The Bleacher Creatures are a group of fans of the New York Yankees who are known for their strict allegiance to the team and their merciless attitude to opposing fans. The group's nickname was coined by New York Daily News columnist Filip "Flip" Bondy, who spent the 2004 season sitting with the Creatures for research on his book about the group, Bleeding Pinstripes: A Season with the Bleacher Creatures of Yankee Stadium, which was published in 2005.
A prominent aspect of the Bleacher Creatures is their use of chants and songs. The most distinguished of these is the Roll Call, which is done at the beginning of every home game. Often, the opposing team's right fielder, who stands right in front of the Creatures, is a victim of their jeers and insults.
For the last two decades, the Creatures occupied sections 39 and 37 of the original Yankee Stadium's bleachers. In 2009, they were relocated and currently sitting in Section 203 of the right-field bleachers in the Yankees' new stadium.
The founding of the Bleacher Creatures is often credited to Ali Ramirez. Ramirez rang a cowbell to inspire the fans to cheer (much like Freddy Sez's efforts in the Stadium's main grandstand) during the team's limited success in the early 1980s and 1990s. He died on May 9, 1996, and was given a tribute by the Yankees front office before the May 14 game against the Seattle Mariners, a game in which Dwight Gooden pitched a no-hitter. There was a plaque where he sat, in section 39, row A, seat 29 which read "This seat is taken. In memory of Ali Ramirez, 'The Original Bleacher Creature'".
It was also during this period of drought that regular fans in the right field bleachers started chanting Dave Winfield's name. When Winfield left the team, they began cheering for Bernie Williams. One day, in the late 90's, the fans started cheering Tino Martinez, and he responded with a wave, shocking the cheering fans. This evolved and became the roll call, which is now the trademark of the Bleacher Creatures.
Filip Bondy's book on the Bleacher Creatures
In 1996, New York Daily News columnist Filip "Flip" Bondy was asked to write a story from the fan's perspective. Bondy approached what he called "a core group of the most rabid, passionate fans", and wrote from their perspective. To make sure it was known that he was not truly the one writing, he attributed authorship to "the Bleacher Creature", coining the nickname in relation to the Yankee Stadium inhabitants.
Because of the rowdiness of the fans, and the fact that many families began sitting in the more affordable bleachers, alcoholic beverages were banned from the bleachers in 2000. Yankees Program Vendor Ted Banks commented that "There wasn't any special reason for that, it just got out of hand. Those people used to get wild when Jose Canseco played for the A's. A few people threw things at Ken Griffey Jr."
On April 5, 2002, pitcher David Cone spent the season's home opener with the Bleacher Creatures in Section 39, and even participated in their chants. He was also invited to start the roll call, and did so with a shout of "Yo, Bernie!" to Bernie Williams. The Creatures cheered derisively to the right field box seats "We got Cone! We got Cone!"
In 2004, Bondy spent the season among the Creatures and wrote a book about his experience, entitling it Bleeding Pinstripes: A Season with the Bleacher Creatures of Yankee Stadium, which was published in 2005. In the blurb, Bondy called it "a unique, anthropological view of this most dedicated tribe of rooters—their rituals, their personal tribulations, their uncanny commitment to the Bronx ball club and to each other." The foreword was written by David Cone.
The Yankees and the NYPD personnel started to impose stricter anti-obscenity rules in the Bleachers during the 2007 season. Some Creatures expressed dissatisfaction with this by wearing T-shirts with the sarcastic phrase "Section 39 Fun Police" on them, and chanting "No fun allowed!" in place of the oft-said "Box Seats Suck!" chant that the section had long been accustomed to.
In 2009, the Yankees lifted the nine-year alcohol ban in the bleachers in the New Yankee Stadium, where the Bleacher Creatures were relocated to Section 203. While no beer vendors come through to the bleachers, fans are permitted to purchase beer in the stadium and take them back to their seats. A few Creatures have admittedly stated they can now desist in their beer smuggling efforts, which they were able to do for years with the help of local delis who used to wrap up sandwiches with beer cans. Other sources of previous smuggling included "a guy who would sell those airline-size liquor bottles out of a bathroom stall, like a drug dealer." However, an April 2009 segment on ABC World News Tonight revealed that the end of the beer ban is a temporary experiment, and if things get out of hand in the section, the Yankees' management might reinstate it.
The Creatures' most famous and long-standing chant is known as the roll call. In the top of the first inning, when the Yankees are on the field and their starting pitcher is getting ready to throw the first pitch, everyone in the section stands and begins clapping. After the pitch is thrown, Creature "Bald" Vinny Milano gestures for the crowd to calm down, then cups his hands around his mouth and shouts out the name of the center fielder (ie: "Yo,Johnny!", for Johnny Damon). The whole group proceeds to chant the name until there is a response, usually in the form of a wave or a point. The Creatures move through the lineup, going from the center fielder to the left fielder, right fielder, first baseman, second baseman, shortstop and third baseman, in that order. With the exception of a few rare instances, the pitcher and the catcher are not a part of the roll call. Anti-obscenity laws were exercised in 2007, but are not always strictly enforced; if they are able, the Creatures will turn to the right field box seats at the completion of the Roll Call and chant "Box seats suck!" If the Yankees are playing the Red Sox, the intensity of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry takes hold; the Creatures then cut the 'box seats' chant short and instead chant "Boston sucks!" until that dissipates. If police cut this short, the Creatures resort to chanting "No fun allowed!", or nothing at all. If a non-pitcher is replaced in a defensive position, the replacement is given the same chant. Sometimes, after a long rain delay, the Creatures will start another Roll Call just for fun. At the end of the Roll Call, Vinny will say "Okay, sit down, the show's over."
In 1999, when David Wells made his first appearance at Yankee Stadium after having been traded to the Toronto Blue Jays, his name was chanted. In his tenure with the Yankees, he was the only Yankee pitcher to be included in the Roll Call every time he pitched. Alfonso Soriano's name was chanted when he made his first appearance after being traded to the Texas Rangers.
In the 2006 home opener against the Kansas City Royals, the Bleacher Creatures chanted the name of long-time Yankee outfielder Bernie Williams, who was the designated hitter that day, right after the rest of the defensive lineup. Williams, whose future in baseball was uncertain in the offseason, was in the clubhouse at the time and did not hear the Creatures. The chants continued for around 5 minutes until Williams came out and waved. At the beginning of the 2007 season opener, the Creatures started a chant of "We want Bernie!", a reference to the fact that Williams was no longer with the team.
The Creatures also call out in memoriam, such as calling out former Yankee shortstop and longtime broadcaster Phil Rizzuto's name during the roll call on August 14, 2007, the day Rizzuto died. They did the same for Bobby Murcer at the 2008 MLB All Star Game.
At the 2002 Yankees home opener, former Yankee David Cone sat among the Bleacher Creatures and participated in Roll Call. At the end, they chanted "We've got Cone! We've got Cone!" After the final game played at Yankee Stadium on September 21, 2008, Paul O'Neill revealed that he had sat with the Creatures during the game the day before. O'Neill said he wore a Yankees jacket, glasses and a hat, and that no one recognized him. Jim Leyritz expressed interest in sitting with the creatures on an episode of the YES Network show Ultimate Road Trip. He was spotted in the bleachers taking pictures during the final game at Yankee Stadium, but it is unknown whether he actually sat and watched the game from the bleachers.
Former Yankee third baseman Scott Brosius was notorious for not responding immediately to the roll call, as other players on the diamond would. Sometimes he would even wait as long as a minute to respond, getting a kick out of the persistence of the Creatures. In Hideki Matsui's first game at the Stadium in 2003, the chant of "MAT-SU-I" went on for approximately two minutes, because he did not know what was going on or how to react.
In a 2009 press conference, former Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi said that "The biggest thing I miss is (the Bleacher Creatures') roll call. There's no doubt about it, it's the best thing in baseball."
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