BOSTON (AP) — New York Yankees right-hander Cam Schlittler wants to see the rivalry with the Red Sox return to its more passionate heyday.
Schlittler, who grew up in the Boston area as a Red Sox fan and went to college in the city at Northeastern, said before the teams met for the first time this season that the rivalry is “heading in the right direction” after they met in the playoffs again last year.
“It’s intense. The atmosphere’s great,” Schlittler
said before Tuesday’s game. “When you’re playing a division rival, you’re going to perform at the best level. And if for some guys that rivalry feeds them a little bit, like I think it does for me, then great.”
Schlittler told the New York Post this week that he and his family have received death threats leading up to his scheduled start for the Yankees at Fenway Park on Thursday night. But he said on Tuesday that he was “not overly concerned.”
“Just looking forward to Thursday,” he told reporters in the visitor’s clubhouse. “I’ve got a job to do. I don’t want to create a distraction for the team. So I’m just going to go out there and do what I need to do on the mound.”
The Yankees said they had made no special security arrangements because of the threats. When Schlittler came out of the dugout during batting practice, the only shouts were from children wanting his autograph.
A Red Sox spokesperson said the team doesn’t comment on specific security protocols.
“The safety of all players, staff, and fans is always our top priority,” the team said. “We have well-established procedures and significant resources in place for every game to ensure a safe environment.”
A Walpole, Massachusetts, native who was called up by the Yankees last July, Schlittler did not pitch against the Red Sox in the regular season. After his family was targeted with social media comments during the AL wild-card series, he responded with a victory in the Game 3 clincher at Yankee Stadium, striking out 12 in eight scoreless innings.
This season, he is 2-1 with a 1.95 ERA heading into Thursday’s start.
Schlittler said on Tuesday that he wasn’t sure how people back home would treat him now that he pitched for their archrival. But being back in the area over the offseason for a few months, he encountered no problems.
“They were great. People were very respectful,” he said. “It gives you some good feelings that it’s really just the people online that aren’t respectful. Typical Boston fans that are everyday guys, they’re not they’re going to give you too much to worry about in person.”
Schlittler said the last time he pitched off the mound at Fenway was his senior year in high school.
“Growing up Red Sox fan, it was definitely really cool,” he said.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone, whose homer in the deciding game of the 2003 AL Championship Series marked a high point in the rivalry — at least from New York’s perspective — said he wasn’t worried about how Schlittler would respond if he gets an unwelcome greeting from the Boston fans.
“He handles it quite well,” Boone said.
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