The Yankees’ historic victory over their arch-rivals, the Boston Red Sox, in the postseason was not only a sporting milestone, but also unleashed an unexpected “war” on social media. The protagonist of the epic performance, pitcher Cam Schlittler, decided to celebrate his dominance over Boston by publicly mocking one of their best-known fans, sparking a defiant response that promises to keep the rivalry alive off the field.
The showdown began before the decisive Game 3 in the Bronx. Lucy Burdge, a betting influencer and loyal Red Sox fan, confidently posted a selfie saying “Sox in 3.”
Schlittler’s response and mockery
Schlittler, who silenced Boston’s offense with eight scoreless innings and 12 strikeouts, did not hesitate to respond to Burdge’s post with a precise comment “not this year”, just after sealing the Red Sox’s elimination.
The pitcher’s response went viral instantly, igniting the interaction between the baseball world and social media. The interaction was as applauded as it was unexpected, uniting the sport with players, fans and influencers, something that when it comes to counting interactions, adds up quite a bit and everyone wins.
A declaration of “war”
Initially, Burdge responded with a meme expressing frustration, but then broke her silence with a statement on the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast. The fan claimed that Schlittler’s trolling has changed her approach for the rest of the postseason.
“When the Red Sox are eliminated, you can watch the rest passively,” Burdge explained. “And now I’m going to be watching this with eagle eyes because I have some tweets ready in the drafts.… if he does something good or bad, especially bad, because now I have a new rival.”
This is not over and it has only just begun. This is day one of my war with Cam Schlittler. This is war
Schlittler faced his past
Schlittler has a history with Boston, having grown up near the city and even many of his family and friends are fans of the team, so the game had a special flavor for him and his people.
Schlittler said after the game that most of his friends and relatives, die-hard Red Sox fans, were visibly “upset” after his stellar performance. But he takes it in stride and enjoys his performance and his team’s victory
The Yankees player left a humorous message to Boston fans: “They’ll get over it. Hockey season’s coming up, basketball season’s coming up. So I’m sure they’ve got other things to distract them.”
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