Worst of Yankees fans already in postseason form on Derek Jeter’s night

No, this isn’t a positive article about Yankees fans. If anything, it’s an indictment of how they honored an all-time great in Derek Jeter.

Jeter deserved the very best, and in some ways he got just that. No. 2 gave a speech, had a plaque unveiled in Memorial Park and threw out the first pitch. It was lovely, until it wasn’t.

“I was born in New Jersey. I grew up in Kalamazoo. I live now down in Miami,” Jeter said. “But right here in front of you, with you, is where I really feel like I’m at home.”

A perfect moment, right?

New York lost 4-2 to the Rays, booed Hal Steinbrenner, Brian Cashman and Aaron Hicks, despite a warning from Jeter that chastising the owner wasn’t a way to get their point across.

And, perhaps best of all, Yankees fans received a warning not to throw trash on the field — something that’s become commonplace at the stadium the last few years.

Isn’t it lovely?

Yankees fans are ready for the postseason, for better or worse

Just this past April, Yankees fans threw garbage at the Cleveland Guardians, including Myles Straw and Oscar Mercado.

“Obviously there’s no place for throwing stuff onto the field in that situation,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said at the time. “We certainly don’t want to put anybody in danger. Love the intensity, but we can’t be throwing stuff out on the field.”

Yet, that wasn’t the first time.

In the 2019 postseason, fans threw trash onto the field at the Houston Astros players. Sign-stealing scandal aside, that’s not how any supporters of the sport should act, period.

“I think I saw about seven or eight water bottles out in the outfield, two baseballs got thrown from center to left,” Reddick said. “It’s scary. I don’t think a lot of people realize how dangerous that can really be. You throw a baseball hard enough and it hits somebody in the head when you’re not looking, it can do some damage to you as a player. It’s definitely disrespectful and at the same time, unsafe.”

They also cheered when an Astros player was hit by a pitch.

By no means are the Yankees alone — plenty of fanbases deal with this sort of thing. But in New York, all of it is magnified. One bottle turns into 20, and repeated attempts receive plenty of media attention, only leading to more unfortunate examples.

Hopefully, fans can avoid that temptation this October.