Yankees Offer Bobblehead Fiasco Attendees Free Admission For Game Next Year
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The Yankees have invited ticketholders who went through the Mariano Rivera bobblehead fiasco Tuesday night for free admission to a game during the 2014 regular season.
The Yankees announced that any fans holding tickets for the game Tuesday night may redeem their tickets for complimentary tickets to any regular season game at Yankee Stadium next season, except for Opening Day and Old-Timers' Day.
Season ticketholders, group leaders, and individual game suite licensees who no longer have their tickets from the Tuesday night game were asked to contact their Yankees ticket representatives for assistance. Fans who bought their tickets through the Yankees ticket office or the Yankees website were asked to e-mail tickets@yankees.com if they no longer have their physical tickets.
On Tuesday, the rush for the bobbleheads turned into "mayhem" at Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees launched a promotion in which the first 18,000 fans in attendance at the game against the Tampa Bay Rays would receive a doll in the likeness of the retiring future of Hall of Famer. But because the shipment was late due to a transportation problem, there were no bobbleheads to give away when the gates opened.
Stadium workers instead handed out vouchers for the dolls, said 1010 WINS producer and Yankees fan Jim Powers.
Later on during the game, the public address announcer informed fans that the souvenirs had arrived and they could start collecting their bobbleheads after the third inning. Fans described the rush to get their hands on the bobbleheads as a fiasco.
"There's a lot of mayhem, people cutting in line, aggravation," he said. "It's ridiculous. And we're sitting here missing the majority of the game, which we bought our tickets to see. The way they handled this, someone's head should roll over it."
"It was a mess," Ken Latchney told CBS 2's Jessica Schneider. "They made us wait a half-hour, 40 minutes to go in. Then you go in and they tell you they're not even here. Then when they are ready to get them, you have to go up to the fourth level and come down."
Meanwhile, some witnesses told the New York Post that fans "in the priciest seats" had their Mo bobbleheads hand-delivered by Yankee Stadium employees.
The comment was posted in response to an article titled "The Yankees lost to the Rays while I stood in line for a Mariano Rivera bobblehead."
Yankees spokesman Jason Zillo said a train transporting the dolls from Seattle had a mechanical problem Monday. Then the truck bringing the bobbleheads from the train to the stadium had "hydraulic issues," causing further delays.
Zillo also told the Post he didn't know some fans had bobblehead vouchers redeemed by stadium staffers.
The Yankees ended up being shut out by the Tampa Bay Rays 7-0 Tuesday night. The teams met up again Wednesday night, which was Charlie Brown Bobblehead Night at the stadium.
Rivera, baseball's all-time saves leader, is set to retire at the end of this season.
Zillo told the Post that he didn't know some fans had bobblehead vouchers redeemed by stadium staffers.
One fan told CBS 2 that he missed four innings of the Yankees' 7-0 loss to Tampa Bay, which put them on the brink of elimination in the AL wild-card race.
"It was a mess," Ken Latchney said. "They made us wait a half-hour, 40 minutes to go in. Then you go in and they tell you they're not even here."
Rivera, baseball's all-time saves leader, is set to retire at the end of this season.
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