It looks like the Yankees are going to make a tidy profit by selling off bits and pieces of the old Yankee Stadium. In collaboration with Steiner Sports, a sports memorabilia dealer, the Yankees are selling such items as pairs of seats, pieces of sod, and even the dirt from the infield. The prices seem outrageous to me, but apparently people are buying this stuff up.

A tin sign that says “M10 Alcove” has a price tag of $200, while a handicap sign showing Jorge Posada how to get to his locker is selling for $400. If you want a pair of seats from the stadium be ready to shell out $1,500, or $2,000 if you want a specific seat. If you’re cheap (and I use the term mildly), you can pay $700 for a pair of bleacher sets. In other words, it’s a piece of a long metal bench with very short legs. A square foot of sod will set you back $120, or you can pay $50,000 and get the “NY” logo from behind home plate. Specific 80 foot long strips of sod from along the basepaths in the infield are selling for $6,000. Remember that this sod is likely replaced on a semi-regular basis, so it’s probably not the same grass that ARod was running during his infamous slap play or where Travis Fryman interfered on that throw to Knoblauch.

What amazes me is that fans are actually buying random 1×1 squares of sod for $120, when they could buy the 4×35 strip running from the mound to home for $2,500 (that’s 140 square feet, or $17.86 per 1×1 piece). Why not buy the large strip of sod and then parcel it out to people who could then buy a “significant” piece of grass for a lot cheaper. Even at $50 a square you could make almost triple your money back, and the buyer would be paying less than half of Steiner Sports’ price.

Tags: auction, dirt, new yankee stadium, old yankee stadium, seats, sign, sod, steiner, yankee stadium