Selig backs Yankees management
Yankees 2009 season, game by game
See the new Yankee Stadium
Yankees sweep Baltimore
In the class warfare that has engulfed the new Yankee Stadium, Bud Selig expressed his public support today for Yankees management while also making clear that he has spoken with the club about some of its words and actions.
"The Yankees are as sensitive and fan-friendly as all of the other organizations," the commissioner said after the owners' meetings at Major League Baseball's Manhattan headquarters. " . . . I'm satisfied that the Yankees understand [the importance of customer relations].
" . . . I talk to all of the clubs. Everything I read, everything I hear, there are a lot of phone calls. I am very sensitive about that. I happen to believe that fans are very smart. They'll know very quickly whether management and the owners care or don't care. It manifests itself in a myriad of ways. I'm satisfied [the Yankees] understand that."
The Yankees have created tension with their blue-collar fans by constructing a "moat" dividing the Legends Suites from the field-level seats, and then by not allowing fans to enter the Legends Suites during batting practice to interact with players - as was the practice at the old Yankee Stadium and virtually every other ballpark.
Lonn Trost, the Yankees' COO, said last week: "Well, if you purchase a suite, do you want somebody in your suite? You purchase a home, do you want somebody in your home?''
The commissioner acknowledged he had read Trost's comments, and Selig is noted for his communicating extensively with officials from all clubs. It's safe to say that Trost received feedback on that comment.
In another Yankees matter, Selig said he didn't anticipate speaking with Alex Rodriguez about any of the items in Selena Roberts' new biography of A-Rod. Rodriguez met in early March with MLB investigators to discuss his past usage of illegal performance-enhancing drugs.
