Schlittler returns to Fenway Park to start for the Yankees, then receives death threats from Red Sox fans

The "century-old rivalry" series between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox is about to begin, but before the game, it was reported that Yankees starting pitcher Cam Schlittler, upon returning to his hometown and making his first start at Fenway Park, received "death threats" from fans along with his family.

Schlittler grew up in Walpole, about 40 miles from Fenway Park, and has been a Red Sox fan since childhood. He told the New York Post that he believes there is no need for police intervention and revealed that Red Sox fans mock him online "weekly, daily."

"Most normal fans don’t care at all, right?" Schlittler said to the New York Post. "Only those die-hard fans who have nothing else in their lives besides baseball or sports, who really care about this, react intensely. And the fact that I play for the Yankees just adds fuel to the fire for them."

"It will be bad, definitely bad. I’m not nervous, but it will definitely be extremely loud," Schlittler said. "There might be people around my age or slightly younger, sitting outside the visitors' bullpen yelling at me, maybe even throwing things or trying to grab me. That’s what I expect, so my teammates and I are all excited."

This is not the first time Red Sox fans have attacked Schlittler on social media. "You’d think after last time, when they said so much, they’d tone it down a bit." He referred to "last time" as when he pitched 8 scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts in Game 3 of the AL Wild Card Series last year, personally eliminating the Red Sox. After the game, he stated that victory was "personal" after Boston fans harassed him and his family.

"They kind of crossed the line," Schlittler said at that time. "I’m a competitor, and I’ll make sure to shut them up. You know Boston fans are like that; people from our hometown are very aggressive and try to provoke opponents. They just picked the wrong person and the wrong team." Schlittler admitted that his comments after last year’s game "added a bit of fuel to the fire," but he believes: "If you’re going to provoke, you have to be prepared for retaliation."