What are "bleacher bums"?

bleacher bums are baseball fans who sit in the cheap seats, or "bleachers"...

working class fans.

It's a baseball term. They're the seats farthest away from the action. They have no roof over them, and a century ago when all baseball games were day games, played without lights, the sun would burn down on the exposed people in those seats, and would fade, or bleach, the cheap dyes in their clothes (hence "bleachers"). Seats were cheaper, so they'd go to younger, rowdier, fans, hence "bums".

That may be folk etymology--they also say the term refers to the cheap paint they used on the boards that were used for seats--the sun would bleach them much lighter than other covered seats.

At Wriggly Field I used to sit there a lot.....we would have to get to the stadium early because unlike the rest of the stadium bleacher seats were only sold day of game at a special ticket window, and sold out fast. It was the place to be if you were younger, kinda rowdy, and fancied yourself to be a stout enough to deal with the weather. Large amounts of beer was had on hot days (my record was 7) and the tradition was to put your new paper glass into the stack of all the old glasses so that you brag about how many you had drunk. The outfielders used to regularly throw balls to us and lots of interaction when on between the fans and the fielders. I remember a lot of taunting of the opposing team fielders and some of the Cub players that we did not like as well. On a regular basis Harry Carey would sit out in the bleachers doing his broadcast, drinking beer with us (IE getting soused with us)....those where the best days.

Sometime around 1984 the Cubs largely destroyed the bleacher bum scene, on purpose, when they started to sell the tickets in advance. I seem to remember that they also stopped selling beer in the bleachers, making us go to the counter. I went once under the new program and almost cried. I never sat in the bleachers after that, in fact only have been to one game at Wriggly since.

Wrigley.

Ya well, I cant spell. Another thing...for a couple of summers I used to go to Wrigley with my so-so friend full time Ozzy Ozbourne freak Jeff Griffey, and he would insist that we needed to go early enough to get our tickets and stand outside the player entrance so that he could get player autographs. ****, that made for a long day! That prick still owes me $200 for the Maverick I sold him in 1985 too, now that I think about it. He was a hoot though...he was the loudest and best taunter of players I have ever seen, and since we were so early we were almost always in one of the first three rows so he had good access.

Wow, this thread has been a trip down memory lane!

If you sit out with the bleacher bums - you are guaranteed to get a beer spilled on you and a fight to break out nearby.

Best place to sit.

Oh and in Boston, we affectionately refer to them as bleacher creatures.