Nobody likes when weather gets in the way of baseball, especially when it disrupts a special ceremony.
Due to an incoming Nor’easter expected to batter the NYC region this weekend, the Yankees rescheduled their Saturday night contest with the Orioles to Friday, and it will be played as the first game of a single-admission doubleheader beginning Friday at 4:05.
Tickets for Saturday’s game will not be honored.
Baseball Hall of Famer CC Sabathia was slated to have his number 52 retired at Yankee Stadium on Saturday night, but the ceremony has now been moved to Friday.
Fans who bought Saturday tickets purposefully to see Sabathia’s ceremony now will not be able to attend unless they purchase Friday tickets, causing a firestorm online.
“Paid for a CC Sabathia number retirement game and now I get nothing,” one fan commented on X.
The Yankees are offering those with Saturday tickets a chance to exchange them for a future regular season game, but it doesn’t make up for missing Sabathia’s ceremony, as lots of fans are pointing out.
“Shame on the Yankees for changing CC Sabathia’s number retirement to Friday. I get the weather will be bad but I did not spend a lot of money to see the broken Yankees. I spent it to see CC Sabathia. I don’t want tickets to another game. Those tickets were a gift for my son. I never rant but today I am,” a fan wrote on Facebook, as relayed by one Yankees supporter.
Several people have pointed out that tickets for Saturday’s game were expensive, and many bought them months in advance to secure their spot at the Stadium for Sabathia’s special day.
“This is terrible and not at all fair to fans who bought tickets way in advance to Saturday’s game to honor CC Sabathia (and paid high prices because of that). So now folks who bought tickets for Friday’s game luck into both the ceremony and the bobblehead? I’m incensed,” another fan replied.
That fan is referencing the Josh Hart Yankees bobblehead giveaway, which was originally slated for Friday night’s game and will now be distributed to the first 18,000 fans arriving before the 4:05 game.
Doors open at 2:30 p.m. ET, with fans being encouraged to arrive by 3 p.m. for the Sabathia ceremony and Monument Park plaque unveiling.
The ceremony will begin at 3:15.
There is a chance that Sunday’s afternoon game, the final game of the regular season, could also be affected by the storm.
“We’ll see,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Thursday.
The Yankees have not responded to a request for comment.
