NEW YORK, NY - JULY 17: A fan in a Yankee t-shirt is escorted out by security during the sixth inning between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on July 17, 2021. (Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images)Photo: Getty Images
You just knew that at some point it would come to this, especially in a place with a reputation like Yankee Stadium.
In Saturday night's Yankees-Red Sox game in the Bronx, a Yankee fan who intercepted a baseball thrown into the stands by Boston left fielder Alex Verdugo that was meant for a Red Sox fan, threw the ball back toward the field allegedly upon being prompted by fans, and hit Verdugo in the back.
Verdugo obviously was incensed, yelling vulgarities toward the fan responsible. Red Sox Manager Alex Cora eventually pulled his team from the field for a few minutes in order to allow cooler heads to prevail.
In the image above, you see a security guard in the lower left escorting the alleged thrower out of the stadium after being identified by fans in those stands who believe that it's not okay to plunk a player on a hated rival with a baseball.
I honestly don't know when I turned into "get off my lawn" guy, as I do remember in my youth that my passion for my teams was so intense that I didn't care what I yelled from the stands, as I felt my ticket entitled me to do so. I no longer feel this way.
There is a level of decorum that must be adhered to when out in public, and just because you spent your money on a ticket, it does not mean you can spew words or perform deeds that may incite someone to take some sort of action against you.
Athletes who have worked all their lives to make it in their respective sports have earned the right to not be physically interfered with by those behind the lines.
Now I'm not saying you can't boo or yell something to the effect of "YOU SUCK!!"
But if we are trying to make impressions on children, the futures of all these sports could be jeopardized, as some might see throwing a baseball at a player from the stands is a cool thing to do. When does that escalate to the next level? Well, it looks like it already is.
On Saturday night, there were gunshots outside Nationals Stadium in Washington, D.C. that forced the postponement of the Nationals-Padres game. A few days prior to baseball's all-star game, a cadre of weapons and ammunition were seized as authorities believe a "Las-Vegas-style" shooting was averted.
Really? WHY??
Athletes and fans should be able to go out and play the game and watch the game without the threat of idiots saying and doing stupid things.
As a private business, a baseball team has the right to print rules for attending a game on the back of a ticket, and if you, as the ticket holder, violate any of those rules, you have earned the right to be escorted from the stadium, not to be welcomed back.
As Yankees manager Aaron Boone says in the clip below, "Hopefully he's in jail right now."
And hopefully, he's banned not only from Yankee Stadium, but from attending any sporting event ever again.
COVER PHOTO: Getty Images