AN OPEN LETTER TO HAL STEINBRENNER
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, M BTR MAR. 4-10, 2022 23
Dear Owner –
We urge you and the other owners to end the lockout and begin Spring training.
New York is recovering from two years of COVID and cannot afford to lose any
part of this upcoming season.
We need to be sure that come April, our Yankees will take the field in pursuit of
their 28th World Series title.
We need you to open Steinbrenner Field and Yankee Stadium to the coaches, staff
and players.
Tampa and other Spring Training sites are ready.
The Bronx is ready for the first pitch of the regular season.
Our souvenir shops, sports bars and eateries are ready to join with you in rooting
for our home team.
Our businesses have suffered enormous economic damage in the last two seasons.
Many cannot survive a third year of uncertainty.
And their loss is small compared to the devastation felt by The South Bronx
community.
As you know, the conditions of health, housing and public safety in the
neighborhood were tragic before the pandemic and are much worse now.
We need a healthy team and a healthy host community.
We need an end to the lockout NOW.
Cancelling games will erode a feeling of good will between players and owners,
between fans and teams.
Cancelling games is a stain on the national spirit and a tragedy for the thousands of
workers in small businesses that depend on baseball in New York and across the
nation..