Small crowd, big problem.
Some of the 10,202 fans in the Yankee Stadium made their presence felt in an ugly way on Friday night when they started throwing baseball and other objects on the field during the eighth innings of the Yankees’ 8-2 defeat against the Rays.
“You’re always worried when there’s a chance people are throwing things to the field,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash. “I do not know if it was a baseball away day. For some reason, one or two did it and it seemed like there were 15 more to follow. ”
The crowd would have been larger if the COVID-19 restrictions in New York had not been. And at the point where people started throwing things, the crowd was smaller than the announced figure: disgust in a game in which the Yankees made three mistakes and had no runs on one stroke through six innings, some went to the exits send.
Yankees manager Aaron Bonne is a third-generation baseball player and can’t remember seeing a similar scene. He chose his words very carefully by saying “it looks bad for everyone.”
The obvious message – play better! – was not lost on the Yankees, even if the form in which it was delivered was an embarrassment.
“It was the first time I experienced it,” left-back Clint Frazier said of the fans throwing items on the field. “You never want it to get to that, of course, and hopefully we’ll play well enough going forward to where it does not happen again.”
Giancarlo Stanton’s thoughts turned to the safety of the players. The Rays did not return to the dugout for shelter.
“Hopefully it will stop immediately and that none of their players are hit,” Stanton said. “You never want it to get to that point, but I just hoped it didn’t get to a point where they had to stop or call the game.”
It had “no effect” on the way the final playoffs were played, Cash pointed out.
“I have no idea what happened,” Rays Brandon Lowe said. ‘There was suddenly a ball in the middle [field]. … Throw it to the group of fans who seem to be asking for it. They were excited when they got it. And then suddenly there are ten balls on the field. ”