‘Everybody Against Yankees’: Fans Explode as Blue Jays Continue Astros’ Trend of On-Field Injustice

After winning 8 back-to-back matches, the New York Yankees started their toughest 12-round series against their four playoff contenders in the AL, starting with the Astros on 2nd September, and then back-to-back series with the  Jays, Tigers, and Red Sox. The Yankees impressively won their first big test two games to one.

That good vibe has suddenly turned into a headache in their second big series in this 12-day streak against the division leader, the Toronto Blue Jays, with a feeling like déjà vu when Jazz Chisholm Jr struck out at the bottom of the 2nd on Kevin Gausman’s pitch. The pitch was clearly a ball that the umpire called a strike on a 3-2 count,  just when the Yankees were trailing 4-1 after the top of the 2nd, and tried to get back after Giancarlo Stanton’s 418-foot homer to left center.

The call was so obvious that Chisholm prepared to take his deserved walk to first base, and after a long week of questionable strike zones in Houston, it was enough to light up the fire. The popular fan account Talkin’ Yanks captured the mood perfectly, tweeting, “Here we go again…”

Let’s be honest—this story didn’t start against Toronto. It started in Houston when Manager Aaron Boone brought in reliever Devin Williams in a tied eighth inning on Wednesday, September 3rd, and Williams got squeezed by home plate umpire Brian Walsh. This led to a bases-loaded walk and an Astros four-run explosion and flipped the scoreboard upside down. After that, Williams got tossed, and Aaron Boone got tossed, but the nightmare didn’t end.  Because in the ninth, down 8–7, when the Yankees had a chance, Jazz Chisholm Jr. took a 3-2 pitch he thought was ball four, and Walsh called strike three, ending the game.

Even when Walsh moved to third base the next night, the drama continued.  When Ryan McMahon caught a Jose Altuve soft liner in the sixth inning, before fumbled on the transfer. Walsh ruled that there was no catch, and it helped the Astros to cut the lead to 4-2.

Put it all together, and what do you have?

The raw anger from the fanbase. So one fan said, “It’s really everybody against the Yankees at this point.” This feeling is the direct result of the Houston series when umpire Brian Walsh made 16 incorrect calls against the Pinstripes that gave the Astros a stunning +1.4 run advantage, and the Yankees lost that game by a single run.

So when the same thing happened once again in the very next, and one of the most crucial series that can change the future of the division and the team, one fan repeated that feelings, “Umps doing everything they can to help Toronto lmfao.” 

At the center of this storm stood one player: Jazz Chisholm Jr. He was the one at the plate for the final out against Houston’s 8-7 win, and now it’s himn again. So the fan said, “Why is it always against Jazz man. S— not right.” This sentiment comes from two brutal moments, and even after the first event, Jazz himself said, “When you’ve got umpires that want to be the players, that’s what happens.”

Through all the chaos, one name has become infamous: Brian Walsh — the villain of Wednesday’s loss —who ruled McMahon’s no catch again on Thursday. So after the recent strike call in the Toronto series, one fan quipped, “Brian Walsh. That you?” 

Ultimately, the anger and memes boil down to one final plea: “GET ME ABS THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE.” And we can’t argue because Brian Walsh’s umpiring in the Houston series and the recent strike call are the reasons why robot umpires are needed.