Yankee Stadium Countdown Lever

[bigworm_122]

i thought it would be interesting to see who gets to pull the countdown lever during each game so i have started a list. unfortunatley i cannot go to everygame so i need some help filling it out.

this is what i have witnessed, or found online.


81-80 - George M. Steinbrenner III (Blue Jays, 4/1/08)
80-79 - Steve Smith, Ahmad Bradshaw and Aaron Ross of the New York Giants (Blue Jays, 4/2/08)
79-78 - Paul O’Neill (Blue Jays, 4/3/08)
78-77 - John Flaherty (Rays, 4/4/08)
77-76 - Joe Peptinone (Rays, 4/5/08)
76-75 - Yogi Berra (Rays, 4/6/08)
75-74 - Zach Parise of New Jersey Devils (Rays, 4/7/08)
74-73 - Bucky Dent (Red Sox, 4/16/08)
73-72 - Tino Martinez (Red Sox, 4/17/08)
72-71 - Al Leiter (Tigers, 4/29/08)
71-70 - Billy Crystal (Tigers, 4/30/08)
70-69 - Ron Bloomberg (Tigers, 5/1/08)
69-68 - Bobby Murcer (Mariners, 5/2/08)
68-67 - Paul Sachs, Golden Knights U.S. Army Parachute Team (Mariners, 5/3/08)
67-66 - Michael Kay (Mariners, 5/4/08)
66-65 - Steve Spagnuolo, Kevin Gilbride, & Jerry Palmieri of the New York Giants (Indians, 5/6/08)
65-64 - Buck Showalter (Indians, 5/7/08)
64-63 - Oscar Gamble (Indians, 5/8/08)
63-62 - David Cone (Mets, 5/17/08)
62-61 - Glenn Kaiser "Yankees’ No. 1 fan from Rochester" (Mets, 5/18/08)
61-60 - Ruth Fattori, MetLife Executive (Orioles, 5/20/08)
60-59 - John Walsh, America's Most Wanted (Orioles, 5/21/08)
59-58 - Ken Singleton (Orioles, 5/22/08)
58-57 - Kristine Lilly, U.S. Women's Soccer Team (Mariners, 5/23/08)
57-56 - Oscar Guerra, Hope for Warriors Organization (Mariners, 5/24/08)
56-55 - Nine members of the Tuskegee Airmen (Mariners, 5/25/08)
55-54 - Boomer Esiason (Blue Jays, 6/3/08)
54-53 - Jane Forbes Clark , Baseball Hall of Fame (Blue Jays, 6/4/08)
53-52 - Tony Morante, Director of Yankee Stadium Tours (Blue Jays, 6/5/08)
52-51 - Lawrence Tynes, Zak DeOssie, Chase Blackburn of the New York Giants (Royals, 6/6/08)
51-50 - Steve Schirripa "aka Bobby Bacala" of the Sopranos (Royals, 6/7/08)
50-49 - Family of Matthew Wasser (Eric, Marilyn, Jason, & Stephanie Wasser), Yankees Intern killed in Oct. 2007 car crash (Royals, 6/8/08)
49-48 - Lance Armstrong (Royals, 6/9/08)
48-47 - Wade Boggs (Padres, 6/17/08)
47-46 - George Reilly, a Met Life Financial Advisor (Padres, 6/18/08)
46-45 - Jerry Coleman, Former Yankee & Current Padres Broadcaster (Padres, 6/19/08)
45-44 - Bill Werber, last living teammate of Babe Ruth (Reds, 6/20/08) (via video)
44-43 - Babe Ruth's daughter Julia Ruth Stevens, grandson Tom Stevens, great grandson Brent Stevens, great granddaughter Amanda Stevens (Reds, 6/21/08)
43-42 - Robert Molloy (Reds, 6/22/08)
42-41 - Graig Nettles (Mets, 6/27/08)
41-40 - Jim Kaat (Rangers, 6/30/08)
40-39 - Dan Quintero, Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club (Rangers, 7/1/08)
39-38 - Roy White (Rangers, 7/2/08)
38-37 - Gene "Stick" Michael (Red Sox, 7/3/08)
37-36 - 8 Members of the 2008 Olympic Women's Softball Team (Red Sox, 7/4/08)
36-35 - Arlene Howard, the widow of former Yankees catcher Elston Howard (Red Sox, 7/5/08)
35-34 - Dr. Garrett Reisman, an astronaut from the International Space Station (Red Sox, 7/6/08)
34-33 - Reggie Jackson (Rays, 7/8/08)
33-32 - Beto Villa, Armando Talavera, Carlos Silva of WADO - Yankees Spanish Radio (Rays, 7/9/08)
32-31 - Tina Lewis, Bald Vinny Milano, Evy Harper and Milton Ousland, Bleacher Creatures (Athletics, 7/18/08)
31-30 - Tom Coughlin, coach of Super Bowl Champ New York Giants (Athletics, 7/19/08)
30-29 - Landon Donavan (LA Galaxy) & John Conway (NY Red Bulls), MLS players (Athletics, 7/20/08)
29-28 - Michael, Farrell, Met Life Executive (Twins, 7/21/08)
28-27 - John Sterling, WCBS - Yankees Radio (Twins, 7/22/08)
27-26 - Leonard Wilf, Limited Partner of the New York Yankees (Twins, 7/23/08)
26-25 - Kenny Loggins (Orioles, 7/28/08)
25-24 - Family of Dan Topping (Tom, David, Laurie, Kristen, Jamie, & Josephine Topping), a part owner and president of the Yankees from 1945 to 1964 (Orioles 7/29/08)
24-23 - Debbie Nicolosi, Shirley Beauchamp, Josephine Doring, of Yankees Front Offices (Orioles, 7/30/08)
23-22 - Lt. General Ray Oierno, US Army (Angels, 7/31/08)
22-21 - Bob Peterson, MetLife Executive, (Angels, 8/1/08)
21-20 - Bobby Richardson, (Angels, 8/2/08)
20-19 - Spike Lee (Angels, 8/3/08)
19-18 - Michael Tuccillo, MetLife Executive (Royals, 8/15/08)
18-17 - Darryl Strawberry (Royals, 8/16/08)
17-16 - Jerry Stiller and Ben Stiller (Royals, 8/17/08)
16-15 - Lou Lamoriello, General Manager of the New Jersey Devils (Red Sox, 8/26/08)
15-14 - Goose Gossage (Red Sox, 8/27/08)
14-13 - Harvey Winston, Dan Cunningham, Tommy Fyfe and Clinton Thomas, Yankees Employees of 20-plus Years (Red Sox, 8/28/08)
13-12 - Family of Pete Sheehy, longtime Yankees Clubhouse attendant, Clubhouse & Dugout Named in his honor (Blue Jays, 8/29/08)
12-11 - Kenneth Meer & Jane Lang, "2 Loyal fans at Yankee Stadium for many years" (Blue Jays, 8/30/08)
11-10 - Jesse Barfield (Blue Jays, 8/31/08)
10-9 - Ron Glick, MetLife Countdown Sweepstakes Winner (Rays, 9/13/08)
9-8 - Don Larsen, David Wells, David Cone (Rays, 9/13/08) pre-recorded
8-7 - Rick Cerone (Rays, 9/14/08)
7-6 - Several Yankees Beat Writers, long-time official scorer Bill Shannon, and radio man Ed Lucas (White Sox, 9/15/08)
6-5 - Moose Skowron (White Sox, 9/16/08)
5-4 - William J. Mullaney & Snoopy, MetLife (White Sox, 9/17/08)
4-3 - Emilio "Millito" Navarro, Negro Leagues Oldest Living Professional Baseball Player (102 years) (White Sox, 9/18/08)
3-2 - Bob Costas (Orioles, 9/19/08)
2-1 - Bob Sheppard, The Voice of Yankee Stadium (Orioles, 9/20/08) pre-recorded
1-forever - Michael Kay (Orioles, 9/21/08)

[Gary Dunaier]

Interesting idea, to record who gets the honor each game. Meanwhile, I've got a question regarding the posted countdowns at the two New York ballparks.

For those of you who don't know, the Yankees don't actually change the number until the end of the fifth inning, or the middle of the fifth if the Yankees are ahead; in other words, they wait until the game has become official. The Mets, on the other hand, change it before the start of the game.

Do you guys have any preference as to when it's done? Any opinions on which is "right" or "better?"

[bleacherbum73]

Interesting idea, to record who gets the honor each game. Meanwhile, I've got a question regarding the posted countdowns at the two New York ballparks.

For those of you who don't know, the Yankees don't actually change the number until the end of the fifth inning, or the middle of the fifth if the Yankees are ahead; in other words, they wait until the game has become official. The Mets, on the other hand, change it before the start of the game.

Do you guys have any preference as to when it's done? Any opinions on which is "right" or "better?"

When the Cards did it in 2005 I believe they did it during the 7th inning stretch. I think you should at least wait until the game is official. Doing it the way the Mets are doing it before the start of the game diesn't give all fans a shot to see it.

[Gary Dunaier]

Here's another interesting thing on Shea and Yankee's methods... at Yankee Stadium, the honoree pulls a lever or flicks a switch or however it's done, and the illuminated number on the countdown clock changes.


(Photo taken April 3, 2008. © Gary Dunaier)

But at Shea Stadium, an actual placard with the number on it is physically removed from the outfield wall...


(Photo taken April 12, 2008. © Gary Dunaier)

...and apparently presented to whoever has the honor of removing it.


(Photo taken April 12, 2008. © Gary Dunaier)

I wonder what would happen if an official game does not get played... does the guy have to return the placard, or do they just make up another one with the same number and present it to whomever gets the honor next time?

[six4three]

Ha - I like it.

Personally, I like doing it in the 5th - nice way to break it up, the countdown doesn't get lost in the lineups and anthem.

[Kentucky Bomber]

When the Cards did it in 2005 I believe they did it during the 7th inning stretch. I think you should at least wait until the game is official. Doing it the way the Mets are doing it before the start of the game diesn't give all fans a shot to see it.

When the Yankees visited Busch II in its last year I was there for games 1 and 3, the 2 games they lost, naturally. I can't remember the inning they changed the number, which was done manually, as at Shea this year. The Sunday afternoon game the number was changed by Joe Torre, who was very fondly remembered in St Louis and got a huge ovation.

[Aviator_Frank]

Also notice that Shea has 2 daily placards, a stiff card for removal and a thin plastic sheet for display during the game.

If all those stiff cards were piled up at game 81 it would look like a Day-at-a-Glance desk calendar.

[BeatEmBucs]

When 3 Rivers was "counting down" it was always done after the 5th. I think that's the way it should be done. Do it the Mets way....and what would happen if the game gets Rained out? Do they have a "replacement" number? Or would they just not have a ceremony when the game is made up?

[Perseus71]

67-66 - _____________(Mariners, 5/4/08)

That game had Michael Kay pull the lever. I was there.

[Yoda]

They asked me if I could do it on 7/23.

I said thanks, but no thanks.

[Yankswun98]

I was at the game Tuesday night, 66-65. They had a few Giants pull the lever.

[Manhattan]

Yankee Stadium Countdown Lever

I was at the game Tuesday night, 66-65. They had a few Giants pull the lever.

That is good that I saw 2 pictures of Yankee Stadium.

[reh303]

I was at the 5/4 game - Michael Kay.

[bigworm_122]

as far as the mets countdown, i was doing some research online, and it seems that the number they pull off at the beginning of the game, was the last game played. (ex. they took off #81 at the beginning of the second game, if you look at the picks above when 78 was taken down, it was before the start of the 77th game on april 12.) but if you work it all the way down to the end, they will be pulling off #2 at the start of the last game. so i guess that at the end of the last game they will take down #1.

i may start a thread with the mets countdown people

[Manhattan]

as far as the mets countdown, i was doing some research online, and it seems that the number they pull off at the beginning of the game, was the last game played. (ex. they took off #81 at the beginning of the second game, if you look at the picks above when 78 was taken down, it was before the start of the 77th game on april 12.) but if you work it all the way down to the end, they will be pulling off #2 at the start of the last game. so i guess that at the end of the last game they will take down #1.

i may start a thread with the mets countdown people

When the 2009 Major League Baseball season starts New York Yankees home games tickets behind home plate are $2,500.00 I found out that on Kieth Olberman's TV show yesterday.