TAMPA, Fla. — The most riveting matchup Sunday at Steinbrenner Field did not take place on the field, but above it — and then into the stands, onto the backfields and the shrubs that surround the Yankees’ complex.
It involved a stadium operations official in a cherry picker, armed with a basket, a blanket and a stick, trying to capture a raccoon from atop the 40-foot-high screen behind home plate. After several efforts were thwarted by the hissing raccoon, the employee whacked it with the stick, sending the raccoon hurtling down to the stands as witnesses shrieked.