Each time a visiting player takes the field in Yankee Stadium, he should be ready to hear all forms of insults hurled his way. After all, the Yankee fans are notorious for being some of the toughest in all of sports.
Just ask Blue Jays centre-fielder Vernon Wells. Whenever he mans the outfield there, he never quite knows what he’ll hear from the merciless fans — known as Bleacher Creatures — who sit just metres away.
Even so, Wells insists the ballpark in the Bronx is his favourite place to play.
“Obviously they say some stuff that can’t be repeated,” Wells said with a grin. “But I enjoy it because it’s a fun atmosphere to play in. They make it enjoyable.”
Toronto will visit Yankee Stadium today to begin a three-game series, so Metro asked some Blue Jays about taunts they’ve heard from the fans:
Wells: “‘You even suck in a video game.’ Or, ‘Your mother’s a Yankees fan.’”
Marco Scutaro: “Someone told me to get a haircut. But I don’t even have that much hair!”
Ricky Romero: “I usually get made fun of with my hat because it’s got such a straight bill. We were in New York and people were on me. They were like ‘nice hat.’ They used different words, but they were really making fun of my hat.”
Kevin Millar (coined the term “cowboy up” while playing for Boston during the 2003 playoffs): “A lot of my stuff is with that ‘cowboy up’ phrase. It’s either ‘cowboy down,’ cowboy this or cowboy that. They have fun with it, especially with me being an ex-Red Sox player.”
Scott Richmond (who used to work on the shipyard docks in Vancouver): “Some cities that you go to, it’s surprising how much they know about you, your family and your life. If you’re in New York, they yell at you about going back to the docks and working. It’s just how these people sometimes know — they dig in a lot. They don’t just know you as a ballplayer, they find out everything about you.
“It’s kind of cool, but they also kind of get you where you’re like, ‘Huh, you knew that?’”
