DIDN'T KNOW DOC WAS ALSO A MECHANIC
Consider that it was only four years ago, in February 2004, that the Phillies raised $700,000 for some of its charities by auctioning off items from Veterans Stadium. Cracked bats went for $30 to $50, the bat rack for $5500, all the way up to a banner featuring Richie Ashburn's retired No. 1 that fetched $10,100.
All told, the team sold out all 6,000 boxes of artificial turf, all 2,500 glass bottles of infield dirt, all 2,000 boxes of the outfield wall and all 1,000 deluxe box seats. Oh, and a Tyler Houston game jersey ($30) and David Bell cracked bat ($40).
All of that comes to mind as sales are underway on two ballparks in New York.
Several recent stories in New York, including this one in the New York Times, described how they're selling Shea Stadium right down to the dirt, and if you don't believe it, check out this price list of items. Meanwhile, the New York Post reports, discussions continue on what they are calling the sports memorabilia "sale of the century." How much times have changed. I still have the wooden seat I twisted and yanked out of the cement at Connie Mack Stadium in 1970. That only cost me the price of admission. Fast-forward to today, where officials are estimating that the plastic seats from the House That Ruth Built could go for $1923 a pair. Surely you're figured out how they arrived at that total. That's the year Yankee Stadium opened; also the Bambino's MVP year.
Paul Vigna still has the seat he wrestled out of the concrete at Connie Mack Stadium parked in the finished basement, a 1980 Phillies championship mirror hanging above it. Now, why he’s kept an autograph of former Flyer Bruce Gamble on a sheet of Hockey Hall of Fame paper is another story. A native of Philly who grew up in Lansdale, he’s an assistant sports editor at the Daily News in charge of special projects who has written two columns related to sports and consumers: View From the Seats and Savvy Consumer.
ABOUT THIS BLOG:
Athletic contests were, for a long time, simply fun and games. Nowadays they’re just a small part of a sports entertainment industry that puts billions of dollars into play and a number of issues into motion. Moneyball indeed. You might be closer to the action than ever before, but that privilege comes at a price - and often it’s beyond what you can afford.
With that as the backdrop we’ll use this blog to dig out stories and swap advice about how the fan experience is changing and what it’s costing you now and in the future. Some of it will educate, some will let you vent. And in a sports panel format, it should allow for a consensus of opinion that can carry some weight.
