#Rays trolling Yankees with Kevin Cash’s ‘stable’ threat

On Wednesday the Tampa Bay Rays unveiled what they’re calling “The stable shirt,” an obvious reference to manager Kevin Cash’s angry rant directed at the Yankees earlier this month when the two teams engaged in their latest bit of drama.

“I have a whole damn stable of pitchers that throw 98 miles per hour,” Cash said Sept. 1 after Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman buzzed Mike Brosseau’s head with a 101 mph fastball, which led to players from both sides emptying onto the field after the final out.

Rays pitcher Charlie Morton showed off the shirt during a conference call with reporters before the Rays clinched the AL East with a win over the Mets in Queens.

“It was in my locker last week and I like horses. … I rode when I was younger,” Morton said, declining to reveal who was behind the shirts. “I was ecstatic to see this shirt in my locker so I wore it.”

Bullpen coach Stan Boroski, who also wore the shirt Wednesday, said “maybe, maybe not,” when asked if the Cash quote became a rallying cry, similar to how Aaron Boone’s famous “savages” tirade aimed at an umpire last season turned into the Yankees’ mantra, as well as clubhouse apparel.

“I’m not going to say too much about that,” Boroski said. “We’ll just let the chips fall where they may, as far as horse chips go.”

Cash and Boone served one-game suspensions following the incident, while Chapman is in the process of appealing a three-game ban.

At least for now the Rays have supplanted the rebuilding and last-place Red Sox as the Yankees‘ No. 1 enemy. The teams have exchanged beanballs and words since 2018, when CC Sabathia threw at a Tampa Bay batter in retaliation for former Yankees catcher Austin Romine taking a pitch to near the shoulder.

The Rays won eight of 10 games against the second-place Yankees this season.