If you’ve ever been to Yankee Stadium, you may know of the many unique aspects the ballpark has to offer.
Monument Park, located in center field, is where all the great Yankees are immortalized. The Yankee Museum is where one can see a signed ball of almost every player who donned the pinstripes or the bat that Babe Ruth used to christen the “House that Ruth Built.” One of the more unique parts of the Yankee Stadium experience is “the Bleacher Creatures,” who man Section 203 in the right field bleachers.
I had the opportunity to talk to one of the current leaders of the section, Marc Chalpin, or “Marc from the Bleachers,” as he introduced himself to me. Chalpin, who has been sitting in the section since 1999, told me their history “goes back to the 1950s with a man named Ali Ramirez, who used to ring a cowbell here.”
Of course, this was before the new Yankee Stadium was constructed in 2009; therefore, they manned sections 37 and 39 in the old stadium. Although Ramirez passed away in 1996, his legacy lives on in the new stadium in Section 203, with a plaque occupying what would be his seat. The inscription on the plaque reads, “This Seat is Taken In Memory of Ali Ramirez, The Original Bleacher Creature.”
Chalpin said the true “Bleacher Creature” identity formed “around 1983,” when “a woman named Tina Lewis started sitting around the section, and the section started to grow and grow and grow with a group of regulars that continued through the ’80s and into the ’90s.” Lewis was instrumental in establishing the infamous “Roll Call,” one of the many Creature traditions in which the section acknowledges every Yankee starter with a series of chants directly after the first pitch.
Vinny Milano, also known as “Bald Vinny”, was the previous leader of “The Roll Call,” but after his retirement in 2015, Chalpin took over the duties. He does not take the honor bestowed upon him lightly, saying: “I consider it a very big deal… It’s a legacy that gets passed down through the years, and I guess it’s now my turn.” The player’s acknowledgment of the fan’s chant was always followed with a wave. Custom salutes to a player’s chant did not come until Johnny Damon joined the team in 2006 and recognized the crowd by crouching down and kneeling. Due to this, Chalpin said that has been his favorite salute.
Although the “Roll Call” has been a Yankee staple for several years, Chalpin does not credit that to getting the crowd fired up. He said, “It’s not hard to get people to do the Roll Call, plus we have so many regulars they all know what to do whether I’m here or not. The Roll Call will happen.” Chalpin credits energizing the crowd to Milton Ousland, known as the “The Cowbell Man,” after inheriting the duties from the late Ramirez in 1996. Chalpin said, “When he’s here, he gets the crowd going since the cowbell is a longstanding tradition, even more so than the Roll Call.”
Although Section 203 gets visibly rowdy, there are rules to being a “creature.” One of those rules is that you cannot do the wave. Chalpin said, “It’s really not a Yankee thing, we innovate, we don’t imitate… We’re better than the wave, we do our own things and don’t need the wave. It’s un Yankee-like.”
If you have been following the 2023 New York Yankees, you would know that it is not the season they or “the Bleacher Creatures” expected. In any year, Chalpin noted that the section will always be more lively when the team backs them up, and when they don’t win, it’s harder to be as energetic as they are. Even with the disappointing season, he did say, “If you notice, we’re here. It’s been a bad year, but these regulars are still coming, and they haven’t left just because the team isn’t doing well.” He added, “If you can’t handle the bad, then you don’t deserve the good,” acknowledging the resilience and dedication that his troop of fans exhibit.
Through the good and the bad, the ups and the downs, one thing will remain constant at Yankee Stadium: Section 203, home to “the Bleacher Creatures.”
