The crowd seemed slightly more than half the announced attendance of 47,280 – the smallest for a Yankees home opener since April 8, 2003. Dellin Betances was charged with three unearned runs with a hit and two walks issued with his error causing the game to get out of hand.
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Suddenly, the Yankees have something to add to the repertoire next March.
And when he found that all his histrionics had come to naught – the call was not reversed, the play not reviewable, and the game now probably out of reach – Girardi signaled that the Yankees would play their 2016 opener under protest.
Girardi argued that Correa shouldn’t be allowed to run on the grass because doing so doesn’t allow the fielder a clean throw to first base and forces the pitcher to hit the runner in the back with the throw, which could lead to a serious injury.
It was 27 degrees when batting practice began, and the temperature rose to 36 with a stiff wind and a cloudless sky at game time. Under the rulebook, a protest based on a judgment call is summarily denied, and the call made by DeMuth, assisted by first-base umpire Greg Gibson, was clearly a judgment call.
Assault may be a little dramatic, but essentially Girardi was told by DeMuth that, had Betances made an accurate throw that was heading for first base and it struck Correa, it would have been recorded as an out. “That’s a good question”. It’s only the start of the season; there is a long way to go for the Yankees. You can’t prepare for all of them. Rob Manfred has stood in front of a camera a few times since then to talk about how important player safety is to Major League Baseball, and how they want to get it right. The play led to the winning run as the Yankees lost for the fifth straight year on Opening Day. He described it as an example of a team “micromanaging”.
Said Teixeira: “It’s like pass interference”. “Who’s backing up where, what happens here?” (Correa) is fine unless he impedes or hinders the first baseman or actually a fielder from making a play at first base, and he didn’t. But it isn’t that uncommon.
Either Brett Gardner or Jacoby Ellsbury, who started the wild card game on the bench, may remain in the dugout when the Yankees take the field Monday. In light of that, how do they decide which unusual plays to practice, keeping in mind that working on too many can frustrate players?
Girardi said he will stick with his plan to use Hicks in all three outfield positions throughout the season. From the interpretation, I think it’s hard on both sides. Switch-hitting Mark Teixeira was healthy for much of last season and hit 31 homers but missed the playoff game after fouling off a pitch that broke his leg.
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“All I saw was Correa’s back (and) I couldn’t see Teix”, said Betances, who didn’t know at the time that hitting Correa with a throw would have benefitted the Yanks. Spring training drills won’t change that. That runner does not have to be in the 45-foot baseline. “But it doesn’t really get you anywhere until you get the wins, until you play the six month schedule”. Hit him in the back?
