Professional athletes face jeers, boos, and hecklers. It's just a fact of life — especially when they go on the road.
The Minnesota Twins got a healthy dose of that during their Division Series against the Yankees, most notably pitcher Randy Dobnak. After the rookie revealed he worked as an Uber driver when he played in the minor leagues, Yankee Stadium fans chanted "Uber! Uber!" at him, and he later said "I figured that was going to happen" while smiling.
The chant rubbed some baseball fans the wrong way, but the Twins had to know they'd be walking into the lion's den of a rabid fan base in the Bronx — and according to The Athletic's Marc Carig, there's a sense within the Minnesota organization that the hostile environment played a role in the three-game Yankee sweep.
Reliever Tyler Duffey found an interesting way to describe his first-hand experience with Yankee fans.
“I’m trying to think of a nice way to say it. They hate you for no reason, which is what you want," said Duffey, who added, “Someone told me they were going to do something to my wife while we were in New York. They take full advantage of whatever they paid for that ticket and they get their full money’s worth.”
According to Duffey, the hostility was ratcheted up in the Bronx unlike what he's experienced at Fenway Park.
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“Boston’s fun, they’re baseball fans,” Duffey said. “Yankee fans, they just hate people.”
Those words likely won't bother Yankee fans as they wait for the ALCS, but maybe Red Sox fans can take comfort in the compliment while they wait until 2020 to watch their own team play meaningful baseball.
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