What is your favorite memory, the television interviewer asked as we stood on the outfield warning track several hours before Yankee Stadium’s final game. What will you miss the most about the stadium, others have asked. What plays or hits or performances most stand out in your mind?
The approximately 38 years of Yankee Stadium’s 85-year existence that I have spent writing about baseball in the storied Bronx edifice have produced many memories, many moments and plays and performances that are among the best known that happened in the stadium.
But several hours before Sunday’s final game I spotted a familiar figure and was suddenly struck by the thought that in those 38 years this man has been a stadium staple, even moreso than Yogi Berra.
Bill the Baker has been around since I began covering the Yankees in 1970.
Bill the Baker is Bill Simers, a 61-year-old fan from Brentwood, Long Island, who has achieved what any fan would die for – free access, with the owner’s blessing, to all Yankees games. He has similar access at Shea Stadium, attending Mets games, too. But the Yankees are his favorite.
“The Yankees were always exciting to watch,” Simers said, explaining his preference of teams. “I go back with Mantle, Berra, all the great pitchers, Ford, Reynolds, Raschi. I’ve seen them all. Phil Rizzuto. Mickey was my idol. They gave me so much excitement. That’s why I became a great Yankee fan.”
In more recent years Simers became a fan of George Steinbrenner, the Yankees owner, who installed Simers in a permanent seat in the Yankee Stadium auxiliary press box.
“George Steinbrenner decided that June 26th, 1976, because of my knowledge of all the trivia in the game,” Simers said. How did he gain the owner’s favor?
“He asked me about different ball players, their ages and things,” Simers said. “Back in 1975, he was in the restaurant eating and he came to me and said would you like to sit with me. I said yeah, thanks. I appreciate that. I’ve had a good relationship with George since 1974.”
How did it begin? “When I told him I hope the Yankees win tonight,” he recalled. “We lost a doubleheader Sunday and lost on Monday. I said let’s hope we win tonight. So he said why don’t you go and give them hell. That’s how we became good friends. That’s a true story.”
Simers preceded Steinbrenner at Yankee Stadium. I recall seeing him sitting in a seat in the stands behind the open press box in the pre-76 stadium. Bill learned all of the writer’s names and would say hello by name as we walked down the stairs in the stands to reach the press box.
At the time, Bill worked for Entemann’s Bakery as a machine operator. “I worked for Entemann’s Bakery for 32 years,” he said. “I retired 12 years ago on May 31st, 1996.”
The writers named him Bill the Baker because of his job, but he didn’t bake Entemann’s cakes and cookies. He washed the pots and pans and other equipment. Although he didn’t make chocolate chip cookies, Simers said, “I used to bring them to George.” Those cookies made the relationship even stronger.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, and I’ve been his good luck charm to win the ball games,” Simers said. “He always depended on me. He used to say to me, ‘Bill, you’re in charge of the offense; I have the defense. Let’s go out there and win tonight.’ I said ‘Don’t worry. We’re gonna win.’ Nine times out of 10 Bernie Williams would hit a home run or Tino. Someone would rally and win the ball game.”
Like everyone outside Steinbrenner’s immediate and Yankees families, Simers hasn’t seen or talked to the owner recently.
“The last time I talked to him was two years ago,” he said. “Last year he didn’t come out much and this year I was injured. I was hit by a hit-and-run driver back on Feb. 26th near my house. He sent me a nice letter hoping I recovered. I have it at home.
“Everybody’s been nice to me all the years. I’ve got along with everybody here. I’ve had a good relationship with George. His whole family’s been nice. I’ve got along with all the writers, all the public relations directors. They came to the hospital to see me in February.”
Bill’s mishap cost him more than a month of the season.
“I missed 27 games this year because I was in rehab,” he said. “I only saw three games in May. This was the first time I didn’t see a game in the whole month of April, but since I came back on June 7th I’ve seen every home game. This is 51 straight today. One time I had 330 in a row, 421 in a row, then 349 I had when I had my accident.”
Simers, who takes the Long Island Railroad and the subway to Yankees games, has traveled on the road with the Yankees and used to go to the World Series.
“When I went with the team everything was paid for,” he related. “I went in 1998 and 1999 to Atlanta. George took me to Minnesota in 2003 when we won the division series. In 1981 he took me to Oakland when we won the pennant. We shut out Oakland that day three to nothing. Willie Randolph hit the home run in the eighth inning and we won the ball game and the pennant.”
But he added of his post-season travels, “That’s when my mother was well and alive. My mother passed away five years ago so it’s hard for me now to go on the road.”
Simers estimates that he has seen more than 2,500 games, though the number is probably considerably higher based on how many years he has been a regular at the parks.
“My first game was on August 30th 1952, in the old original Yankee Stadium,” he said. “My father took me to a few games here and there. I became a regular once I started working in 1964.
How did he land in his mezzanine seat behind the press box at Yankee Stadium?
“That was in the late 60s with Bob Fishel,” he recalled, referring to the Yankees’ public relations director at the time. “I got friendly with Bob Fishel. I used to talk to him when I was 12, 14 years old. I had a good relationship with Bob Fishel. It’s a shame he’s gone. He was really nice.”
Now Bill is ready to move on to new parks, a new Yankee Stadium and CitiField.
“I’m looking forward to CitiField opening up and I’m looking forward to the new Yankee Stadium,” he said. “They tell me it’s going to be nicer–bigger, larger.”
They have also told him, he said, that at the new Yankee Stadium “I’ll be in the auxiliary press box.”