Yankees manager Aaron Boone takes issue with Phillies fans blowing air horn during at-bats

A group of Philadelphia Phillies fans congregating outside Citizens Bank Park earned the annoyance of New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone on Thursday, all thanks to a strategically employed air horn.

The Yankees manager confronted umpires in the third inning about the matter, pointing to the fans standing by a gate. Per NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Corey Seidman, the fans’ air horn was clearly audible during at-bats throughout the top of third inning.

There was little the umpires could do with Boone’s complaints, as they hold no jurisdiction outside the stadium gates. The Phillies might be able to do something, though that hardly sounds like a winning battle for the team.

Per NBC Sports Philadelphia, the “Phandemic Crew” has become a fixture outside games early in the season, and even featured a drumline on Wednesday.

Boone: Air horn disturbed ‘golf environment’

After the game, Boone criticized the timing of the horn to reporters, calling the game “almost like a golf environment” and saying he just wanted to point out the matter to the umpires.

Meanwhile, Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto was praising the air horn-using fans after the game.

Stuff like this — both fans congregating outside a stadium and trying to weaponize the game’s silence — was bound to happen in a season where every game is being played in an almost empty stadium.

While players were previously used to constant noise, just one loud noise could present problems if the players are used to only the fake crowd noise drifting through the field. One team — the Washington Nationals — even requested the crowd noise be turned down entering the season.

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