The September 11th attack
Stadiums increase security for return
Associated Press
Baseball fans will need extra time to get into stadiums and will find it more difficult to bring their own food when games resume Monday.
Associated Press
Major league baseball announced several additional security initiatives yesterday — including the banning of coolers, backpacks and large bags — that will be put in place when games resume for the first time since Tuesday's terrorist attacks that shut down the sports world.
When the season resumes Monday, every major league baseball player will have an American flag on their caps. Yesterday, New Era Cap Co. began stitching American flags on the left side of all caps.
"Fan safety and security is a paramount issue and that's what we're dealing with," Kevin Hallinan, baseball's senior vice president of security, said yesterday. "Security and safety is our highest priority."
Under the new plan, all bags will be inspected; there will be more uniformed police officers; stadiums will be inspected each day before gates open; parking will be restricted within 100 feet of any stadium; all ballpark deliveries will be inspected; and club personnel will undergo new training.
"We do a very complete and thorough job making sure when our gates are open that we have secure facilities," Hallinan said. "I think fans will be very comfortable with these provisions."
Fans still will be allowed to bring in food and nonalcoholic drinks, as long as the items are in plain view. Reds chief operating officer John Allen said the goal is to make fans feel safe without becoming too restrictive.
"It's a fine line, whether you're going to a baseball game or to a mall or to anything we do in our daily lives," Allen said. "I think we're all going to contemplate how this impacts it — not just in sports events, but everything we do."
Baseball stopped short of more drastic measures, such as the use of metal detectors for fans before entering stadiums.
"Quite honestly my view is that is an extreme," Hallinan said. "Baseball is a family sport. That's not an expectation of our fans and it's not something we deem necessary. As security experts we are able to address many of these issues very quietly and not turn it into a security event."
Hallinan said baseball officials are planning to meet with Federal Aviation Administration officials to discuss team travel. Hallinan said baseball will have no say in altering flight patterns to keep airplanes away from stadiums.
"Those kinds of issues are out of our purview," Hallinan said. "The FBI, police and all those folks deal with those issues."
SCHEDULE CHANGES
• Yankees, Rays start Tuesday: The New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Devil Rays won't resume the season as scheduled on Monday night.
Major league baseball yesterday postponed what would have been the last game of a four-game series between the teams at Tropicana Field. The game will be made up Oct. 4 in what will be the opening game of a season-ending four-game series between the teams.
Instead, the Yankees will begin a three-game series in Chicago and the Devil Rays will start a three-game series at Boston on Tuesday.
The Yankees will not make up their rained out game from Sept. 10 against Boston unless it has an effect on the division or wild card race. New York leads the Red Sox by 13 games in the AL East and Boston trails Oakland by 13 1/2 games for the wild card.
Monday's scheduled games will all be played in the National League as Florida is at Montreal, Atlanta visits Philadelphia, St. Louis hosts Milwaukee, Arizona is at Colorado and Los Angeles is home for San Diego.
The final game between the New York Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates will be played at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. That game was originally scheduled for New York but was moved for several reasons, including the fact that Shea Stadium's parking lot was being used as a command center for the fire, police and emergency workers involved in the rescue operation at the World Trade Center in Manhattan.
