Aug 28, 2021; Oakland, California, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Nestor Cortes Jr. (65) walks to the dugout during the first inning against the Oakland Athletics at RingCentral Coliseum. Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

Watch: Yankees players go viral for 'the bubblegum game'

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Alex Evans | Last updated 6/29/22

The New York Yankees have the best record in baseball, and some players are apparently looking for new forms of entertainment after getting off to a 55-20 start and 12.5-game division lead before the calendar turns to July.

With the Yankees up 2-0 in the top of the fourth inning of their Tuesday game with the visiting Oakland Athletics, YES Network cameras showed some Yankees players in the dugout tossing chewed pieces of gum onto the field. YES analyst and former MLB player Cameron Maybin helped to explain what was going on in what he said was referred to as “the bubblegum game.”

“What they do is, usually it’s the pitchers playing this gross game, it’s like frisbee golf,” Maybin said. “They find a little marker on the field and then they toss the gum as if they’re playing frisbee golf. It’s all chewed gum.”

The Yankee dugout is playing whats called “the bubblegum game” pic.twitter.com/eH4kGJGDwo

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) June 29, 2022

Longtime Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay sympathized with Danny Cunningham, the Yankees’ head groundskeeper, for the headache it must be to remove all of that gum from the field.

A few of the players participating in the game, including Nestor Cortes Jr., Jordan Montgomery and Matt Carpenter, were apparently notified by Aaron Judge that their bubblegum contest was being shown on the broadcast.