Yankees’ Cam Schlittler addresses death threats from Red Sox fans ahead of Fenway debut
TL;DR
Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler, a lifelong Red Sox fan, faces death threats from Boston fans ahead of his debut at Fenway Park. He acknowledges the intense rivalry and the cultural expectations surrounding it.
Key points
- Cam Schlittler is a Yankees pitcher and lifelong Red Sox fan.
- He faces death threats from Red Sox fans ahead of his Fenway debut.
- Schlittler grew up in Walpole, Massachusetts, near Boston.
- He frequently attended Red Sox games at Fenway Park.
- The Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is deeply rooted in cultural expectations.
Mentioned in this story
BOSTON — Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler grew up a typical Red Sox diehard in Walpole, Mass., a 10-minute drive from Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, home of the New England Patriots.
For many New Englanders, loving the Red Sox comes with a code of honor that is passed along from generation to generation.
“You’re kind of taught to hate the Yankees,” Schlittler said Tuesday before the first Yankees’ game of the season against the Red Sox, a Giancarlo Stanton-fueled 4-0 victory. “That’s kind of how it is up here. Same thing in New York.”
Not much changed until Schlittler grew into a 6-foot-6, hard-throwing college pitcher who would walk about half a mile “all the time” with buddies from his Northeastern dorm to Fenway Park for Red Sox games.
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Schlittler’s allegiance changed when the Yankees selected him in the seventh round of the 2022 draft, one pick after the Red Sox passed on him again. Then, after Schlittler reached the big leagues last summer and pitched like a rising star, things got nasty for him when Red Sox fans spewed online hate last October, before and after he knocked his childhood team out of the playoffs with a historic outing.
And now that Schlittler is back in Boston this week to pitch in Fenway Park for the first time as a big leaguer on Thursday night, he’s received more social media abuse, and this time it has escalated to death threats.
“Getting death threats, it’s part of the game,” Schlittler said with a crooked smile in his one-on-one chat with NJ.com. “It’s not something that I’m overly concerned about.”
Schlittler is wrong, of course. Threatening a ballplayer’s life is not a part of the game, but he figures they were just a couple of bad-apple Red Sox fans trying to rile him up from a distance and not a real danger. He never even considered reporting the threats to the police or asking MLB to investigate.
“I spent the whole offseason walking around South Boston,” Schlittler added. “I even went to Fenway once ... one of the bars there. I had no issues. I was there in November, December and January. Every time I’d go out, I spent the whole time taking photos with fans.
“Sometimes I expected F-you or whatever, but I was very surprised at how I was treated. They treated me with respect and gave me my privacy. I took photos with everyone, then spent some time catching up with my friends.”
There will be no return fire from Schlittler this week, and he’s asked his family to do the same.
“I said what I needed to say at the end of last year,” Schlittler said. “I’m not too worried about that. I’ve got a job to do. I don’t want to create a distraction for the team, so I’m just gonna go out there and do what I need to do on the mound.”
Schlittler wants to stick it to the Red Sox and their fans again. He did so in the deciding game of last year’s best-of-three Wild Card Series. With both teams in a win-or-go-home situation, Schlittler delivered one of the greatest postseason starts ever by a rookie: a five-hitter over eight shutout innings, with 12 strikeouts and no walks.
The online abuse was extra motivation last fall, and he’s trying to use it to his advantage again this week.
Schlittler still is a proud New Englander. He’s a big Bruins hockey fan. He roots for the Patriots and Celtics.
He had fun returning to his college campus during Monday’s off day, too. Instead of watching the Boston Marathon, he hung out with some players on Northeastern’s baseball team and got in his throwing.
Schlitter will have a lot of friends and family at Fenway supporting him on Thursday night, but he’s expecting a lot of heckling, especially when he’s warming up in the bullpen for his start.
He knows Red Sox fans can be ruthless to Yankees players because he witnessed it when he and his father would drive 50 minutes to Fenway as a kid. He saw it when he was in college.
“I know how intense it is up here,” he said. “I think it’s gonna be loud. Yeah, I’m really looking forward to it.”
Spending the winter in New England, Schlitter reaffirmed his belief that the Red Sox, with a few exceptions, have a great fan base.
“I had no issues in the offseason, so it gives you some good feeling that it’s really just the people online that aren’t respectful,” he said. “The typical Boston fans that are everyday guys, they’re not gonna give you too much to worry about in person.”
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Q&A
What did Cam Schlittler say about the rivalry between the Yankees and Red Sox?
Cam Schlittler mentioned that growing up in Massachusetts, he was taught to hate the Yankees, reflecting the deep-rooted rivalry between the two teams.
Why are Red Sox fans threatening Cam Schlittler?
Red Sox fans are reportedly sending death threats to Cam Schlittler due to his association with the Yankees, a team they traditionally despise.
Where did Cam Schlittler grow up and how did it influence his baseball fandom?
Cam Schlittler grew up in Walpole, Massachusetts, where he was raised as a diehard Red Sox fan, frequently attending games at Fenway Park.
What impact does the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry have on players like Schlittler?
The rivalry creates significant pressure for players like Schlittler, who must navigate intense fan emotions and expectations when playing at Fenway Park.
