Yankees Try to Disguise Empty Seats by Moving Fans, Yankee Stadium Seen as 'Easy Place to Play Now'

Yankees Try to Disguise Empty Seats by Moving Fans, Yankee Stadium Seen as ‘Easy Place to Play Now’

by Mike Cole on Mon, Oct 15, 2012 at 8:46AM

The announced attendance for Game 2 of the American League Championship Series on Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium was 47,082. That's a lot of people, no doubt, but for a Yankees game at the luxurious Stadium, it's a little unsettling for the Bombers.

Especially when the capacity is 50, 291.

That's the dirty little secret through two games of the ALCS. The Yankees aren't filling the Stadium, a fact that is remarkable no matter the condition (read: excuses) that New York fans have been using — traffic, ticket prices, game time, etc.

The embarrassment has apparently gotten to the Yankees. Yahoo! Sports reported over the weekend that Yankee Stadium ushers were moving fans on Saturday night in Game 1, in an apparent attempt to disguise empty seats that could be seen clearly on TV.

According to the Yahoo! report, dozens of fans were escorted to higher-priced seats in the fourth inning of Game 1 to a section that had nine people. An usher anonymously told Yahoo! that he was told by a superior to bring the fans to the good (and largely empty) seats.

"I don't know what it's about," the usher told Yahoo. "I guess they want to make it look better on TV."

Sunday was just as bad for the Yankees, with plenty of empty seats in the sixth inning of what was their second loss of the best-of-seven series.

Don't think the players — on both sides — don't notice.

"This is a very easy place to play right now," Tigers outfielder Quintin Berry said, according to USA Today. "Coming from Oakland [for the division series], and how rowdy they were, and how loud, that was the loudest place I've ever been in my entire life."

"We noticed, it is very surprising,'' Yankees outfielder Curtis Granderson says. "Obviously, we got to give them something to cheer about.''

Even if Yankee Stadium isn't full, the fans actually in attendance are still able to hurt Nick Swisher's feelings >>

Photo of the Day

Uh, Kareem, you're doing it wrong, man.

Quote of the Day

"I hadn't even thought about that. That was a long time ago and there have been a lot of games. I really love Robert Kraft, he's a great man and he's been great throughout the years about our separation of sorts. I respect the heck out of him. But I'm a competitor and, heck yeah, I want to win against those guys."
–Pete Carroll