Alex Rodriguez's tears hadn't even dried on the infield of Yankee Stadium when the Bombers' two newest members started a fresh era of power with historic back-to-back home runs Saturday afternoon in the Bronx.
Aaron Judge and Tyler Austin showed fans that the future looks bright for the Yankees — and put the drama of the controversial slugger firmly in the rear view mirror after hitting the dingers in both players' first at-bats.
Just a day ago Judge and Austin were taking swings as top prospects with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and now, less than 14 hours after A-Rod's going away party, the two new outfielders helped the Yankees win their fourth straight game with an 8-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
Welcome to The Show boys.
The behemoth Judge (he's 6'7" and 230 lbs.) blasted this 446-foot shot over the center field wall and was still able to get the ball back.
Alex Rodriguez, appearing on Michael Kay's ESPN Radio show before his final game at Fenway Park on Thursday, was asked if he had talked with “Derek” since the 41-year-old A-Rod announced that Friday would be his last day as a Yankees player.
“With who?” Rodriguez said.
“Derek Jeter,” he was told.
“About what?” Rodriguez responded to what came across like a diss towards the Yankee icon.
It seemed more likely that Rodriguez didn't hear the question clearly and acknowledged Jeter had reached out to him, but his “inbox is completely full,” so he didn't get back to his one-time BFF.
The two were close friends when they were rookie shortstops more than 20 years ago, but the relationship soured over the years even after Rodriguez bumped himself to third base in deference to Jeter when he joined the Yankees via a trade from the Rangers in 2004.
Still, A-Rod is managing to get a little love in the unlikeliest of places.
Red Sox fans sarcastically serenaded the soon-to-be-gone Yankee with a chant of "We want A-Rod" before they turned it into a chorus of boos when he finally got up to the plate.
It is not exactly clear what Rodriguez will do after abruptly ending his career when the Yankees release him from his contract following Friday's game against the Rays at Yankee Stadium, but, surprisingly, he wasn't granted a start at third base for his final game.
“CC [Sabathia] is on the mound [Friday],” Rodriguez said after manager Joe Girardi bluntly said no to A-Rod's request to play the hot corner one last time.
“There’s a lot of history there, and I thought it would be a fun way to go out. The fans of New York remember me more as third baseman. … I can at least make routine plays. That would’ve been fun for me and our fans.”
It would be fun to see A-Rod at third one last time. Just don't expect Jeets.
There was no moment of silence or official recognition of Prince’s death at Yankee Stadium Thursday night, but the ballpark’s PA system and Alex Rodriguez did plenty to honor the legendary artist after he died at his Minnesota home earlier in the day.
A dozen of Prince’s songs played over the ballpark’s sound system during the game against the A's, beginning with “Let’s Go Crazy” shortly before the Yankees took the field. Other Prince songs including “1999,” “Batdance,” “Raspberry Beret” and “When Doves Cry” played in between innings.
And one player did personally honor Prince. Alex Rodriguez used four of the Purple One's songs as his walk-up music for each at-bat.
A-Rod told reporters he used a different Prince song for each at-bat "as a tribute to one of the great legends."
Here is A-Rod's playlist:
First at-bat:Erotic City (instrumental only) Second at-bat:Kiss Third at-bat:Pop Life Fourth at-bat:Alphabet Street
Earlier in the day, A-Rod tweeted out his own sadness at the music world's loss:
Such sad news about @Prince passing. Incredible artist and an inspiration. #RIPPrince
The New York Yankees are taking dealing with the press seriously this spring training. And, in an effort to prepare players to meet with reporters, the team’s media training staff is using NFL players and other public examples of how to act and how not to act after a disappointing loss.
Last week the team kicked off the first session of media training that the Yankees do every year for their players, a several-day program filled with demonstrations, guest speakers, and two 15-minute videos comprised of clips from athletes interacting with the media past and present.
According to ESPN, one video this year featured NFL quarterbacks Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers and Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks. The video, shown to pitchers and catchers, compared the way Newton handled his team’s Super Bowl loss this year with the way Wilson dealt with his team’s defeat last year.
Newton received widespread criticism after Super Bowl 50, not because his less-than-stellar performance but because he moped at the podium before abruptly storming out of the post-game press conference.
Wilson, by contrast, answered every reporter’s question and took the blame for his team’s loss to the Patriots in February 2015.
It's no surprise Yankees icon — and poster boy for media savvy — Derek Jeter is featured in one video right after a section called "Everything is Fair Game," and says that players have to take the approach that everyone is watching you at all times, on and off the field.
But it is some of the other examples in the "wrong way" category that have people scratching their heads including one clip of ESPN reporter Britt McHenry — who was caught on camera last April unleashing a rant at an employee of a car towing company.
McHenry mocked the teeth of the employee behind the counter and told the person to, among other things, "lose some weight, baby girl."
And, strangely, they included actor Charlie Sheen's dopey tirade five years ago on ABC, calling some people "droopy-armed children."
According to NJ Advance Media, who sat down with Yankees' public relations director Jason Zillo for an exclusive look at the pair of videos and learn some of the ins and outs of how the Yankees train and handle their players' interactions with the media.
General manager Brian Cashman and manager Joe Girardi—the driving forces behind the media training, Zillo said—appear on the videos multiple times along with former players Jeter, Jorge Posada, and Andy Pettitte, plus current Yanks Brett Gardner and Carlos Beltran, among others.
Some of the most interesting parts of the videos were recent clips from athletes, showcasing both good and bad post-game interviews, according to NJ.com. And even New Jersey's beloved Lawrence Taylor gets kicked to the bad side.
Good:
— Russell Wilson's admission that he threw a bad pass in the Super Bowl a year ago that lost the Seattle Seahawks the game.
—Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy last fall owning up to the ground ball that went under his glove in the World Series.
— Washington Wizards guard John Wall tearing up in a post-game interview not long after a young friend passed away.
— Pettitte's press conference admitting to HGH use.
— Ex-Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor aggressively confronting a reporter on the field.
— Dallas Cowboys' defensive end Greg Hardy's "no comment, next question" interview with reporters last fall.
— Former big leaguer Pete Rose lying about betting on baseball.
Says Cashman in the video: After games reporters are going to go into a clubhouse looking to talk about what went wrong. Take responsibility, he says.
Even one-time pariah Alex Rodriguez is used in a clip. And if the Yankees and press are loving A-Rod as much as everyone is reporting this spring, those tapes must be working.
Fox Sports recently hired Alex Rodriguez as an analyst for their World Series coverage and, on Sunday, thought it would be cute to have him visit the Fox NFL Sunday set.
To liven things up, the Fox broadcast crew gave A-Rod a football and asked him to show off the quarterbacking skills he hasn't used since high school. The Yankees DH was then asked to throw a pass to Jay Glazer in a studio filled with millions of dollars of high-tech video equipment.
Not a problem for A-Rod to reimburse the network. As Yankees fans so begrudgedly know, Rodriguez still has two years on his contract and about $50 million more coming his way.
Alex Rodriguez's comeback season ended with boos at Yankee Stadium after he struck out against the Astros Luke Gregerson in Tuesday night's AL Wild Card Game.
And if that was a slightly louder boo you heard from above, you might be right.
A-Rod did almost everything right to gain back the trust and affection of Yankees fans after his steroid suspension in 2014, but one Yankee fan by the name of Helen Fowler wants him to know that she will never be a fan of his — even on her deathbed.
Fowler recently died at the age of 85 and used her obituary in the Star Ledger on Sept. 30 to take one last parting shot at the Yankees pariah.
In the middle of the obit it reads: "Mrs. Fowler was a former member of the Cranford First Aid Squad and a lifelong Yankees fan, with the exception of Alex Rodriguez."
The obituary website also includes a audio version which lets you hear her dissing A-Rod in a computerized voice that hilariously mispronounces Rodriguez's last name.
The Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees held a moment of silence before Sunday's game at Turner Field for for the baseball fan who fell over a balcony and died while booing Alex Rodriguez Saturday night.
A-Rod was one of the players paying their respects to Braves fan Gregory Murrey of Alpharetta, Georgia, who plummeted from the top deck of the stadium during the seventh inning of the game between the Braves and Yankees the night before.
Witnesses claim the 60-year-old insurance broker was screaming at A-Rod — who was on deck and getting ready to pinch hit for the Yankees at the time — when Murrey lost his balance and fell.
Umpires did not stop the game and play resumed as the injured Murrey was taken to the hospital where he died a short time later.
While the flag flew at half-staff at Turner Field on Sunday, the Braves displayed a photo of Murrey on the video board and observed a moment of silence before the afternoon game.
After the game Rodriguez told reporters: "It’s sad. Upsetting, for sure. My prayers go out to his family."
Murrey's son, Jason, released a statement to the New York Daily News on behalf of his family.
"Gregory "Ace" Murrey was a husband, father, grandfather, son, brother, and friend to many,' the statement read. 'He dearly loved his family, Atlanta, and the Atlanta Braves.
"The night Greg passed away, he was doing one of his favorite things — watching the Braves.
"At this time, the family wishes for you to respect their privacy as they mourn the loss of such an extraordinarily wonderful man."
Murrey was a season ticket holder at the stadium for 23 years.
Alex Rodriguez had talked in recent days about feeling lousy at the plate, citing his 7-for-53 slump through 14 games in August as "stinking up the joint."
But when his team needed him most Tuesday night, down three runs with only eight outs to go, A-Rod did what he does best and delivered one of his biggest hits of his remarkable comeback season.
With one mighty swing of the bat, Rodriguez hit the 25th grand slam of his career turning a three-run deficit into a one-run lead as the Yankees went on to an 8-4 victory over the Twins.
In return, the electrified Yankee Stadium crowd gave the slugger a robust curtain call.
The seventh-inning home run was A-Rod's first since he went deep on his 40th birthday back on July 27.
“I certainly felt great,” he said later. “A home run feels great; a grand slam feels pretty awesome — especially to do it late and to help us win a game.”
The victory was the Yankees’ fifth in the past six games, keeping them in sole possession of first place in the AL East over the Toronto Blue Jays.
And one Texas woman in Yankee gear, apparently with an interest in more than his bulging stat sheets, held up a sign referencing the Yankee slugger's other assets.
Alex Rodriguez might have been left off the All-Star team this summer and, love him or hate him, when it comes to Comeback Player of the Year, it looks like the Yankees DH already has the trophy in hand.
A-Rod not only blasted three home runs to help the Yankees to an 8-5 win over the Twins Saturday night, he jacked one that traveled 452 feet into the third deck at Target Field.
And, believe it or not, it is only A-Rod's third longest home run of the season. He hit homers that traveled 471 feet and 460 feet earlier this season, both back in April.
Minnesota led 5-0 when A-Rod hit his first home run. But, in the seventh inning, he hit another homer off Tommy Milone, this one a two-run blast, that brought the Yankees to within one.
Then, with the Yankees dangling by that run in the ninth, Rodriguez hit his third dinger of the night to tie the game.
The three-homer game is the fifth of A-Rod's career and third with the Yankees.
Call it striking while the iron is hot or, in this case, while the A-Rod is smoking.
A Southern California sports memorabilia company is auctioning off the bat Alex Rodriguez used to notch his first major-league hit and — considering all the steroid accusations, a season-long drug-suspension and that whole Minotaur painting embarrassment — the timing couldn't be better.
“Now that he has passed Willie Mays on the home run list and he has joined the exclusive 3,000-hit club, A-Rod is in collectors’ good graces again,” SCP Auctions spokesman Terry Melia told the Daily News. “He’s not looked at in the same light as when he was suspended. He paid his dues and he is trying to earn back their admiration.”
And the overachieving A-Rod has been lethal at the plate this season. After agreeing to shift to a full-time DH role, Rodriguez has regained his status as one of the American League's most feared hitters. On Wednesday, he became one of only 10 players in MLB history with 16 seasons of at least 20 home runs.
Rodriguez was an 18-year-old rookie with the Seattle Mariners, playing in his just his second big league game, when he hit a single off Red Sox pitcher Sergio Valdez at Fenway Park on July 9, 1994. Rodriguez played in 17 games that season, which was infamously cut short by MLB’s season-ending strike.
Rodriguez signed and inscribed “1st ML Base Hit” on the black Louisville Slugger, which he later gave to Mill Creek Sports, a Seattle-area sports memorabilia company that sold A-Rod memorabilia early in his career. The company sold the bat to a collector who held on to it for 20 years.
Melia said the collector, whom he declined to identify, is selling the bat now because the market for A-Rod collectibles may never be higher. Rodriguez not only seems intent on cleaning up his scandal-stained image, but he also has 20 home runs and 54 RBI.
The bat comes with a Mill Creek letter of authenticity signed by Rodriguez, who misidentifies the date of his first hit as “7/8/94.”
Bidding on the bat will start at $10,000, but Melia said the company expects it might sell for double that or more. Online bidding begins Aug. 5 and concludes on Aug. 22.
Alex Rodriguez my have tied Lou Brock with career base hit No. 3,023 for 24th place on the all-time hits list Sunday, but what really made A-Rod happy was watching Mark Teixeira deposit a home run over the right field wall helping the Yankees take the three-game series from the Mariners.
Alex Rodriguez will finally be reunited with the milestone 3000th hit ball which has been held hostage by a notorious baseball collector who finally came to terms with the New York Yankees for its release.
The Yankees announced they will hold a press conference before Friday night's game against the Rays at Yankee Stadium which will feature ballhawk Zack Hample handing over the celebrated ball to A-Rod.
In return, the Yankees will make a $150,000 donation to Hample's favorite charity, Pitch In For Baseball, in exchange for the ball's return.
Hample caught A-Rod's solo home run in the first inning of the Yankees' June 19 against the Tigers at the Stadium. He initially slammed A-Rod and said he had no interest in giving the ball back to the steroid-tainted Yankee slugger.
"I'll give him the finger and a dummy ball," Hample said in a tweet he later deleted. "That man deserves favors from no one, least of all a fan."
But later he softened his stance.
"Part of me really wants to keep it, but now I'm thinking that if I sell it, I could give some or all of the money to (Pitch In For Baseball)," Hample said later. "But I'm also going to talk to the Yankees again and discuss it further."
And those discussions — and possibly the threats and criticism from A-Rod fans — seemed to convince him to hand it over.
So let me get this straight -- I was "disrespecting the game" when I kept the ball & now I'm an "idiot" for giving it back? Ha, whatever.
It sounds like the New York Yankees and Alex Rodriguez are close to shaking out a compromise regarding the slugger's $6 million dollar home run bonus each party has been contesting — and the real winner here might be both sides.
According to Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal, a report claims the Yankees and A-Rod are making "quiet progress" toward finalizing a resolution over the money and plan to donate the money to charity.
But the legal eagles from both corners are still worried the deal might break down and that they might find themselves in arbitration after the season, the report said.
The charities to receive the cash would be picked by Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner and Rodriguez, it added.
Rodriguez was set to receive the $6 million when he tied Willie Mays' 660 home runs for No. 4 on the all-time list May 1. The payment was spelled out in a 2007 marketing agreement that also said A-Rod would also get $6 million for reaching each of the following home run milestones: tying Babe Ruth at 714, Hank Aaron at 755, Barry Bonds at 762, and then for passing Bonds.
But that deal was struck was before A-Rod's one-year suspension for steroid use and the contentious and litigious attitude he took against the organization last year.
After hitting the Mays-tying home run in Boston, Rodriguez waited 45 days — the timeframe for A-Rod to file a grievance for the Yankees' nonpayment. But the sides then agreed to postpone the deadline so a deal could be struck.
Houston Astros pitcher Brett Oberholtzer got rocked early by the New York Yankees on Saturday, allowing a grand slam to catcher Brian McCann and a two-run dinger to outfielder Chris Young — all before he was out of the second inning. So the frustrated lefty took out his anger out on Alex Rodriguez by intentionally throwing a fastball at A-Rod's midsection.
CC Sabathia took offense at the bush league tactic and the Yankees pitcher had to be held back by manager Joe Girardi after the big guy hopped out of the dugout.
Oberholtzer, who just took a beating from McCann and Young, wanted no part of CC's wrath and meekly retreated to the Astros dugout — without even waiting for the umpire to give him the thumb.
It'll be interesting to see what happens the next time CC and Oberholtzer meet in a big league park.
Or not. Since Obie was almost immediately sent down to Triple-A.
.@Astros option LHP Brett Oberholtzer to Triple-A Fresno.
Alex Rodriguez’s historic 3,000th hit ended up in the hands of a famous home-run ballhawk, and some Yankees fans aren't very happy about it.
Zack Hample, who boasts that he has caught over 8,000 major-league baseballs, came away with Rodriguez’s milestone first-inning home run ball to right field in section 103 — just below where the Bleacher Creatures sit. The 37-year-old New Yorker says he became a Yankees season-ticket holder last year and picked the right field area because it’s a "good spot."
As he was being escorted by security to a private area for negotiation, Hample didn’t sound like a guy who was going to make it easy for the Yankees.
“My intention all along, imagining this scenario as a one-in-a-million, was not to give it back,” Hample said. “Just because – the guy who got Jeter’s 3,000th hit, a lot of people called him an idiot. A lot of people said that he was a wonderful person and extremely generous, and I really think whatever you want to do with it is your choice. I think that someone like Derek Jeter or Alex Rodriguez, who’s made half-a-billion dollars in their career, doesn’t really need a favor from a normal civilian, a fan like me.
“I don’t know right now if I’m gonna sell it,” Hample continued. “Depending on what the Yankees could offer, I would consider giving it back. I don’t plan to give it back for a chance to meet him and four autographed bats, because I don’t collect bats. I collect baseballs. Just having this ball is so meaningful to me, and I can’t believe that I got it.”
Hample’s website says he’s on a mission to snag baseballs for a non-profit charity called Pitch In For Baseball, which provides baseball equipment to underprivileged kids around the world. However, some of the Bleacher Creatures regulars don’t see Hample in the same light.
“That guy’s a d-bag!” said Bald Vinny, leader of the Creatures. “That guy sucks. He pushes little kids out of the way. He is the worst ever. That guy is the worst ever. There is literally – nobody worse could’ve gotten that home run ball than that f---ing guy. He’s a d-bag.
“Tell him I said, ‘F--k off,’” he added. “That guy sucks.”
On Thursday, Hample was asked on Twitter if he’d give Rodriguez the ball back if he caught a home run for Rodriguez’s 3,000th hit. Hample replied, “I’ll give him the finger and a dummy ball. That man deserves favors from no one, least of all a fan.”
Tonight Twitter is blowing up with mostly criticisms of the notorious ball hog.
Please god tell me Zach Hample didn’t catch the A-Rod homer.
Please
The Port Charlotte Stone Crabs, Tampa Bay's Class A affiliate, had intended to give the first 500 fans a free juice box as a subtle jab at Alex Rodriguez before Friday night’s game. But, after the Yankees complained about the “A-Rod Juice Box Night” promotion, saying they found it "in poor taste," the Florida team cancelled the free giveaway.
In a photo illustration on the team's Twitter and Facebook pages, a woman is drinking from a juice box with this label (containing the wrong spelling of effects):
The Sports Drink
100 % Juiced
Side Affects include: tainted records, inflated ego, omission from the Hall of Fame, and more!
The Yankees contacted the MLB commissioner's office and the Florida State League after consulting with the Rays, who notified them of the promotion, according to TampaBay.com — even after the controversy of his return to baseball from a year-long suspension seems to be wearing off.
The team web site said the first 500 fans would get a free juice box (which they can drink or donate to the Charlotte County Homeless Coalition) and any fans bringing A-Rod T-shirts, hats or other merchandise to be donated to the Salvation Army can get a free ticket.
The Stone Crabs later apologized:
"On behalf of our entire organization I apologize to the New York Yankees, our affiliate club the Tampa Bay Rays, and all fans who may have taken offense," said Stone Crabs General Manager, Jared Forma. "While our intent was to raise awareness for the Charlotte County Homeless Coalition and the Salvation Army, we realize this promotion may have been offensive to many and for that we are sorry and have decided to cancel the promotion. The Stone Crabs organization has the utmost respect for the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays organizations and wishes both organizations only the best in the future."
The Charlotte Sports Park had a mixed bag of other promotions set up for the 6:30 p.m. game as well. The team was also offering a free beer special ($15, all you can drink from when gates open at 5 until end of the first inning) and it's All-Star Kids Club Night!
Rodriguez, who would be in New York while the Yankees played the Texas Rangers had no comment.
The Stone Crabs team is owned by Ripken Baseball, and operated independently of the Rays front office.
It had been a long time since Alex Rodriguez hit a home run — Sept. 20, 2013 to be exact — before the Yankees DH launched Daniel Norris' 1-0 pitch into the left field seats against Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium Thursday night.
And even A-Rod admitted he felt like he was in unfamiliar territory as he rounded the bases, as per Brian Hoch of MLB.com:
A-Rod: "I felt like I needed a Google map to get around the bases. It's been a while."
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) April 10, 2015
While A-Rod's solo shot was the 655th trip around the diamond, it's probably easy to lose your bearings after 19 months in exile. Here's betting the Yankees splurge for a GPS if he can keep jacking them out like that.
It's been a season and a half since Alex Rodriguez stepped up to the plate at Yankee Stadium and the Bronx pariah finally made his long-awaited return to baseball since being banned for doping charges.
The home crowd reaction for his Opening Day return was mixed — about 70-30 cheers to boos.
A lot of questions face the New York Yankees as they head into the final week of spring training but one lingering quandary stands now out: Who's getting Derek Jeter's locker?
It's decision that will have to be made sometime within the next few days, before the team's Opening Day game against the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium April 6, clubhouse manger Lou Cucuzza Jr. said.
The locker is significant because it was the space the recently retired Jeter occupied since the stadium opened in 2009. It's also prime real estate, positioned in the back of the clubhouse, near the entrance to the players' only section.
And unless Jeets heads to that stadium in the sky, it remains an available cubicle.
Cucuzza said he approached home-grown Yankees left fielder Brett Gardner more than a week ago about possibly taking over the spot, but Gardner hadn't made a decision yet.
Alex Rodriguez joined the Yankees in 2004, but he was suspended for all of 2014 for using performance-enhancing drugs. That interruption makes Gardner the longest consecutively tenured Yankee.
Yeah ... and it's A-Rod.
Gardner made his big league debut in pinstripes in 2008.
"We'll figure out it out," Cucuzza said. "We've still got time."
Didi Gregarious, who will replace The Captain at shortstop this season, is too much a newcomer. And trying to fill Jeter's shoes on the field and then drop your sweat socks in the Yankee icon's locker might just be a little too much to handle.
