Baseball: yankees need money...selling everything!!!

YANKS: BIDDER UP!

By TIM ARANGO
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December 21, 2004 -- The Yankees have already figured out a way to cash in on their heartbreaking loss to the Red Sox last year.
The team yesterday sold one of the bases from last October's historic ALCS Game 7 — the game that propelled the Sox to their historic World Series win and made the Bronx Bombers the Major Deegan Chokers — for $100,000 in a new moneymaking bid.

The Yanks and memorabilia giant Steiner Sports Marketing have set up Yankees-Steiner Collectibles to offload valuable pinstripe knick-knacks piled up in the stadium basement.

Among the items from the infamous ALCS loss to the Sox are a home plate signed by the Red Sox team, the other two bases and a dozen game-used balls from each of the four ALCS games held at Yankee Stadium. Even the chairs from the Red Sox clubhouse that the players sat in will go on sale.

The formation of the new company was announced at a press conference yesterday at Yankee Stadium, which was attended by Yankee executives as well as Joe Torre, Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.

Lonn Trost, the Yanks' chief operating officer, said the company was formed "to be sure that unsavory characters are not around selling unauthenticated items."

In addition to current items, the team is also cleaning out its closet, and will sell off goodies that have piled up in a room in the stadium's basement — including pants worn by former greats Thurman Munson and Reggie Jackson and bats used by Paul O'Neill and Don Mattingly.

Some items will have a fixed price, while many will be auctioned off to the highest bidder. The goods will be sold at Yankees Clubhouse Shops and on the Yankees' Web site.

Fans will also be able to pay to take batting practice with a current player, and then take home that player's jersey. And it won't just be fans lucky enough to catch a foul ball who will be able to take home a souvenir. The deal will allow fans to pre-purchase a game ball for a game in which they have a ticket.

All items will be certified as authentic by auditor Deloitte and Touche, and will have a hologram stamped on them by Major League Baseball

Originally posted by toejam

The Yanks and memorabilia giant Steiner Sports Marketing have set up Yankees-Steiner Collectibles to offload valuable pinstripe knick-knacks piled up in the stadium basement.

I wonder if there's any relation between Yankees announcer and ex-ESPN anchor Charlie Steiner.