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Yankees Raise Bleacher Prices; 'Bald Vinny' Not Happy

NEW YORK (WFAN/AP) -- The Bleacher Creatures at Yankee Stadium will have to spend more cash for "the cheap seats"  in 2012.

The Yankees are raising bleacher prices next season in an effort to cut down on resales by ticket brokers. New York said Tuesday the price of the seats will be $20 and $12 next year, up from $15 and $5.

"The $5 bleacher seats sold for about six times face value and were bought up by ticket brokers," chief operating officer Lonn Trost said. "The folks that really wanted it for affordability couldn't get it."

Not everyone agrees.

"That only holds true for the premium games," Vincent "Bald Vinny" Milano, a Section 203 regular, told the New York Post. "When it gets into the dog days and midweek games, you can go to StubHub and find those bleacher tickets going for $3 or $5."

"What really gets me and a lot of people is now we're on par with grandstand seats, where there are backs (on the seats)," he added. "I sit on a bench."

The team is keeping 70 percent of ticket prices unchanged, including all field-level seats between the bases. The prices of field-level seats in fair territory in the outfield, which sometimes had unsold areas last season, are being reduced, from $100 to as low as $65.

Some Field Level MVP seats, starting with the outside edge of the dugouts, will be reduced by $35-$50.

The Yankees averaged 45,107 fans this season, down from a major league-best 46,491 last year and 45,918 in 2009, when the stadium opened.

Your thoughts on the raised bleacher prices? Let us know in the comments below...

(TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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