Yankees fans delivered a less than warm welcome to Ted Cruz after the visiting senator from Texas stood up to wave to a sea of not-so-thrilled onlookers.
The Republican senator was spotted cheering for the visiting Houston Astros from the second row behind home plate during the Sunday evening matchup.
In pictures posted on his own Twitter, he expressed his enthusiasm for attending the game, writing: “Minutes from opening pitch in Yankees Stadium.”
In separate tweets shared online in the hours after the Yankees lost to the Astros, attendees posted about a since-viral moment at the game during which the Republican lawmaker stood up to wave to fans but was instead met by a group of people flipping him the bird.
“@tedcruz came to @yankeestadium wearing @astros colors tonight. The Bronx responded in kind…” tweeted Jesse Angelo, the president of Global News and Entertainment at Vice News.
The picture included alongside Mr Angelo’s message showed three fans standing feet away from Mr Cruz with their middle fingers raised in the direction of the smiling politician, while a fourth person – standing just one row behind the senator – can be seen giving him a smiling thumbs-down.
Video footage from the same game appeared to show Mr Cruz getting booed by fans in the stadium as the lawmaker made his way through the bleachers and posed for pictures with some more enthused onlookers.
“Racist piece of s***,” one person in the viral video footage can be heard shouting, while another can be heard saying, “Go back to Cancun,” in apparent reference to the infamous incident where the senator flew to Mexico while his state experienced an intense winter storm that left millions in the state without power and water.
Baseball fans across the league found themselves, for once, united in their appreciation for the Yankees, with some Mets fans even wading into the online debate to express their thanks to their rivals.
“Mets fan here feeling appreciation for & pride in these Yankees fans. Thanks for showing Ted Cruz exactly how we feel about him in nyc,” wrote on Twitter user, and another quipped: “As a Mets fan, I can say - in this instance - I am proud of Yankee fans for doing exactly the right thing. Send Ted back to Cancun.”
Even some fans of the visiting Texas team joined in on the pile on.
“One thing we can all agree on #Yankee and #Astros fans.. hating Ted Cruz,” tweeted a self-proclaimed Astros fan
