On a Tuesday night at NBT Bank Stadium before the second of two games between the Syracuse Chiefs and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders was set to begin, Ed Young, a Syracuse native, looked out a group of kids sitting above the Chiefs' dugout.
"When you get a baseball, give it to a little kid," he said. "What do you need it for? You old man."
The "old man" he's referring to is a general shout out to all adult fans he says have taken away joy from little kids at baseball games.
From being a die-hard Syracuse Chiefs fan as a kid to an usher for the Chiefs for the past 25 years, Ed Young has seen a lot of crazy things from fans.
"Have you ever seen an umpire throw a fan out?" he said, smiling. "We had an umpire throw a fan out...There was nothing I could do."
He recalled this moment of a fan he says 5-10 years ago was out of control during a playoff game and had to be escorted out by a few of his fellow ushers.
Looking out at NBT Bank Stadium, however, there was one topic that he seemed to be more passionate about than any other. The idea that baseball is for kids and that adults at baseball games should do as much as they can to make the experience as fun as possible for children.
"To me that's the best thing," he said. "...like when you get a baseball and you can hand it to a little kid, you know what I mean? That's nice."
Young says he sees way too many selfish adults at games who are only looking out for themselves.
"You get too many adults taking that away from the kids," he said. "Ya know like autograph-seeking. They've ruined it for the kids."
He also says all the work that is put into the games is first and foremost for children. Young says special things that come with the games such as catching foul balls and getting merchandise is something the ballpark markets for kids, Young said. He says adults need to take a step back and let the kids have their turn at finding that magic at a baseball park.
"Baseball, it's for kids," he said. "As far as the paraphernalia and all that stuff. I don't need a baseball. I got tons of 'em."
Young also says alcohol can be a contributor to adult's craziness at games.
"I get loud fans all the time!" he said. "You know how it is with beer. With every beer they get louder... They won't listen. I usually don't kick 'em out. I just send 'em up there," he said as he pointed to a higher section of the stadium.
Throughout a reporter's conversation with him, Young had a cool, calm, and collected attitude about him. He wasn't, however, afraid to be blunt and brash.
He wasn't fazed by the fact that there were many adults sitting by themselves near him, the exact fans he was talking about. Ed Young is also not a quiet person. It's obvious that he's seen and heard many things from fans and he says his filter is pretty much gone at this point.
With that being said, however, he says there's nothing he loves more than his job. Young says he loves seeing and making fans, especially the kids, happy and he gets a thrill out of working every single game.
As the interview wrapped up, he gazed back at all of the children sitting by the dugout, energetically waiting to get a ball from one of the players. As the players finished their warm ups and prepared for the second game of the night between the Chiefs and RailRiders, Young uttered under his breath, "Man, that's what it's all about."
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