Youthful Doodles Costly for Sports Collectors

Teams expect to make millions auctioning off pieces of closing parks

(NEWSER) - Demolition isn’t usually very profitable—unless you’re knocking down Yankee Stadium or Shea Stadium and auctioning off every last brick. When New York’s stadiums close at season’s end, they’ll transform into a merchandising windfall, Newsweek reports. Seats, lockers, scoreboards and maybe even infield dirt will be up for sale, and should easily net the clubs upward of $10 million. More»

(NEWSER) - New Yorkers would like to go out to the ball game, but the Wipons and Steinbrenners “have let their unfettered greed keep the fans at bay,” writes Allen Barra in the Wall Street Journal. Fans are outraged that their tax dollars have gone to fund stadiums they can’t afford to visit, with the cost for a family of four to take in a Yankee game jumping 49% this year, to $410, while the Arizona Diamondbacks, for instance, dropped 29%, to $114. More»

Marlins come bottom in latest ranking of baseball's MVTs

(NEWSER) - The New York Yankees' $1.5 billion valuation lands them solidly in the top spot in the Forbes ranking of baseball's most valuable teams. The crosstown Mets came second, trailing by almost $600 million. The Yanks, however, were one of only two teams to lose money last season, dropping $3.7 million. The Detroit Tigers lost a whopping $26.3 million. More»

Cash-poor automaker wants toehold in NYC but 'can't do both'

(NEWSER) - General Motors, citing the poor economic climate and its shortage of cash, has declined to renew its sponsorship of the New York Yankees, Bloomberg reports. The struggling car manufacturer will, however, re-up with the New York Mets. “We still want a presence in New York and we can’t do both,” a GM spokeswoman said. The Yankees contract expired in November. More»

As Shea and Yankee stadiums shut, relatives fret over final resting places

(NEWSER) - Now that Yankee Stadium and Shea have shut their doors forever, people who scattered ashes in their favorite ballpark worry that their loved ones may spend eternity in a parking lot, the New York Times writes. Some are searching for a way to get some dirt out of the hallowed grounds before demolition begins. The Mets and Yankees officially forbid scattering ashes, but many fans have managed to stealthily slip them in. More»