Another reason to hate the Yankees!

Having grown up in an American league town east of the Mississippi, as a baseball fan it is my sacred duty to hate the Yankees. This is even more so given how badly my hometown team (the Detroit Tigers) and my second favorite team (the Cleveland Indians) are doing this year. Thanks to the Yankee organization itself and the NYPD, I now have yet another reason to hate the Yankees (as if I needed one), thanks to Stupid Evil Bastard. The Yankees actually ejected a man from Yankee Stadium for wanting to go to the bathroom during the seventh innning stretch (which, I always thought, was the purpose of the seventh inning stretch anyway):

NEW YORK (CBS) â A Queens man is considering legal action against the New York Yankees after he was ejected from Tuesday night's contest against the Boston Red Sox for trying to use the restroom during the playing of "God Bless America."

During the patriotic 7th inning stretch at Yankee Stadium, nature called on Bradford Campeau-Laurion. When he tried to leave his seat during the traditional singing of God Bless America, however, he says he was stopped by a NYPD officer who said he'd have to wait until the song was done.

"I then said to him, 'I don't care about God Bless America. I just need to use the bathroom.' As soon as I said that, he immediately pinned my arm behind my back," Campeau-Laurion told CBS 2.

The 29-year-old says two officers pinned both of his arms behind his back and ejected him from the stadium.

"He shoved me out the front gate and told me get out of their country if I didn't like it," he said.

Not surprisingly, the police are claiming that Campeau-Laurion was drunk and disorderly, but his friend, a season ticket holder says the police are lying, and Campeau-Laurion says he only had two beers. This puts Campeau-Laurion in a bad position, given that it's his word against the cops, and apparently his friend won't identify himself. In any case, keeping people from leaving the stands during the singing of God Bless America is apparently Yankee Stadium policy:

Campeau-Laurion says he didn't know the Yankees had a rule restricting movement in the stands during the playing of God Bless America. The rule is enforced by ushers, stadium security and the NYPD.

The New York Civil Liberties Union says, however, that New York's finest crossed the line.

"Because they are enforcing a rule of that imposes political correctness through refusing to let somebody go to bathroom while a patriotic song is playing, that violates Constitutional rights," said Donna Lieberman, a spokesperson for the NYCLU.

So, among all the other reasons to hate the Yankees, we can hate them because they have a rule that says you can't leave the stands during the singing of a patriotic and religious song. I wonder if he was wearing a Boston Red Sox cap; having been to Yankee Stadium a couple of times, I know the reaction that the fans and ushers have towards Red Sox fans. Selective enforcement or not, the rule itself is rotten to the core. If I need to get up and use the bathroom during the seventh inning stretch at Yankee Stadium (or any other baseball stadium, for that matter), there's no reason I shouldn't be allowed to.

More like this

While I am on vacation, I'm reprinting a number of "Classic Insolence" posts to keep the blog active while I'm gone. (It also has the salutory effect of allowing me to move some of my favorite posts from the old blog over to the new blog, and I'm guessing that quite a few of my readers have…
Regular readers may have noticed something happening around ScienceBlogs. As PZ pointed out, a little malware somehow infiltrated the ScienceBlogs collective, and many of us appear to have turned into zombies. It's a veritable Zombie Day, complete with illustrations by Joseph Hewitt, creator of…
Deep within Yankee Stadium, a timeless evil had arrived (well, an evil around 61 years old, anyway--well, 117 years old if you count its entire existence) shambling through the dark service corridors and halls, on a never-ending quest to satisfy its unquenchable hunger. Why it had come to this…
So the Yankees aren't quite as bad as we've been led to believe. (At least, until Petite also pulls his hamstring.) They've taken two of the last three from the Red Sox. That said, it's still obvious that the Yankees are one of the most least productive baseball teams when looked at through the…

". . . Campeau-Laurion says he only had two beers."

I have observed the police reality shows enough to know that that is what nearly all the inebriated suspects say, just before failing the sobriety test. However, even someone who might be drunk can have an urgent need to use the bathroom.

Well, I'm from New York and I've always believed that no true baseball fan can be a Yankees fan (the best team money can buy). Go Mets!

I am a diehard Yankee fan. It makes me fucking sick the way that the Yankee management shoves that motherfucking fake-ass patriotic god-botherer shit down my throat every time I go to a game. The Steinbrenner family is a bunch of sick-fuck right-wing assholes, and it bugs the shit out of me to give them my money.

But I am a Yankee fan, and the team will outlive the Steinbrenners and their assholishness.

Considering that many baseball fans are somewhat older men: is it reasonable that they should drink a beer or two and NOT have to use the facilities?

When did peeing become unpatriotic?

No going to the bathroom because "God Bless America" is playing ? A truly bizarre rule. No yankees games for me!
(Indians fan myself)

Change the Rove spin machine from commie, leftist, libel New Yorkers to Christian right as soon as possible. Also do red sock nation citizens need passports to go to away games? They should!

By Kevin R. Sharkey (not verified) on 31 Aug 2008 #permalink

Detroit baseball: We don't make you take leaks in overgrown bathtubs anymore, but at least you can do it during any part of the game.

By chancelikely (not verified) on 31 Aug 2008 #permalink

How is this the Yankees' fault???

Nice fact checking; the mysterious "friend" who could vouch for him? The evil cops who most assuredly are lying? Please. I honestly can't believe how happy everyone is to jump on the old "asshole cops" chestnut. The guy was admittedly drunk, the cops toss him out, and this is somehow relevant to science, how?

ah, yes, the Evil American Government. Let's toss in the Yankees, too, to add some clickable interest.

Maybe you are just trying to create your own PZ Myers "15 minutes" which is still, pathetically, being milked on his "science" blog. . . .

Unreal. Can we get back to science?

I lost a kidney due to massive infection. The other one's fine, thanks, but it's not going to be for long if I can't get to a bathroom when I need one. I have moderate urge incontinence. I also have a list of places I can't go to because they left me standing with my legs crossed like a little girl while I begged them to please make an exception this one time. Wonder how long it will be before someone with a medical problem sues the stadium for their fanatical enforcement of their religious-cult policies.

By speedwell (not verified) on 31 Aug 2008 #permalink

Maybe you are just trying to create your own PZ Myers "15 minutes" which is still, pathetically, being milked on his "science" blog. . . .

Unreal. Can we get back to science?

Ah, yes, a concern troll, and apparently a Yankee-loving one at that! It's pretty hilarious that you think this post could cause anywhere near the reaction of PZ's "cracker incident," of which, by the way, I disapproved.

Tell you what. Go back over my archives for the last couple of weeks. What proportion of posts are about medicine and/or science? It's a pretty high proportion. So guess what? If I feel like doing a sports or politics post every now and then, I will, and, quite frankly, I don't give a rodent's posterior whether you don't like it or not.

Now move along and stop bothering my readers.

I'm a lifelong Red Sox fan, and, while I didn't wear my cap when I went up to the Bronx to teach* (gah - I look so cute in my Red Sox cap :)), I've never hated the Yankees (the Mets, well, that's a different story...). The incident doesn't seem to be Yankee-specific, but indicative of larger, creepy, trends, which I've also witnessed firsthand.

Maybe you are just trying to create your own PZ Myers "15 minutes" which is still, pathetically, being milked on his "science" blog. . . .

Yes, whatever will you do to top this? ;)

*I'll wear it proudly as a professor in Boston this semester (must...work...on...syllabus...). I'm HOME.

I make an effort not to be in my seat at baseball games during the 7th inning stretch, just because of this newfound "patriotic tradition" of playing "God Bless America". It's not my anthem, and I'm not about to stand (literally) for a religion-based song.

I remembered this just in time at a recent Reds game in Cincinnati, and was out in the aisle heading for the hot dog line when the song started (I'm not sure there's an actual rule that would get you ejected if you tried leaving your seat in Great American Ballpark during the song, but knowing Cincinnati you might be eviscerated by fellow game attendees).

And yes, no additional reasons are needing for hating the Yankees (or more precisely, their management and front-running fans), but since it's likely soon to be nine years straight without a championship for the poor Bombers, maybe pity is more in order.

By Dangerous Bacon (not verified) on 31 Aug 2008 #permalink

Oh, I see. . . only those in total agreement are allowed to voice an opinion here!!

Very enlightening. Enjoy yourselves.

Wow. Could a "parting shot" be more lame? I think not.

You're obviously a newbie here, and a hit-and-run one at that. Just take a look at some of the other threads and you'll see that criticism is certainly tolerated. Just don't expect me not to stay quiet if you say something that annoys me or exhibit concern troll behavior.

what is "concern troll" behavior?

Aww, it's so adorable to see all you Merkins talk about baseball like it's a real sport :)

*runs away*

The guy was admittedly drunk,

Do people seriously think that someone who drank two weak American lagers over several hours is drunk?

I think he should have unzipped and let it fly right there, on the cops' pant legs, thats right, hit them both, and any other enforcers that were in range, and perhaps demand the breathalyzer or blood test for evidentiary purpose. I think the Judge for the public urination misdemeanor might let him off, if the judge had any sense about civil liberty violations.

Aww, it's so adorable to see all you Merkins talk about baseball like it's a real sport :)

*runs away*

Posted by: DrFrank | September 1, 2008 8:29 AM

Hey, I'm an USAian, and I have no such delusion. It's just one long sports blackout for me from the start of one USA football season to the next, barring the occasional US soccer game, or a really good European match. Lumberjack competitions, as well, when I can find them. Those are real sports, I tell ya.