Press conference on Level D

I’m guessing that those of you who watched Brian Cashman’s interview on the YES network Wednesday saw only the general manager, the microphones and the Yankees’ corporate logo as background. But for those of us there, it was a sadder scene. Cashman spoke in what now appears to be a bomb shelter, a stripped-bare basement of Yankee Stadium that once served as the dining room for reporters. All the old photos of Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth have been removed, a precautionary move to prevent thievery - I guess by the writers. The only remnant left from the old days is the blank blackboard where lineups were once posted in chalk. Somebody foolishly erased the last Yankee lineup at the Stadium, which might have at least evoked some sense of place and history. There are still a few yellowing newspaper clips and press releases next to the blackboard, which report how Mickey Mantle won his battle to earn a new, $30,000 contract and how George Steinbrenner bought the team from CBS. Other ... (link)