When the Yankees lost two out of three games to the Mets last week at New York’s Citi Field, iPad owners could have tweeted about it, watched replay videos or switched to another game (an option many Yankee fans would have liked) using the device’s big, bright screen. When the two teams have their rematch next month at Yankee Stadium, iPadders will have to settle for an iPhone or other small-screen device; iPads are welcome at Citi Field, but have been declared off-limits at the House That George Built.

Yankee Stadium has a blanket ban on all computers, and stadium management considers the iPad just another laptop:

To Apple’s chagrin, no doubt, the Yankees apparently consider the iPad to be just another laptop—and such devices are banned from the stadium, along with firearms, knives, video cameras, and beach balls.

In the case of computers, the team said it’s a safety issue. Fans glued to, say, Facebook might be caught unawares by foul balls or flying bats headed in their direction.

Foul balls and flying bats were likely the last thing Yankee fans were thinking about last week, and if the team’s performance doesn’t improve, some fans may prefer squinting at other events on small-screen iPhones to watching the action on the field. We hear you can even score a video of last year’s World Series on iTunes, if you really feel the need to relive better days.

iPad Banned From Yankee Stadium [InformationWeek]

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