Yankees Fans Pelt Opponents During Routine Game

Continued collapse of civil society Over the last several years, we’ve seen mass riots, increased violence on airplanes, soaring murder rates, a rise in road rage incidents, and more. New York Yankees fans on Saturday attacked Cleveland Guardians players with litter and empty beer containers at the conclusion of a seemingly insignificant game in New York.

Yankees fans are now throwing trash at the Guardian’s outfield after they walked it off. Absolutely mad! pic.twitter.com/hJmb4iDt9w

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) April 23, 2022

While the violence didn’t approach the level of 2004’s Detroit’s infamous Malice in the Palace, it was still pretty ugly. According to NY Post:

In an extraordinary scene, Gleyber Torres’ walk-off single was immediately overshadowed by altercations in the outfield, in which fans threw beers and debris from the right field bleachers toward Guardians players, prompting Yankees such as Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton to try to calm the hecklers and to prevent anyone from getting hurt.

It was close to being over, but the Yankees pulled off an amazing comeback. The trouble began when Isiah Kner-Falefa hit a game-tying single into the wall in left field. Steven Kwan from Guardians was trying to make some spectacular plays, but he crashed into that wall and got crumpled to his knees.

Yankees fans became more concerned than they were, and began to heckle the player. Guardians center fielder Myles Straw blasted the mob:

[Kwan’s]His forehead and chin were messed-up, so give him some air. It’s okay to chirp and say what you like. But when someone’s hurt, that’s not something to joke about.

Straw became so furious that he scaled to the left field wall in order to confront the hostile crowd. This behavior is what caused the Malice in Palace scandal. This is the recipe for disaster: players entering the stands.

Myles Straw took aim at Yankee Stadium fans moments before the end of the ninth-inning outfield scene. pic.twitter.com/wegiKxjtIF

— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) April 23, 2022

Said Guardian outfielder Oscar Mercado:

They need to be held accountable and I think there should be rules set up for that because that’s ridiculous and that should not happen. Say whatever you want to say and do whatever you want to do, but at the end of the day there’s got to be consequences for behavior like that.

This comes as we’ve been seeing many reports of fan fights at stadiums across the country.

All of these things are not new and there is plenty of fan violence. English soccer fans are known for their ability to bring chaos and mayhem wherever their team is playing.

Yet there’s a noticeable trend in America life: People are getting ruder, routine interactions are becoming ugly confrontations, and civil society seems to be well… not so civil.

Atlantic is in agreement:

The pandemic saw disorderly, rude and unhinged behavior as prevalent as bread-baking. Bridgerton. Bad behavior of all kinds —everything from rudeness and carelessness to physical violence—has increased…

While The Atlantic isn’t normally my go-to source, I actually agree with their conclusions. They posit that A) the spike in bad behavior is due to “the rage, frustration, and stress coursing through society” caused by the pandemic, B) rudeness can be contagious, C) people are drinking more, and finally, D) we’re social beings, and isolation is changing us.

This is it.

After today’s loss to the Yankees, Myles Straw of Guardians OF Myles Straw posted his thoughts. pic.twitter.com/DJDjtiAUiW

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 23, 2022

This Yankees game kerfuffle isn’t on the level of the Ukraine war, and on its own it wouldn’t be a huge cause of concern. But taken with all the other examples of the breakdowns of civil society we’ve been seeing, it’s yet another concerning sign that we’re descending into an uncivil society.