It was never this bad before.
I'm not sure what's different about 2008. Maybe it's the eight years since the last World Series Title. But Yankee fans have become even more obnoxious and insufferable (and violent!) than ever before.
I had the privilege of attending the two-game series between the Yankees and the Red Sox back in April in the Bronx. I'd been to Sox/Yankee games at Yankee Stadium before, and while it was never a terribly welcoming enviorment, the trashtalk, the yelling and the t-shirts were always just part of the show.
You expect people to say stuff to you, but it was always easy to just kinda roll your eyes and laugh. When you're a Sox (or a Met) fan going to Yankee Stadium, you can cheer for your team, but keep to yourself.
Don't look at anybody, avoid any 'Brokeback Jeter' jokes. Basically, act like you're a guest in someone else's home. Be polite, and you'll end up out in one piece.
Not so much now. Yankee fans have become something else. For three hours on two consecutive nights, I sat there and had peanuts thrown at me, had beer intentionally spilled down my back, had my hair pulled by an intoxicated, overweight man in a Mariano Riveira jersey who demanded that I "get the *&^% out of the Bronx because Boston doesn't belong there."
It was really a test of character to not hit anybody, or say stuff back. Other than uttering a few naughty words under my breath, I kept my composure. The Yankee Stadim security threw out a Red Sox fan a few rows in front of us (who by the way, also saw her fair share of being hit by peanuts) for cheering for her team.
The people throwing stuff at her? They got to stay. A friend of mine (a Yank fan) said these were isolated incidents. Well, then explain them happening to me, two nights in a row, on OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE STADIUM.
The 18-1 chants (obviouisly a referral to the Patriots Super Bowl XLII loss) have become a staple at Yankee Stadium. Since when do the Yankees in all their 26-ringed glory (which is really the ONLY argument they ever have, and my favorite response is 'so how many of those rings were won in YOUR lifetime. The answers are fun) have to resort to citing other sports in proclaiming New York's superiority over Boston.
The point of all this is Yankee fans are something else now. They were always arrogant and obnoxious, but now they're violent and mean as well. Heck, they're even KILLING Sox fans now.
But OBVIOUSLY it's the same for Yankee fans in Boston.
Nah--I have a few Yankee fan friends, whose knuckles DON'T drag on the ground when they walk, who I've gone to games at Fenway with. While people aren't overly friendly in Boston, nobody threw anything at him.
Then again, I'd be pretty angry if Carl Pavano 'played' for my team. Or if Hank Steinbrenner were making any kind of decisions for the Red Sox. Or if the Sox were totally devoid of an ace. Or if we were stuck with Prima Donna Purple Lips for the next 10 years...
--Lizzy
Comments (3)
Liz,
As one of your friends friends who had the true pleasure of attending a game with you in Fenway, I'll say that I didn't feel any less comfortable in Fenway park dressed in full Yankee regalia than any racial minority would feel walking the streets of Boston… like I was about to get impaled by a flag pole.
Alright, cheap shot. And not entirely untrue (for both myself and the minority) But consider this --
Since most Yankee games are sellouts, let's assume that there are about 50,000 people attending any baseball game, and the worst of the worst people, those whose abusive behavior veers way to the extreme can only number around 2000. Most of these are in the caged prison of the right field bleachers, (and I mean that as a term of endearment).
Now, that number is obviously pretty high. If there were 2000 people throwing things and getting in fights, Yankee Stadium would be in a state of outright anarchy, or akin your run of the mill European soccer match. But let's assume that number is true, and we'll simply say that every abusive Yankee fan you'll run into will abuse you and they're even distributed throughout the stadium. That means you'll only have a 4% chance of getting abused at the one game you'll go to. But if you go to two games, the chance that you'll be abused again drops drastically to far less than 1%. Even further the next time you go.
Basically, according to the probabilities, you got struck by lightning twice, and while having peanuts thrown at you is a pretty annoying experience (some might say degrading) it's probably not something to judge the entire Yankee fanbase on. On the contrary, most Yankee fans might rib or heckle someone a bit, but they (or WE) do that to every opposing fan. Remember, for those 2000 people who are jerks, there are 48,000 others that won't are the welcoming, appreciative folks that all New Yorkers strive to be…
On second thought, just try to stay away from the bleachers, k?
Listen, being a Yankee fan in Boston, I can attest to the abuse a Yankee fan deals with here. I have had obnoxious things said to me for defending the Yankees. Just saying that I am originally from NJ gets me the most disdainful looks. If Yankee fans in Yankee Stadium give you a hard time, well, you should not be going there. You enter at your own risk. Believe me, Yankee fans are not well treated in Beantown, either.
I attended a game at Fenway once in my lifetime. I am a Yankee fan but the game was between the Tigers and the Sox. I wore my well-worn Yankee cap to the game. A lovely gentleman in a Red Sox cap jogged across the street and went out of his way to walk directly into me. He then turned around glared at me waiting for me to respond. I laughed and walked away.
The moral of this story is, while Red Sox fans and many others enjoy pointing out what idiots Yankee fans are, there are idiot baseball fans in every city. Boston is certainly no exception.