Major League Baseball looks a little different nowadays in more ways than one.
Do the Red Sox and Yankees really hate each other’s guts? Probably not. There’s more camaraderie, fraternizing with the opponent, and messing around on the basepaths with opposing players. There was a time and place where that would be frowned upon, but that’s no longer the game.
Despite baseball’s changing dynamics, there’s still an unwritten code for how players should conduct themselves. The proverbial line still exists, and veteran players, whether they’re in, out of, or around the game, will have something to say if they feel it’s been crossed.
That’s what Foul Territory’s A.J. Pierzynski did recently. The MLB on Fox analyst made it quite clear that, despite being traded, Randy Arozarena has no business being in the Tampa Bay Rays clubhouse.
The Rays recently concluded a series with Arozarena’s new team, the Seattle Mariners. And rather than say hello to his former teammates, Arozarena made it a point to spend time with some of his old pals while they were in Seattle.
That didn’t sit well with Pierzynski.
Was Randy Arozarena wrong for visiting the Rays clubhouse in Seattle? pic.twitter.com/Bsk9pLlQ8x
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) August 28, 2024
“You don’t go into the other team’s clubhouse. I’m sorry, but if I’m on that team, I’m going, ‘Get the bleep out of here. We’ll see you on the field.’ You don’t need to be in the other team’s clubhouse,” Pierzynski said. “If you play on the other team, you’ll see them on the field. I know times have changed. I don’t care about fraternization. I don’t care about pimping homers. I don’t care about any of that. You don’t walk into my clubhouse; you just don’t.
“I promise you, if I was on a team or there was a team I played on and I got traded and I got DFA’d, and I had to switch teams if I would’ve gone into the other team’s clubhouse — even if you leave on good terms — in the clubhouse, someone would’ve been like, ‘Get the [expletive] out of here now.'”
Pierzynski was so bothered by it that a day later, he asked Oakland A’s pitcher Ross Stripling, who is with his fourth MLB ballclub, about it.
.@ajpierzynski12 asks Ross Stripling for his thoughts on Randy Arozarena going into his old team’s clubhouse before the game.
Strip says he caught up with Blue Jays staff when they were in Toronto, but he made sure to stay out of the locker room. pic.twitter.com/2hIqRscgZq
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) August 29, 2024
Jonathan Papelbon also weighed in.
The former Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies closer was taken aback by Arozarena’s visit, stating he had never witnessed such a gesture during his playing days. He subsequently criticized and blamed Rays manager Kevin Cash for allowing it to happen.
While the sport has become more relaxed and informal, certain traditions and unwritten rules still hold weight. Arozarena’s actions, while seemingly harmless, may have violated one of those unspoken boundaries.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.