Bring an obnoxious banner to Yankee Stadium? Cool. Sunscreen ... uh ...
NEW YORK (AP) -- Go ahead, Yankees fans. Slather on that SPF 45 -- sunscreen is now legal in Yankee Stadium.
The baseball team has lifted a ban on plastic containers of sunscreen at their ballpark after deciding "not to be as stringent," team spokesman Jason Zillo said Tuesday.
Sports teams around the country started restricting what fans could bring into stadiums after the 2001 terrorist attacks.
The Yankees' Web site lists bans on backpacks, briefcases, coolers, large purses, laptop computers and video cameras. Bottles and cans also are on the forbidden list, but the sunscreen question is not specifically addressed.
The New York Post reported Tuesday that Yankees fans were hot and bothered over the weekend because of a crackdown on sunscreen.
The newspaper said security guards confiscated garbage bags full of the stuff at entrances to the stadium when the team played Saturday and Sunday day games in 90-plus weather.
Zillo said the Yankees have banned sunscreen containers larger than 3 ounces for several years but the restriction was eased in the last few days and sunscreen is now permitted.
"Our No. 1 priority is always going to be our fan safety," Zillo said. "That's why these policies were put in place in the first place."
Major League Baseball, which promotes skin-cancer prevention through its "Play Sun Smart" program, leaves security measures up to teams.
New York's other team, the Mets, allows sunscreen.
Sean Rachau, a spokesman for the Arizona Diamondbacks in sun-baked Phoenix, said that team has never banned sunscreen.
The Yankees' former policy banning sunscreen was similar to the air-travel restrictions enforced by the federal Transportation Security Administration. Under TSA rules, all liquids, gels and aerosols must be in 3-ounce or smaller containers.
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