The New York Yankees have adopted a new rallying cry for the stretch run of the regular season, and to say it came from an unexpected source would be an understatement.
During the Yankees’ Sept. 11 game against the Tampa Bay Rays, which was played at Citi Field due to scheduling changes caused by Hurricane Irma, a New York Mets fan who was attending the game went viral for holding up a prominent “thumbs down” gesture after Todd Frazier belted a three-run homer.
Since the fan — whom the New York Daily News identified as 54-year-old Gary Dunaier — flashed the thumbs down, the Yankees have gone 8-2. They must think Dunaier brought them good luck, because they’ve fully embraced the thumbs down movement.
RT .MLB: Never Forget: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. https://t.co/6SJFePICvO pic.twitter.com/ZrTH3Epgnx
— Never Forget Bot (@forgetmebot) September 14, 2017
The team even had custom thumbs down shirts made.
#thumbsdown letssss go pic.twitter.com/Gip5Te6yjh
— Todd Frazier (@FlavaFraz21) September 20, 2017
Frazier told Kevin Kernan of the New York Post that the idea for him to adopt the thumbs down came from rookie Aaron Judge.
“Judge actually brought it up to me, saying, maybe I should do it during the game,” Frazier explained. “I said, ‘All right, I’m going to do it.’ I told the [Rays] first baseman [Logan] Morrison, ‘This is not directed towards you guys, tell your pitchers I’m not trying to show anybody up.'”
The best part about the entire story is that Dunaier despises the Yankees. He’s a Mets season ticket holder.
“I meant it as derision and they’re taking it as a positive thing,” Dunaier told the Daily News. “That’s funny. It’s hilarious. What else can you say, you know?”
If the Yankees end up winning the World Series, they should do everything they can to try and convert Dunaier to the dark side.
