The New York Yankees pulled off a remarkable 5-4 comeback win over the Cleveland Guardians Saturday, but much of the discussion afterwards was about the Yankees’ fans who threw debris on the field near the end. That includes the beer and water bottles thrown at Cleveland outfielder Oscar Mercado in the above photo. And that saw criticism from Yankees’ radio broadcaster John Sterling, and from players like the Guardians’ Myles Straw. And it led to a lot of discussion:
Way to ruin the moment. I know my Yankee friends don't accept them. pic.twitter.com/0ZxAGeCXYg
— Fuzzy (@fuzzyfromyt) April 23, 2022
Yankees fans are throwing trash at Guardians players after the Yankees walk-off win 😳 @BRWalkoff
(via @BallySportsCLE) pic.twitter.com/0EIoZqQDdb
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 23, 2022
.@Yankees fans threw garbage at the Cleveland Guardians players after New York's walk-off win. pic.twitter.com/EkVRJWG5N0
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 23, 2022
Guardians outfielder Myles Straw climbed the wall to exchange words with a fan after a game-tying double
Then Yankees fans threw garbage on the field after New York’s walk-off hit. Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton told them to stop pic.twitter.com/Hfij0oD7O5
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) April 23, 2022
Guardians outfielder Oscar Mercado describes what happened when Yankees fans started throwing trash at him on the field & what caused the whole incident.
(via @BallySportsCLE)pic.twitter.com/nVjeeCkadK
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 23, 2022
At Yankee Stadium since last April:
– A fan hit Alex Verdugo with a baseball in left field
– Fans threw baseballs onto the field of play from all over during a Yankees-Rays game
– Today, beer cans and trash were thrown at Guardians outfielders after a walk-off win pic.twitter.com/wL9JtMhlrz— Max Goodman (@MaxTGoodman) April 23, 2022
The trash-tossing here certainly didn’t do a lot to improve the Yankees’ league-wide reputation. And it led to a lot of anger from Straw and from other Guardians’ players. Some people throwing things definitely doesn’t convict every past, present, or future Yankees’ fan, but this wasn’t a good look for the team or their fanbase. And it’s understandable why it led to some wider criticisms.
At any rate, it will be interesting to see how Cleveland’s next game at Yankee Stadium, set for Sunday afternoon, goes after this. This one was the Guardians’ second game in New York in two nights, and their second loss in those two nights. But there’s going to be a lot of emotion heading into Sunday’s series finale. And we’ll see how both the Yankees and the Guardians adapt to that. There’s definitely some reason here for Cleveland players to be upset, and we’ll see how that carries into this next game.
[Photo from Gregory Fisher/USA Today Sports]
