Wendell Pierce Left World Series Game 5 Early Due To 'Obnoxious' Yankees Fans

This year’s World Series was a sight to behold. Two of the best teams in the MLB duked it out in some of the most viewed games in years. There were folks mad that two teams with obscenely large payrolls and fanbases made it to the big game, but those same people complained last year because the teams playing (which included my beloved Texas Rangers) weren’t deemed popular enough. I’m starting to think that some people will never be pleased unless it’s their team in contention. And some other people aren’t even happy then.

My older brother is a Los Angeles Dodgers fan. I currently work in Manhattan and lived there for 16 years, so I am friends with plenty of Yankees fans. I had no real horse in this race, aside from loving baseball. So, I was dismayed this year to see so much terrible fan behavior. The Dodgers are not immune to those accusations, as their fans hurled insults and baseballs at San Diego Padres outfielder Jurickson Profar. Regardless, Yankees fans went above and beyond to claim the coveted “s***tiest fanbase” crown.

The most notable example of Yankees fans losing their f***ing minds came in Game 4 when Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts attempted to catch a foul ball that had gone into the stands. A Yankees fan grabbed Mookie’s glove and tried to pry the ball loose. The season ticket holder was assisted in his shameful task by another fan sitting next to him who grabbed Mookie’s hand and forced it away. It was assault. There’s no other way to slice it. It was a reprehensible scene and the two fans were only banned for the next game (eventually) despite deserving a lifetime ban (in my humble “you shouldn’t assault people” opinion). Alex Verdugo, a player on the Yankees, even defended the behavior (he also struck out to lose the Yankees the series because sometimes karma is swift as f***).

But it gets worse! Both teams and the people in attendance observed a moment of silence during the game for the Stand Up To Cancer Foundation. Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, who was the Yankees’s worst nightmare during the series, held up a sign commemorating his mom, who he lost to melanoma skin cancer. Some jackass took this time to yell, “You suck, Freeman!” My mother is a breast cancer survivor. To say I was livid at this classless display would be an understatement.

The Yankees would go on to lose the series in Game 5. The Yankees fans seemed to take things quite well (though I saw way too many empty seats. Stick it out till the end, it’s the World F***ing Series.), but according to Wendell Pierce, they still don’t know how to act. The storied actor attended Game 1 in Los Angeles and Game 5 in NYC. He left the latter early.

“Unfortunately I just left the Yankees game because I was talking to a Dodgers fan and people were throwing things at me,” the actor wrote on Twitter. “Unruly, obnoxious people can ruin everything. The worst experience ever. The game and experience is of no significance now. The spirit of sports ends with the ugliness of humanity.” Hot damn! He’s not wrong. The World Series should be a celebration. This year featured some of the biggest names in the game. Losing is hard, but the whole thing should be celebrated regardless.

“It will mean nothing to me because all I remember will be the obnoxious fans I had to avoid. @Yankees,” Pierce said, tagging the organization in his message. He’s right to do so, as the two fans who assaulted Betts had initially claimed the Yankees Organization told them they would be allowed back for Game 5 (one is a season ticket holder). MLB had to step in and shut that s*** down (as they should have).

Plenty of sports fanbases could lay claim to being the worst for various reasons. It will likely depend on who you talk to. Currently, the Yankees hold that crown and it may as well be stapled to their f***ing heads. It’s not a new title either, as some of us still remember all of Yankee Stadium booing White Sox player Tim Anderson for complaining about racist comments that then-Yankee Josh Donaldson had made toward him. If Yankees fans don’t like being called assholes (and spoiler, they very much don’t) they need to stop acting like assholes.