Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider had a bone to pick with Seattle Mariners fans on Friday night.
The Blue Jays fell behind 3-2 in the ALCS with a defeat to the Mariners in Game 5. Toronto lost by a final score of 6-2 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Wash., bringing them to the brink of elimination.
During the seventh inning, Blue Jays outfielder George Springer was injured when he got hit on the knee by a 96-mph sinker from Seattle pitcher Bryan Woo. Springer was down in pain for a good long while and had to exit the game and was replaced by Toronto teammate Joey Loperfido.
While Springer was down, Mariners fans could be heard on the television broadcast raining down boos. Here is the video of the full sequence.
George Springer is down in pain after taking a pitch off his knee pic.twitter.com/dkbjy9mRo7
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) October 18, 2025
During his postgame press conference, Schneider called out the Seattle faithful over the boos.
“I know this is an awesome atmosphere to play in, and it’s really, really cool to play here,” said Schneider. “I think the fans that were booing [Springer] should take a look in the mirror and understand what kind of player he is.
“I’ll stop there,” Schneider added. “Because when a guy gets hit in the knee and is in obvious pain and you have 40,000 people jeering? Not the right thing to do.”
The four-time All-Star Springer has had a strong series against the Mariners, having produced two home runs and four RBIs up to that point. Springer is also a very unpopular player leaguewide due to his involvement in the 2017 Houston Astros cheating scandal (with Springer taking World Series MVP that year when the Astros won it all).
Friday night’s booing controversy comes just one day after Los Angeles Dodgers fans were also blasted for booing an opponent’s injury during a game.
