The Brill Report: Who Blew the Yankees?

By Bob Brill

Okay now here is the ultimate disaster for sports memorabilia. Was it Steiner? Was it the Yankees? Or was it the *&^xn&8#+-AT-! Mailman? But somebody blew it and someone needs to fess up!

The NYY and Steiner get together to offer seats for sale from the old Yankee Stadium. The price tag a whopping $1500 a pop! Now that is bad enough but for an extra $500 the collector/buyer can get the seat of his choice. So, John Lefkus decides he'll go for broke (which is an appropriate term here) and get the very exact seat he's sat in for 23 years. He's a freaking season ticket holder for gosh sakes! He ought to know where he parked his butt for 23 years and 81 games a season. He's sat in that seat for approximately 1863 games, or 16767 innings. He ought to know which seat is his.

Steiner and the NYY sent him a reburbished seat with new hardware! These are things Lefkus says they stated right in the ads they would NOT DO! HE showed his lawyer the ad and then added when he got the seat it had obviously been dismantled during demolition and reassembled without regard for what parts came from what chairs.

Now his rear end sat in that seat often enough to understand the seat ain't his. I'm sure he sat down, moved around to get his proper feel and it just didn't FEEL right. Again if anyone would know it would be Mr. Lefkus.

He filed a class action suit. You go GUY! Kill'em, nail'em to the wall. Get your butt in an uproar and put theirs in a sling. Aren't you just a little bit tired of those who can screw you in the collectibles world, will screw you? We're not talking a $1.25 baseball card here. We're talking $2000 worth of sitting down for 23 years. Plus Shipping & Handling which we're sure Steiner and NYY didn't throw in for the heck of it -- although for a 23 year season ticket holder they should have walked it to his house and threw him a party.

What a hack job! Oh by the way, Lefkus says Steiner put a different seat number on it and tried to pass off a non aisle seat as HIS Aisle seat. Now c'mon guys did you have to do that to the guy too?! If I'm paying $2000 plus the price of my season tickets I want the ^%&$*# right seat!

The guy wants $5 million. Brandon can afford it and so can the NYY! Pay Up or Go Away!

(LILLINGTON, NC) $40,000 worth of baseball and football cards were stolen from a home in Lillington, NC, as cards again are once again the target of thieves. Owner Bart Dillow says $400 in cash plus jewels also were taken. As the economy continues to be bad, thieves continue to look for easy to flip items and sports cards still are a sound investment for a thief.

(HOLLYWOOD SHOW STARS) Guess who appeared at the Hollywood collectibles show in October to sign autographs? Big names Debbie Reynolds, Mickey Rooney, Jackie Cooper and even Valerie Cartwright of Lost in Space and Make Room for Daddy fame. The show has really come on lately with the big name signers.

(CASH FOR CLUNKERS IN SPORTS) You read it right. Famed artist Don Marquess, who does lots of sports stuff for his Marquess Gallery, is offering a strange bit of twisting of the Obama Administration. If you turn in art, any art, posters or whatever you will get a one-third discount on any art you buy from him. It has to be at least an 11 x 14 size purchase to qualify and your art really doesn't have to be much of nothing to qualify. Check out his stuff at www.baseballfineart.com. Tell them you read it here. It won't get you anything special but thanx anyway.

(PATTI WAGGIN DON RUDOLPH BOOKS ARRIVE!) Yeah Baby! Finally. The books were delayed a month when the printer in China put the books on the wrong boat. Thank the Good Lord Somali Pirates weren't looking for a book on a baseball player and his stripper wife. Suggeted Retail Price is $49.99. Check it out on line at Amazon or the others, our own web site www.pattiwaggin.com, or at your local book store. Ask for it by name "Fan Letters to a Stripper; A Patti Waggin Tale," or by author name; Bob Brill. The Special Edition book is only available on our website and it's limited to 200 and sells for $199. It comes with an autographed item by the late Patti Waggin and a DVD of one of her performances and is signed by the author as well as numbered. You can also email me at bob.pattiwaggin@gmail-DOT-com

Tags: don waggin rudolph lefkus seats letters steiner yankees patti fan brill stadium sports stripper burlesque nyy