These days it seems Lady Gaga is everywhere. Except, from now on, the New York Yankees clubhouse.
The megastar pop singer, actress and fashion designer won’t be making any return trips to the Yankees’ clubhouse, after having reportedly infuriated Yankees co-chairman Hal Steinbrenner by visiting after a game. Gaga, 24, managed to sweet-talk her way through the security guards to get in almost immediately after the Yankees lost to cross-town rivals the New York Mets on Friday.
The Yankees have now apparently banned Lady Gaga from the clubhouse during game days, although Yankees General Manager clarified the club’s official Gaga policy was nothing aimed at the singer herself, and that the same rules would apply to other celebrities.
"She's not banned,” Cashman said on Sunday afternoon. "Celebrities aren't banned. If Michael Jordan showed up here he would have access [to the clubhouse], but not after a loss."
She will only be banned from the clubhouse after games, and Cashman noted she was free to see Yankees’ players outside of the clubhouse, in a proper environment.
"That was the wrong time and the wrong place," Cashman said. "It's been taken care of. It is not her fault. There is just a time and a place.”
Gaga turned heads
Gaga’s presence in the Yankees’ clubhouse might not have been entirely unpleasant for the New York team members. She turned heads in the stands throughout the game by wearing no pants, fishnet stockings and a loosely buttoned Yankees jersey while drinking whiskey. She apparently only met Yankees’ second-baseman Robinson Cano, who for his part confirmed she could sing.
True to her roots as a Yankees’ fan, 10 days earlier she’d shown up at Citi Field, where the Mets play, and generally irritated the crowd with her antics, finally giving them the middle finger to show her disdain for the supporters of the Yankees’ rivals.
But regardless of how big a fan she is, it was the New York Post who broke the story several days ago about a reportedly absolutely furious Yankees management. Even now conciliatory Yankees general manager Brian Cashman was reportedly surprised and upset by the news of the pop star’s arrival. Additionally, Major League Baseball policy is that the media is to gain access to any team’s clubhouse no later than 10 minutes after the end of the game, but they were kept waiting while Gaga tried to meet with the pinstriped ballplayers.
The Gaga Bounce?
While Yankees staff might be enraged about her antics, the team did not appear to have suffered from her presence at the game. If anything, they turned it around after Friday, where after having lost three games in a row and leaving them in danger of slipping out of their first place ranking in the AL East division behind the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Boston Red Sox, they went on to win their next two games against the Mets to restore their position at the top of the division.
The Yankees will be up hard against the Arizona Diamondbacks and will need all the wins they can get in the incredibly tough and tight three-way race for the top of the division. The Toronto Blue Jays are still lurking around too, looking to spoil someone’s season. The Devil Rays are a single game behind, but recently C.C Sabbathia came alive and out-pitched former Cy Young winner and perfect game thrower Roy Halladay to give the Yankees a much needed boost.
But if the past two Yankees games show anything, it’s that maybe if they need fall into another losing streak, they might do well to call up Lady Gaga to see if she can snap it.
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