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This Day In Sports (July 29): 1991 - A’s outfielder Jose Canseco gets bombarded at Yankee Stadium

The video speaks for itself, but let's go down memory lane with a polarizing Yankee.

For the record, I’m so far out on Jose Canseco.


In 1991, before becoming a Yankee was a thought, Canseco was in arguably the prime of his career. He guaranteed he’d be in the 40-40 club, overestimating his ability to hit and to run the bases. He managed to draw all the attention to himself, even in a locker room with former MVP’s Dave Parker and Don Baylor, and even slugger Mark McGwire somehow took a back seat to Canseco’s antics.


But, let’s get real - a good chunk of Yankee fans don’t exactly fit the mold of a saint either.


July 29, 1991 was a wild day in Yankees history. The A’s came in for a two-game set, and it was in the thick of a rough stretch for the Bombers - they’d lost 3 of their last 4, and they finished the season a less-than-ideal 71-91 total record. And they had finally reached their breaking point.

Canseco was obviously not well-liked, and it showed. When Yankee fans started quarreling in the right field box seats, objects flew onto the field, and right near Canseco. An inflatable doll made the cut, as did a head of cabbage, and someone’s Walkman (it’s unclear if it was a transistor radio).


“It was like the wild kingdom out there,” Canseco said after the game.


Weird days in Yankees history are hard to come by, but this probably tops my personal list.

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