Tag: New York Yankees

MLB fans roasted the Yankees for announcing an attendance of 41,096 in a near-empty stadium

They sure about that?

Despite having baseball’s second-highest payroll in 2023, the Yankees will be heading into the offseason when October comes around. And they didn’t exactly have a rousing sendoff for their home finale at Yankee Stadium.

Even if the listed attendance said otherwise.

Severe weather in New York forced the team to move Saturday’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks to Monday afternoon. Now, that Saturday game was initially supposed to have a great crowd with it being Aaron Judge bobblehead night. But when the team was forced to move the game to Monday, very few Yankees fans decided to make the trip to the Bronx for the matinee game.

Yet, the Yankees apparently arrive at attendance figures based on tickets sold and not actual people in the stands. That led to a wild announced attendance of 41,096 when the real crowd couldn’t have exceeded 4,000 people.

On the bright side for the fans who actually went to the game, they saw an impressive comeback win and had the opportunity to catch SO MANY foul balls.

Fans still thought that announced attendance was hilarious because, well, look at that crowd!

Stephen A. Smith embarrassingly one-hopped a Yankees first pitch he was so confident about

He had the look of a man who knows he’s about to get roasted.

Don’t let him fool you: Stephen A. Smith said he’d do this a lot better.

During Thursday’s episode of First Take, the ESPN personality professed that he’d throw a great first pitch before the New York Yankees’ game against the Toronto Blue Jays. He even said his goal was to throw a better first pitch than former President Barack Obama.

To put it lightly, it did not go according to plan. Not even close.

Smith strolled up to the mound confidently, tossing the ball in the air as if he didn’t have a care in the world. But when he actually released his pitch, it one-hopped right in front of home plate. Predictably, he hung his head in disappointment.

After seeing the reaction on Twitter, Smith would jokingly clarify that he was trying for a change-up:

Oof. Better luck next time, pal.

Hot mics pick up the NSFW stuff Aaron Boone yelled at ump after being ejected

Another Aaron Boone F-bomb filled ejection!

Aaron Boone yelling NSFW stuff at an umpire? Where have we seen this one before?

Oh, right. There was that time in August, and that video from 2022 and one from 2021 and … well, you get the idea.

This time, Jomboy didn’t need to be involved. It seemed like fewer fans in the stands at Yankee Stadium meant the mics were hotter when Boone was tossed on Wednesday night. You can hear Boone say, “He’s having a hell of a night,” before he adds, “I know you have the biggest zone in the league, you must [expletive] know it, too!”

I couldn’t hear the rest, but there’s another F-bomb in there (WARNING: NSFW LANGUAGE AHEAD!):

This one came a night after another umpire was heard asking if Boone said something and added, “I hope not!”

Astros fan who interfered with fly ball that was interference vs. Yankees gave an epic interview

“Houston loves me and I love Houston, and that cannot stop me from supporting the Asteroids.”

This is just the best interview, especially given the fact that the fan involved could have been super embarrassed by the situation.

In Sunday’s New York Yankees win over the Houston Astros, a fly ball by Yordan Alvarez could have been caught by Everson Pereira. But a die-hard at Minute Maid Park grabbed it and Alvarez was out due to fan interference.

The fan, however, was found by ESPN and the interview was just amazing. He talked about trying to make the moment special for his son, he apologized to the Astros.

Then? He ran through the emotions, which included “a little bit of lust, baby.”

“Houston loves me and I love Houston,” he added. “And that cannot stop me from supporting the Asteroids.”

Just watch:

Harrison Bader learned the Yankees put him on waivers while watching ESPN

Not a great look for the Yankees.

Maybe Harrison Bader didn’t have his phone near him and couldn’t hear the news from his agent.

Or: The New York Yankees didn’t tell the outfielder that the franchise had put him on waivers on Tuesday.

Because Bader informed reporters in an interview after the news broke that he was “in the lunch room” and saw that he had been put on waivers while watching ESPN.

His first question? “What does waivers mean?” But he laughed about that, and later said he never watches ESPN, and then, “Here we go.”

Bader took it all in stride. Give him credit, because I’d be miffed if I was him:

The Rays’ Brandon Lowe took a brutal swipe at the Yankees after benches cleared twice in their game

The Yankees are redefining rock bottom.

So much has been said about the New York Yankees’ dreadful 2023 season that it almost seemed impossible for the year to get any worse for them. But these Yankees always find a way to reach a new low.

Just look at how their American East rival Tampa Bay Rays view the Yankees.

The Rays took two of three of their weekend series against New York, and Sunday’s finale included a pair of bench-clearing incidents (and a hilarious wipeout in the dugout). While either incident could have escalated into a full-out brawl, both teams showed enough restraint to resolve the altercations with nothing more than shouting and standing around.

The reason for that, according to the Rays’ Brandon Lowe: The Yankees aren’t worth the trouble.

Speaking with the Bally Sports broadcast after the game, Lowe was asked about Sunday’s on-field fireworks. He said that the Rays weren’t going to let a last-place team get in the way of their larger goals by starting a fight:

“Obviously, tempers flared. The history that we do have with the Yankees is everything that’s kind of come through — obviously, does kind of play a part in it. But looking at it, it’s a last-place team against a team that’s in contention. They’re trying to ignite something over there — whatever. Not worth our time at this moment. We’re focused on bigger things right now than worrying about a little on-field scuffle. We need each game. They’re not really in each game.”

Imagine seeing this quote from a Rays player about the Yankees before this season. It would have been shocking. But let’s be honest — Lowe wasn’t wrong. The Yankees are just coasting into the offseason, and the Rays are the likely top AL wild-card team.

Fans also had thoughts about the postgame quote.

The Yankees’ Tommy Kahnle tripped on the dugout steps as benches cleared and MLB fans had jokes

The Yankees’ season in a nutshell.

The New York Yankees are stumbling into the offseason with a miserable 2023 campaign that general manager Brian Cashman called a disaster. They’re also stumbling into bench-clearing incidents.

While the Yankees lost Sunday’s series finale with the Rays, 7-4, the game itself had its share of fireworks. Yankees pitchers hit Rays batters with the pitch four times, and Randy Arozarena was especially furious to take a 3-1 fastball from Albert Abreu off the elbow guard. Arozarena acted like he was going to throw his bat, and then he turned towards Abreu to have some words with the Yankees reliever. Benches would clear, but the teams were eventually separated without incident.

Yet, Arozarena was clearly still heated about getting hit by the pitch. After he stole third in the inning (off a pitch that narrowly avoided hitting Harold Ramirez), Arozarena stared down Abreu as he went to retrieve his helmet. That led to Abreu shouting back at Arozarena, and benches cleared AGAIN.

Like the initial incident, the teams were separated before anything got out of hand. But the best moment came courtesy of Yankees pitcher Tommy Kahnle. As both teams came running from the dugout and onto the field, Kahnle got a late start from the clubhouse and took a tumble on the dugout steps.

For someone falling down on stairs, Kahnle played it off so smoothly.

I’m glad that was caught on camera because MLB fans had plenty of jokes for the wipeout.

Yankees fans crushed GM Brian Cashman after he called the season an unexpected ‘disaster’

Everyone saw this coming except for Brian Cashman.

The New York Yankees went into the 2023 season with legitimate World Series aspirations. This was a ball club that had won 99 games in 2022, re-signed AL MVP Aaron Judge to a monster deal and boasted MLB’s second-largest payroll. At least that was how the Yankees front office saw it.

Fast forward to now, and we’re nearing August with the Yankees at the bottom of the AL East standings, losers of nine straight and essentially out of the wild-card race. You can’t blame Yankees fans for wanting to see consequences at the top as longtime general manager Brian Cashman put together this roster.

Well, they’re not going to enjoy hearing what Cashman had to say on Wednesday.

Cashman spoke to the media ahead of the Yankees’ game against the Nationals, and the overall message was that he’s been shocked to see this season play out as it has, calling it a “disaster.”

That’s where the lack of accountability angered Yankees fans. Cashman essentially described the dreadful season as a fluke that happened at no fault of his own, adding that the roster he constructed looked like a playoff team in spring training.

Job performances — particularly for front offices — aren’t judged in spring training. He has to know that. No wonder Yankees fans weren’t pleased with Cashman’s comments.

Harrison Bader was certain he struck out before the ump called ball on a pitch down the middle

Nobody was more surprised than Bader.

At every level of baseball, hitters are told to let the umpires make the call. You never want to make an assumption on a would-be ball 4 and have an umpire take it personally, ruling the pitch a strike.

But you almost never see the reverse happen with an apparent strikeout going the other way.

During the second inning of Sunday’s game between the Red Sox and Yankees, center fielder Harrison Bader was convinced that Nick Pivetta’s 0-2 fastball caught the zone. And well, he was correct. The pitch was right down the middle, but home plate umpire Junior Valentine saw it differently. He called the pitch a ball as Bader was already making his walk back to the dugout.

Hey, at least Bader was being honest. But man, what a rough call from Valentine.

Red Sox catcher Reese McGuire made the call more difficult than it needed to be by setting up high and reaching down to catch the ball without much of a frame. Yet, a big-league umpire still should have been able to see a fastball down the middle like that.

The missed call didn’t make a difference as Bader struck out swinging a couple pitches later. Still, fans thought the reaction was hilarious. Bader was just so surprised about the call.

The Yankees tried to bunt while down 4 runs to the Red Sox and gave up a double play, and MLB fans roasted them

The Yankees are down bad.

The New York Yankees are not having a great time right now.

During a Saturday game against the archrival Boston Red Sox, Yankees infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa attempted to hit a bunt and rush to first base as outfielder Giancarlo Stanton was trying to make it to second base.

There was only one problem. The Red Sox catcher made a swift move on the bunt, caught it for the first out and threw Stanton out on first before he had a chance to make it back to base. Also, the Yankees were down four runs to the Red Sox before this failed bunt attempt. It was a disaster.

Letting up an outrageously embarrassing double play to Boston of all teams has to sting New York fans, but it is an accurate summation of how the Yankees’ season has gone so far. Just watch this and try to understand what happened.

The Yankees have a losing record for the first time in forever, and it’s a testament to the fact that things are just not working right now for one of the most storied baseball teams in the league.

Although, this is also the Yankees we’re talking about. MLB fans had a field day with making fun of this bizarre flop of a bunt attempt.