Welcome To The Fens Joba
Via George King:
Joba Chamberlain and a few people seated near the Yankees’ bullpen thought an unruly Red Sox fan was throwing ice cubes at the reliever while he warmed up in the latter innings of last night’s 4-1 Bomber win.
Mike Harkey, the Yankees’ bullpen coach, said the items being sent Chamberlain’s way were pumpkin seeds.
Whatever the objects were, they caught Chamberlain’s attention.
“They came by me on the right side but they didn’t hit me,” Chamberlain said.
Said fellow reliever La Troy Hawkins of the Red Sox fans: “They were just telling him they love him.”
Know what the Yankees should do when they go to Fenway? They should have someone in the pen armed with a digital camcorder. And, when stuff like this happens, they should record the fan(s) giving them a hard time and then turn the tapes over to the media and/or MLB.
Granted, Red Sox players get their fair share of abuse at Yankee Stadium. But, in the last five years or so, it seems like the visiting bullpen area at Fenway Park is a real hot spot for trouble. And, it’s time for visiting teams to start protecting themselves out there.
If a Yankee fan throws anything into either bullpen at Yankee Stadium he/she is ejected. I sit between both bullpens, and there is always a police officer standing by the bullpens. There was a fan heckling a visiting pitcher. The catcher yelled up to the cop that they were tired of it. The officer first warned the fan that if he did it again, he’d be kicked out. The fan was quiet for about 10 minutes, then did it again and was ejected.
Yankee Stadium doesn’t stand for that kind of stuff.
I’m all for self-defense, but I’d rather have the relievers focusing on the game situation than trying to catch fans’ misbehavior with a camcorder. That being said, it wouldn’t hurt the Red Sox to increase security in the BP area and generally when the Yankees are in town. Or, the Yankees could be proactive and hire Jeff Nelson and Karim Garcia as private security guards out there.