted: October 29, 2009 at 03:38 PM (#3370168)

You'd think a brand-new gazillion-dollar stadium hosting the flippin' World Series would have better facilities for the working press.

Better facilities, or simply more capacity? I don't think anyone's complaining about the quality of the facility, but simply a lack of TVs in the auxiliary area, boo hoo.

23. BringBackTimTeufel Posted: October 29, 2009 at 04:19 PM (#3370240)

Would this tool have rather been in Boston? When I was at the ALCS last year, I sat 2 seats from the media section in right field, which is about 9 miles from the field. It was a frigid night and there were no amenities there- and the media whores were taking up a full section of grandstand seats.

Oh, and did I mention the section was completely empty?

24. Jimmy P Posted: October 29, 2009 at 06:09 PM (#3370451)

As a sometimes sportswriter/broadcaster, let me say this isn't about being "comped"; we're there to work

What's worse, writer's complaining about athletes complaining about conditions, or writers complaining about their own?

25. phredbird

Posted: October 29, 2009 at 08:52 PM (#3370678)

When New Yorkers brag about New York, they're actually talking about Manhattan, a place where none of them live.

nobody lives there anymore, its too crowded.

26. Tulo's Fishy Mullet (mrams) Posted: October 29, 2009 at 09:06 PM (#3370687)

What's worse, writer's complaining about athletes complaining about conditions, or writers complaining about their own?

While attending Nebraska, and working for student radio station, we were also allowed to broadcast the football games, our station signal strength covered most of Lincoln. At any rate, in the 'old press box' our broadcast quarters consisted of a backyard shed type structure on the roof of the press box, (think those little black transformer sheds on the top of Tiger Stadium), every September game was done wearing nothing but boxer shorts staring into the stifling sun, cooking like a fried egg, sweating out about five pounds a game. We didn't complain a bit, knowing they'd likely pull the plug and sell the space to some desparate fans. When I hear about Vin Scully's first football broadcast on Fenway's roof, I think of this.

The new digs in Lincoln are heavenly, basically like a small sky box, with A/C, TVs and lots of space.

27. Fred Lynn Nolan Ryan Sweeney Agonistes Posted: October 29, 2009 at 09:31 PM (#3370708)

Jim Murray, I presume.

Leonard Koppett was similar. The one time I met him, I asked him where was his favorite spot in the stadium to watch a game. He said he liked to move around a lot -- bleachers, upper deck, lower deck, behind the plate... you see different things from different places.

28. Repoz

Posted: October 29, 2009 at 10:06 PM (#3370748)

He said he liked to move around a lot -- bleachers, upper deck, lower deck, behind the plate... you see different things from different places.

At the old/old Yankee Stadium...I used to walk from foul pole to foul pole on the field level for an inning or two, just to take in the different angles.

Now...even that's been taken away.

Cement shiithole.

29. salajander Posted: October 30, 2009 at 01:39 AM (#3371034)

Now...even that's been taken away.

Wait, what? I've done that many times at both the field level and up top. What can't you see? The 200 level's blocked out behind home, but the field and terrace?

30. salajander Posted: October 30, 2009 at 01:40 AM (#3371037)

Matter of fact I find the new stadium much better for standing around somewhere Not Your Seat and watching the game than the old stadium ever was.

You must be Registered and Logged In to post comments.

<< Back to main

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Fitzpatrick: Welcome to New York, the worst seat in the house

Reader Comments and Retorts

Support BBTF

Bookmarks

Hot Topics