Cisco the Kid Becomes The Yankee Clapper

Yankee fans know Francisco Cervelli for bringing his energy, enthusiasm, and passion to each and every pitch and play in the games he has played so far in his young Yankees career. However, he did get carried away last night.

I'll tell you why Cervelli was in the WRONG for his actions.

We all know the history between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox has shown much tension between the two ball clubs throughout the years. The Red Sox have historically hit countless Yankees, including a game where Pedro Martinez hit BOTH Derek Jeter and Alfonso Soriano in the hands and sent both to the hospital in the same game. Well Tuesday night's game between the same two clubs brought out a bit more in the rivalry.

In the 5th inning, Francisco hit a solo home run off of Red Sox starter John Lackey. It was Cervelli's 2nd home run of the season. He was very energetic as he ran around the bases, and then, as he came to home plate, he stomped on home plate and did a giant two hand clap like a dolphin would do right in front of Red Sox cather Jarrod Saltalamacchia. John Lackey noticed and took exception, and in the 7th inning when Cervelli was at the plate for his next at bat, Lackey immediately drilled Cervelli in the back at the numbers with a fastball. Cervelli approached Lackey but was intercepted by Saltalamacchia, benches cleared, and everyone settled down and proceeded back with the game.

It's been known that the Yankees have talked to Cervelli in the past about his on-field antics and Cervelli needs to keep his emotions to himself. If you quietly do a fist pump and keep it to yourself, then it's all fine. But when  you do what he did against your biggest rival, you're going to pay for your actions. Just because Big Papi David Ortiz and other Red Sox players have done it to the Yankees doesn't make it right for the Yanks to do the same. Two wrongs don't make a right, and in baseball if you show up another team, you'll be hit and/or moved off the plate by the pitcher.

On a comical note, Francisco Cervelli had been known by many Yankee fans, including referenced by John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman as "Cisco the Kid". But after last night's game, a follower on twitter to espnnewyork.com's Andrew Marchand reported that someone came up with the name "The Yankee Clapper" for Cervelli (a spin-off of The Yankee Clipper").

Will this incident spill over to other games this season? Probably not, but with the way these two teams play one another, you never know!