The "Bleacher Creatures" bring passion, chaos to Yankee Stadium's Section 203

It’s a sunny summer Saturday afternoon and you want to go to a ballgame.

You could enjoy a nice game at Yankee Stadium in peace, having friendly conversations among family or friends while the New York Yankees play.

Or you could have a chaotic, rambunctious time in Section 203 with the Bleacher Creatures.

This coveted crew in the right field seats has unique traditions, to say the least, that can’t be found elsewhere in Major League Baseball parks.

The traditions – most notably the Yankee Stadium “roll call” and “cowbell man” – have gone on for 40 years in the Bronx.

The same thing happens every Yankees home game. 

Moments before first pitch, the Bleacher Creatures and everyone else in the right field section rise in unison and they start clapping. 

As soon as the first pitch is thrown, Marc Chalpin leads every fan seated in Section 203 with a “roll call,” where they chant each Yankee player’s name on the outfield and infield. Once the player acknowledges the chant by waving, pointing or doing his own signature move toward the section, Chalpin and the other fans move onto the next player. 

After “roll call,” it’s Milton Ousland’s time to shine. He is known as the “Cowbell Man” and does exactly what you may imagine – rings a cowbell. The other fans in the section all sing and drum along to the beat Ousland comes up with, and that happens whenever Ousland gets a feel for it during any given game.

These actions taken by the two lifelong Yankee fans — what may seem like just chanting players’ names and ringing a bell – are part of a teammate-like dynamic that have been developed throughout the years ever since the Bleacher Creatures were founded in 1983.

Like every team, roles have been passed throughout the decades, from fan to fan. The most recent fan to have gotten the designated “roll call” part is Chalpin.

Chalpin, 51, has been the head of “roll call” since 2016.

“To be a part of it, and to know that the Yankees know exactly what you’re doing, that is pretty cool,” Chalpin said. “It’s a kick.”

Chalpin grew up in Westchester, New York, and moved to Manhattan in 1998. In his first year living in New York City, he sat in the right field bleachers for the first time.

“I always saw the bleachers were a different atmosphere, and that was the kind of atmosphere I like,” Chalpin said. “So one time in the bleachers, and I’m like you know what, I’m gonna start going there every game that I can.”

Chalpin considers 1999 to be his “rookie year.” Ever since then, he’s been to over 1,000 games in The Bronx, sitting in the bleachers 99% of the time.

To Chalpin, being head of “roll call” is a job. Just like anyone that has a job has qualifications, deadlines to meet and a location to be at every day, Chalpin experiences the same responsibilities for every Yankees home game.

Qualifications: A strong voice and the ability to attend almost every home game a year.

Deadlines: Being in his seat at least 20 minutes before every first pitch.

Location: 1 East 161 Street, The Bronx, New York

“I treat it like the honor it is,” Chalpin said.

Ousland, 51, has been the “Cowbell Man” for the Bleacher Creatures at Yankee Stadium for 26 years. 

He’s always sitting in Section 203 for Yankee home games, along with the other Creatures.

When you get to the ballgame at Yankee Stadium, whether you sit in the section or not, you can be a spectator to what Ousland calls a “sideshow” that goes on during every game, which includes his cowbell.

Ousland has brought the same cowbell to The Bronx since 1996, when he took over for the man who held the role for 37 years, Ali Ramirez.

To Ousland, being in charge of the cowbell during games is a job, just like leading “roll call” is to Chalpin.

Just like any set of employees, Chalpin and Ousland have an employer – Tina Lewis, who created the group in 1983 and has delegated tasks ever since.

Lewis, 60, is known to this day as the “Queen of the Bleacher Creatures.”

Despite being born in Bakersfield, California, growing up in Detroit and moving back to California when she was 14, Lewis was always a Yankees fan throughout her childhood.

Her first baseball game was a Yankees-Tigers game in Detroit that her brother Peter took her to. Lewis was just three years old, but knew exactly which team she was rooting for.

“[Peter] said, ‘You’re gonna root for the Tigers, right?’ I said, ‘No, Yankees,’” Lewis said.

Her first game at the old Yankee Stadium was when she was 13, as she was traveling to New York with Peter. It was an experience that means a lot to her to this day.

“I remember coming to the game it was dark,” Lewis said. “And all the sudden you come out and you see this light and it hit me. I never felt that again at any other stadium.”

Lewis started going to Yankee games by herself each summer starting when she was 17. The first time she went, she felt the exact same feeling – the darkness and then the special feeling when the light hit her. A fan behind Lewis once said that he felt goosebumps while seeing the field and it was like he felt all the ghosts in the stadium.

Lewis thinks she felt the exact same thing.

 “I think I felt the ghosts when I came in,” Lewis said. “I felt something I’ve never felt in my life. And I can’t describe that… I knew I was gonna be at Yankee Stadium every day.”

Just a few years later, Lewis moved to New York City for good and started going to every home game. She dreamed of going to games regularly, and it finally came true starting in 1980.

“The biggest bucket list that I ever had in my life was to come to New York and go to Yankee games and that’s exactly what I’ve done,” Lewis said.

She started sitting in the bleachers full-time in 1983, when she created the iconic group of Yankees fans. 

Ousland was among the first members of the group, as he was exposed to early Creature traditions a year after the Bleacher Creatures’ inaugural season – 1984.

He grew up in Brooklyn and had never been to a Yankees game, despite them being his favorite team.

In one of his classes at John Jay High School, there was a contest that Ousland competed in where whichever student got a 100 on an exam would get a prize.

Sure enough, Ousland aced the exam and received a prize the next day – an envelope that said two words: “Yankees tickets.”

Ousland was beyond thrilled to finally go to a Yankees game.

“I’m thinking [that] I’ve never been to Yankee Stadium; only rich, white people go to Yankee Stadium,” Ousland said. “As a Puerto Rican growing up in Brooklyn, I never thought I would be able to go.”

That wasn’t the only thing Ousland was happy about. When he opened up the envelope, he was surprised to see that the face value of the tickets were only $3.

“That just changed my life,” Ousland said about the discovery. “When I found out at the age of 14 or 15 years old that I could go to Yankee Stadium for $3, I immediately said I’m just gonna go to every game.”

After acing the test and getting the tickets, he went to see the Yankees take on the Oakland Athletics, sitting in the left field bleachers.

But there was another section in the ballpark that quickly peaked his interest.

“I could remember the noise coming from the right field bleachers,” Ousland said. “It was almost like a whole different place.”

Ousland heard the cowbell and Bleacher Creatures chanting loudly, even though the Yankees were losing. He was hooked immediately.

“I was like, ‘Man I gotta come here the next time I go,’” Ousland said.

He did just that. And he never stopped coming back.

Ousland became friendly with Lewis, Ramirez (the “cowbell man” before him) and all the other original Bleacher Creatures.

His friendship with Lewis continues today. His friendship with Ramirez lasted 37 years.

As Ousland walked into the stadium on a May evening in ‘96, he saw Lewis crying. After asking what was wrong, she told him that Ramirez had shockingly died on May 8. He started crying along with Lewis and other fans.

The Yankees organization honored Ramirez by putting the American Flag at half-mast. They also held a memorial for him on May 14 before a Yankees-Mariners game. 

Yankees public address announcer Bob Sheppard spoke about him “like he was a player” according to Lewis and then there was a moment of silence in Ramirez’s memory.

“Can you imagine the Yankees honoring someone in the bleachers like that?” Lewis asked, still appreciative about the front office honoring her lifelong friend.

That wasn’t all that was special about May 14. Yankees pitcher Dwight Gooden pitched a no-hitter that evening, an event that made the vibe at Yankee Stadium somewhat bittersweet.

And Ousland believes there was another spectator of the tremendous feat.

“There was one star right over the stadium, I’ll never forget that,” Ousland said. “I [was] like that’s gotta be Ali. This whole sky was black and there was one big, bright star right over the stadium.”

Ever since Ramirez’s passing, the Yankees have held his cowbell that he used throughout his years of ringing.

His legacy lives on through fans remembering him and through Ousland, who got the role of “Cowbell Man” shortly after Ramirez died.

But prior to the devastating loss, no Bleacher Creature considered comeone else to fill the role of Ramirez. He was that rare, irreplaceable soul of the section.

“I don’t remember ever going to a game and not seeing him,” Ousland said. “We never thought about it until he passed away.”

Ousland bonded with Ramirez during their time in the bleachers together, often talking to each other in Spanish and joking around with each other. Ousland would pretend to steal Ramirez’s cowbell and they would tease each other during games. 

Once Ramirez passed away, Ousland showed lots of respect toward the late great Ramirez and took the role seriously.

“To carry on Ali’s tradition was an honor,” Ousland said. “Me being Puerto Rican, him being Puerto Rican, I felt something about that.”

Ousland was 25 years old when he took up the mantle in 1996, an up-and-down year to say the least.

Although Ousland took the “Cowbell Man” role in 1996, he didn’t want to at first.

“When [Tina] asked me to ring the bell, I told her there’s no way I’m doing that,” Ousland said. “There’s no way. I mean this guy just passed away… and it was very painful, it was very emotional.”

He didn’t think anyone should ring the bell since Ramirez died, but Lewis wanted to keep the tradition alive. She chose Ousland because he was the longest tenured Creature and she thought he would do great in the role.

Ousland eventually convinced himself to give it a try, much to the dismay of many fans in the bleachers.

“When I rang that bell the first time, I had fans booing me, throwing things at me, calling me a fake,” Ousland said.

Whether it was because they didn’t know Ramirez had died or they didn’t want anyone taking over for him, these fans disapproved of Ousland.

After one game, Ousland didn’t think he could go through with taking the position. That’s when his friend George Chityat came up with an idea to get fans on Ousland’s good side.

“Let’s go on the road,” Chityat said. “Bring the bell on the road and they’ll see you on TV.”

So they traveled.

Aug. 26 through Sept. 4. 

10 games in 10 days.

Seattle, Anaheim and Oakland.

And in the words of Ousland, “It was crazy.”

Ousland and Chityat stayed at the same hotel where some of the Yankees players lodged, giving them a chance to hang out with outfielder Ruben Rivera and star pitcher David Cone.

They spent time with Cone after he made a return from an aneurysm and pitched seven no-hit innings in Oakland. 

“We spoke to [Cone] after the game and he was like, ‘I wanted to stay in there, they took me out,’” Ousland said.

Ousland rang the cowbell at all 10 games. 

He originally bought some tickets but once the players knew he would attend games, they scored seats for him in the family section for the back end of the road trip.

When the two got back to New York, everything changed. Many Yankee fans sought him out to offer congratulations on the 10-game road stretch.

“We saw you on TV! I can’t believe you rang the bell in all these stadiums, you’re the man!” said several fans at Yankee Stadium.

And things got even better for Ousland when the Yankees started performing better as the season went on. The team won 92 games in 1996, which was 13 more wins than they had the year prior. 

Fans started to credit Ousland for the team’s success.

The Yankees went on to win the World Series for the first time in 18 years, beating the Atlanta Braves four games to two. Fans became obsessed with Ousland and the Section 203 vibe.

“I’m getting carried out the stadium like I’m some kind of God,” Ousland said. “Come on man… It was just an incredible ride.”

The Yankees ended up winning four World Series titles over the next five years, with Ousland sticking with the routine each year.

“I got memories of me ringing the bell after the game and people following me in the street,” Ousland said. “Like hundreds of hundreds of hundreds of Yankee fans – like the Pied Piper – I was just bringing the bell and people were following me.”

Whether it was Ousland helping the team or the team’s success helping to keep him motivated, the Cowbell Man had a lot of fun in the late ‘90s.

“How could it not be [fun]? Ousland asked. “It was right in the middle of this dynasty. I’m ringing the bell in ‘96. It’s not like I was ringing the bell and they weren’t winning. Winning makes anything better.”

He might have debated taking the position at first, but at the time he couldn’t predict what would become of it.

“The combination of a great team, a great city… it was the perfect storm,” Ousland said.

The Yankees might have been a great team on the field, and the Bleacher Creatures were certainly a great team off the field.

Around that time was when Chalpin had his “rookie year” with the crew, as he was first exposed to the “roll call” that he would one day lead.

But the “roll call” didn’t always look the same as it does today.

It started out with Lewis and the rest of the group chanting only the center fielder’s name before each game. In the late 1980s the Creatures chanted center fielder Roberto Kelly’s name, and in the early 1990s they chanted Bernie Williams’ name.

In 1997, everything changed.

After left fielder Jim Leyritz made a nice catch, the Bleacher Creatures started chanting his name. He then turned around and acknowledged them. Then, Lewis thought about chanting toward the right fielder as well.

“Wait a minute, we can’t leave Paul O’Neil out, he’s gonna feel left out,” Lewis said.

O’Neil then turned and waved toward Section 39 in the old stadium, the original home of the Creatures.

The section then started doing the roll call for each outfielder every game. After a couple months went by, first baseman Tino Martinez mentioned in a postgame press conference that he wondered why the infield wasn’t included in the roll call, much to Lewis’ surprise.

“In our mind, we thought we were interfering with the game,” Lewis said.

The fans responded by including the infielders as well, and the roll call for every player on the field has gone on for 25 years.

After Vinny Milano, known as “Bald Vinny,” held the “head roll call” position for 15 years, Lewis chose Chalpin to take over for him six years ago. Aside from him being a Yankees fan and having a loud voice, Lewis liked Chalpin for the job because he works in commercial real estate where he’s his own boss. That allows Chalpin to have a lot of free time, which he uses to go to games.

“Other people had jobs and couldn’t be there or they wanted to party at the bodega a lot,” Lewis said. “Not Marc – he works and comes to Yankee Stadium.”

The two met in 1999, and they’ve become close since then. Lewis calls all the regulars in Section 203 a family because everyone is close and brings something to the table.

“Tina named us the Bleacher Creatures in part because we’re creatures of habit,” Chalpin said. “Everybody has their own job to do. And if someone’s not there, someone else will do the job.”

Chalpin said he loves doing the roll call, and he led it for 66 of the Yankees 81 home games in 2022.

While leading the roll call on Aug. 23 when the Yankees hosted the Mets, Chalpin was shown on the TBS live broadcast, along with the players responding to it.

After his roll call, Chalpin ends with the same announcement to everyone else in the section: “Thank you for your participation. Just a friendly reminder, we do not do the wave in this section.”

Chalpin then leads the Bleacher Creatures in a “First Place Yankees” chant if the team is leading the American League East division. If the Yankees aren’t in first place or are in a playoff game, Chalpin leads a “Yankee Baseball” chant right after roll call.

The section has played host to a few celebrity guests who have helped out with the roll call. 

NBA two-time Slam Dunk Contest champion Zach LaVine, sportscaster Lauren Shehadi, Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay and former Yankees players Mickey Rivers and Jeff Nelson are some of those guests who made Creature cameos.

“That’s a cool experience when they come out and you get to acknowledge them,” Chalpin said.

The Bleacher Creatures generate such intense interest that fans seek tickets for Section 203 to be part of the action.

When Lewis was taking the 4 Train home from Yankee Stadium one evening, a man came up to her, asking if she was the Queen of the Bleacher Creatures. After she said yes, the man said something that warmed her heart.

“I just wanna say something. I work all day and I get home from work. I can’t always make it to a game, but I make it my business to get home from work and do what I gotta do to make sure that I’m in time so I can hear roll call. That’s the greatest thing that ever happened in baseball… I wanna thank you for keeping it going. Don’t let it die please because that’s the best thing I’ve ever seen in baseball.”

Lewis was quick to reassure the man that he will always have the roll call to look forward to.

“I could be gone tomorrow morning – roll call’s always gonna be there,” Lewis said.

Opposing teams have also given the Creatures attention throughout the years.

In addition to chanting in favor of their own team, the rowdy right-field crew also shout several negative chants toward players on opposing teams, especially to whoever is playing right field.

Kevin Millar is a former Major League Baseball player who played a bunch of games in right field for the Boston Red Sox, the archrival of the Yankees.

Millar played in MLB from 1998-2009, spending three years with the Red Sox, three years with the Orioles and a year with the Blue Jays – all American League East rivals of the Yankees.

No rival is bigger than the Red Sox, who came back from a 3-0 series deficit in the 2004 AL Championship Series, with Millar as an everyday starter on the team.

The Bleacher Creatures would give Millar similar treatment as players on other teams, but him wearing a Red Sox uniform made matters even worse for him.

“It’s intense, they are on you,” Millar said. “I’ve played right field out there for the Red Sox, and I remember one game there were batteries coming at me. They get a little rough and brutal… but as far as the passion and the ragging and “you’re the enemy,” it was always fun. I always interacted back and forth with fans. It didn’t matter what they were saying – it was always fun to kinda go back at them. So we had some good times.”

And the intensity might’ve helped Millar’s performances at the plate. Through 2008, he played in 110 games against the Bronx Bombers. And he had a .300 batting average with a .900 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage). 

He credits that to the passion involved in the rivalry, but also to the fans in the bleachers.

“The Bleacher Creatures – they’re a team,” Millar said. “So you’re dealing with one, you’re dealing with 500 of them. And that’s what makes it kind of fun when you go out there in right field is that they’re on you the entire game… It’s what you live for since you were a kid – to play in meaningful games in the big leagues. And every game felt like the Super Bowl.”

Millar loves the Yankee Stadium “roll call” tradition and says if he was a Yankee he’d take his hat off and maybe even take a bow when the fans chanted his name.

“I think it’s awesome,” Millar said. “The game and the rivalry is so big. And the fans are so into it. So the roll call for sure is one of the coolest things.”

Millar recalled the “Bleacher Bums” at Wrigley Field for the Chicago Cubs – another fan group with traditions dating back several decades –  from back when he was playing.

“Wrigley Field had one with Sammy Sosa,” Millar said. “The first inning, he’d run out and put his hand up to his ear and run through the outfield. And all the fans would get up, almost like a wave. It was super awesome, but the Yankee fans doing the roll call I think was No. 1.”

A tradition that Millar enjoyed at Fenway Park in Boston was the playing of “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond every game in the middle of the eighth inning.

“The whole entire stadium finishes that song singing,” Millar said. “And when you have 36,000 fans sold out singing Sweet Caroline, that was pretty awesome. That’s a pretty cool tradition.”

The song first played at Fenway Park in 1997 – the same year when the Bleacher Creatures started doing “roll call” at Yankee Stadium for each player on the diamond.

There are several traditions that have been carried out by baseball fans over time – by Creatures, Bums, Bostonians and many other groups around the country.

These traditions are created by die-hard fans, like Lewis, Chalpin and Ousland, who are emotionally invested in their favorite ball club and will root for them as loudly and proudly as they can.

Millar stressed how important it is to have die-hard fans cheer for MLB teams, even if they’re rooting for a team he was rivals with for most of his career.

“It’s everything because players – we thrive off energy,” Millar said. “Sellouts and packed stadiums. And the one thing about Yankee Stadium is you’re always playing in front of a packed crowd… That’s what the passion’s about. And even when you’re a visiting player, you respect that. And you understand that. And they have the right to yell and scream and try to get you out of your game. And us as players, we have a right to feed off of them – whether it’s the negative side or the positive side.”

Millar’s had great interactions with fans since his playing days, teaching some of them an important lesson. When Yankee fans ask Millar for his autograph and end the question with “even though I’m a Yankees fan,” Millar sets the fan straight every time.

“No, you’re a fan,” says Millar. “You’re a fan of the game, and fans are awesome. And we need fans… We love the fans.”

And isn’t that what these traditions are all about?

The Bleacher Creatures may seem intimidating with loud chants and rowdy behavior, but those are just reflections of their passion for the Yankees. And that passion keeps the traditions that started decades ago going strong.