The New York Yankees took Game 1 of Sunday’s doubleheader with the Texas Rangers, 2-1, in dramatic fashion. And in the process, Rangers manager Chris Woodward managed to get himself crushed by Yankees fans.
It’s no secret across baseball that the right-field wall to Yankee Stadium is notoriously short. It’s been that way since the stadium opened, and left-handed betters absolutely feast on that short porch. It’s how Anthony Rizzo made history earlier this season with the least powerful three-homer game of the Statcast era. Everyone knows about it.
But in Gleyber Torres’ case, it was probably a bit unfair to dismiss his heroics as merely a gift from Yankee Stadium.
GLEYBER TORRES WALKOFF HOME RUN! YANKEES WIN! pic.twitter.com/sDaYQVz9Qi
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) May 8, 2022
With the score tied in the bottom of the ninth, Torres took a 3-1 sinker the opposite way for a walk-off home run over that right-field wall. Now, I can understand the frustration about a ton of Yankee Stadium home runs. But Woodward probably should have at least looked at the measurements before calling Torres’ home run an “easy out in 99 percent of ballparks.”
"That's an easy out in 99% of ballparks… He just happened to hit it in a Little League ballpark." -Rangers manager Chris Woodward on Gleyber Torres' walk-off home run
Gleyber's 369-foot shot that traveled at 106.5 MPH would have been a home run at 26 of 30 MLB parks pic.twitter.com/obrxaZ2Vgj
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) May 8, 2022
Torres’ home run went 369 feet at 106.5 mph off the bat. It would have been a home run in 26 of the 30 MLB ballparks — not an out in 99 percent of ballparks. So, as much as Woodward didn’t want to blame John King for allowing the home run, his pitcher just has to execute better next time. It wasn’t the stadium’s fault. Both teams played there.
Just to be sure, though, Giancarlo Stanton hit a 461-foot home run in Game 2.
Giancarlo Stanton hits a 2-run home run‼️#YANKSonYES LIVE https://t.co/aRu5PF6iD2 pic.twitter.com/GaUjqeozXW
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) May 8, 2022
Yankees fans, of course, had plenty of “Little League park” jokes after those remarks.
