Yankees' Cam Schlittler reveals Red Sox fans 'crossed a line' before dominant start

The benefit of being from Boston is that Yankees rookie Cam Schlittler was able to make Thursday's do-or-die start at Yankee Stadium truly personal. The drawback, though, is that he has to interact with Bostonians.

Schlittler, a Walpole native who attended Northeastern and whose father is Needham Police Chief John Schlittler, grew up ensconced in one fandom and helped redefine the other side of the rivalry on Thursday night in the Bronx. Those two realities aren't entirely unrelated. One begat the other.

After striking out 12 men in eight shutout innings without walking a batter, Schlittler told the media that the game had been "personal" for him after Boston fans crossed a line "a little bit".

As if Schlittler needed another tick or two on his fastball, we'd like to thank his high school friends and a bunch of anonymous trolls for giving it to him. You did this! You did it!

Cam Schlittler admits Red Sox fans crossed a line before Yankees ended their season

Most fans probably assumed Schlittler's claims of harassment, like most accusations levied against Red Sox fans, would be ignored before being buried. Thankfully, we have a paper trail on this one to at least get a loose gauge on what happened (in addition to, presumably, a bunch of Schlittler's friends being hardos after Garrett Crochet's victory, which he also mentioned in the postgame).

Prior to the start, Leader of Red Sox Twitter Jared Carrabis responded to a Schlittler press conference video, claiming there was a "zero percent chance" that Schlittler's family preferred their own relative to the Boston Red Sox. Once again, that's an organization they had nothing more than a regional association with (and an organization that could've drafted Schlittler many times over out of Northeastern, right down the road, if they'd noticed or cared).

Instead of engaging in healthy debate or ignoring the remark entirely, Red Sox Twitter's most noxious trolls assembled, harassing Schlittler's mother over her allegiance until she locked her account (while they bragged about it).

You want to ride the Duck Boats? You've got to own your low moments, too. This is the mob you've created. They did your bidding. Did it help?

Schlittler might not be quite so uniquely motivated against the Toronto Blue Jays, but he's a one-of-a-kind competitor with an eternal chip on his shoulder. The Yankees developed him. Now, they've unleashed him. The ALDS should be cinematic, and Schlittler will get the ball, riding this edge, in a potential Game 4.