Ugly scene at Stadium as ‘classless’ Yankees fan throw stuff at Guardians outfielders after walk-off win

What should have been a joyous celebration after Gleyber Torres’ walk-off hit quickly became an ugly scene at Yankee Stadium, leading Cleveland Guardians outfielder Myles Straw to say the Yankee faithful are “classless” and the “worst fan base on the planet.”

Fans in the right field seats responded to the game-winning hit by flinging garbage onto the field in the general vicinity of Cleveland’s outfielders.

“Obviously, there’s no place for throwing stuff on the field,” Yankee manager Aaron Boone said. “We certainly don’t want to put anyone in danger. We love the intensity, but you can’t be throwing stuff onto the field.”

The incident was brewing from the previous batter. Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s deep fly ball to left field made Steven Kwan crash forcefully into the wall, which left him directly underneath the vitriolic fans, who presumably screamed typical New York pleasantries at him.

Whatever was said, it caused Straw to leap onto the wall and confront the fans face-to-face. It was an admirable display of defending a teammate, but the incredibly visible move seemed to only rile up the crowd more.

“Kwan is the nicest guy on the planet,” Straw told reporters in the Cleveland clubhouse. “That’s my teammate, that’s my brother, and some of the stuff that was said to him, for me, wasn’t going to fly. My emotions got to me a bit. But a guy went headfirst into a hard wall. If I were to do it again, I’d probably say the same thing.”

The Yankees themselves were quick to denounce their fans’ actions on Saturday.

“That can’t happen,” said Kiner-Falefa. “I love the atmosphere, I love the fans, I love everything about them. But we win with class. That’s something that this organization is about. We’ll fix it next time, I hope.”

“We have amazing fans, but we want to respect the opponent,” Torres added. “That can’t happen again.”

Once the winning run crossed the plate for the Yankees, all bets were off, and the more unruly fans let loose. The Yankees then had to go from mobbing Torres to pleading with their fans to stop hurtling garbage on the field.

“Beer cans,” right fielder Oscar Mercado said when asked what was thrown in his direction. “They came close. One came right at my face and I caught it. They still had beer inside. You can celebrate and chirp all you want during the game but don’t try to get people hurt. That’s not how things work. We’re human beings as well. I personally am not going to sit there and allow them to throw stuff at me.”

Mercado had to be stopped by his teammates from approaching the Yankee fans, and eventually Yankee superstars Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton (who were not made available for comment) went out there and gestured at everyone to cut it out.

All part of the job description when you play for the Yankees.