In two separate incidents Friday, a couple members of the New York Yankees family were both involved in dramatic incidents of mistaken identities by respective authorities hundreds of miles apart, but later absolved of any wrong doing after the infield dirt and exhaust fumes had settled.
Before rightfielder Brett Gardner got tossed out of a game against the Blue Jays up in Canada last night, general manager Brian Cashman was tossed by a swarm of anti-car theft police in Connecticut earlier in the evening — with guns drawn.
Gardner's bust and outburst in Toronto might have been witnessed by fans at the game and watching on the YES Network, but it was the Yankees general manager's dramatic experience which might have been a little more TV show worthy after he was swarmed by “as many five patrol cars" and "between six and nine police officers” with “guns drawn” in Darien after being mistaken for an "armed car thief,” according to a report from the New York Post.
The only guns showing in the Gardner case were his biceps as he was restrained from going after umpire Chris Segal by Yankees manager Aaron Boone.
Cashman's ordeal began while was driving the vehicle from Yankee Stadium to the Norwalk, Connecticut Police Department on Friday afternoon to have it processed for evidence after he reported it stolen in the Bronx. When he stopped for gas in Darien, he was greeted with a swarm of police officers responding to someone in a white Jeep “that was brandishing a gun in a local doctor’s office.”
Combined with the fact that the NYPD never took the jeep off the "hot car" list, Cashman was told not to "make any rash moves" as he exited his vehicle. Talk about a trading deadline being over, this was one rash decision that even a MLB GM knew not to make.
“And that’s when apparently the circumstances radically changed,” said Cashman. “I had a welcoming committee descend upon me as I pulled out of that gas station … They executed a very tactful interception. They’re clearly very professional and trained and they asked me to turn my car off, exit the vehicle, walk backwards towards them … they were executing their duty.”
After a 15 minute process, Cashman was escorted to the Norwalk Police Department by Darien police in order to avoid a similar situation unfolding down the road. He was assured his vehicle was off the stolen car list.
Gradner's incident with The Man resulted from other player's barking in the Yankees’ dugout over a pair of questionable called strikes by Segal in the fourth inning, the first a strike-three call on Cameron Maybin and the second the very next pitch to Mike Tauchman.
After the Tauchman call, Maybin, seated in the dugout, yelled, “F—ing terrible, let’s go!”
Segal immediately responded: “Time, out, done!” and signaled someone was out of the game. When Boone inquired who had been tossed, Segal replied: “Gardner. He just told me I’m f—ing terrible.”
The obvious misidentification caused a stunned Gardner to emerge from the dugout before he blew up and had to be held back by Boone. Then it was time for Gardner's signature bat-bashing in the dugout.
“I told him I didn’t say anything,” Gardner said. “He told me I did say something. That’s why I got pretty irritated.” Gardner also called Segal “a liar.”
Later, a still agitated Gardner wasn't as diplomatic or forgiving as Cashman for the mishap. Asked if wanted an apology from Segal, Gardie plainly said, "Not interested."
So Mike Tauchman takes a strike...and Brett Gardner gets ejected?— YES Network (@YESNetwork) August 10, 2019
That's what happened, and if this game can get any crazier, you can watch it here: https://t.co/i6xvpsa0pF pic.twitter.com/V5VQ2SHOuj
