Baseball fans are crowding the sidewalk at Broadway and East Fourth Street, waiting for a chance to get an autograph from Yankee great Bernie Williams in the MLB Fan Cave. The baseball Xanadu is in full swing for opening day, and even has fresh AstroTurf around the entrance. Photos of fans with the longtime outfielder are all over Twitter.
Crystal Bell >Inside the Fan Cave, Mr. O’Hara, with two visitors, watch the game on 12 32-inch TV screens and three other 60-inch screens for optimal fan-viewing experience.If you’ve passed the corner of Broadway and East Fourth Street recently, you’ve probably noticed a new installation
Crystal BellCelebration champagne bottle from 1994. Once a week, visitors can come in and have their MLB memorabilia appraised for free.occupying the former home of Tower Records. It’s called the MLB Fan Cave, an interactive space for baseball fanatics, and it also doubles as a summer home for Mike O’Hara, 37, and Ryan Wagner, 25, the two superfans who were chosen by Major League Baseball to live there and watch every single game this season.
“An interactive fan space like this has never been done before, “ said Mr. Wagner. “We want this space to be a place with music, art and performers, where baseball would be the common thread. We want there to be something for everyone. We want to entertain the people of this city.”
“It should mirror the East Village,” adds Mr. O’Hara. “We want pop culture meets baseball. We want to bring in baseball players and legends but also actors, musicians and comedians because they all watch baseball too. It’s the American sport.”
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