I felt like I was watching a Red Sox - Yankees game from years ago. The atmosphere, the game play, the energy, the dislike for one another and even the announcers getting into the mix, the games in Toronto this week are fiery. I know we are only in the first month and a half of the season but the last two games had the feel of playoff baseball. And the tensions between the personalities on both teams are fierce.
"Domingo Germán was ejected from Tuesday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays after being checked for foreign substances. Germán retired the first nine batters he faced, then was checked when he came out to start the fourth inning. All four umpires were part of the inspection," reported CBS Sports. Recall that earlier this spring German escaped ejection for likely using the same sticky substance but this time, he not only was ejected but now faces a 10-game suspension for using a foreign substance. He will likely appeal.
This drama comes after the Blue Jay announcers called out Aaron Judge for his shifting eyes before hitting his second home run of the evening on Monday night. "The reigning AL MVP’s darting eyeballs during his at-bat in the eighth inning Monday night — which ended with him crushing a 462-foot home run — caught the attention of the Blue Jays’ TV broadcast and eventually the team’s clubhouse, which wondered what Judge could have been looking at," reported The New York Post.
Seriously. I mean Judge does not need to do anything to be great. He just is. And if he is trying to pay attention to coaches and block out unnecessary chirping from his home dugout as well as fans in the stadium then he is in his right to do so. Recall that his manager just got thrown out of the game moments before and there was increased tensions as result. Yet the broadcasters claimed on.
"The implication was that Judge may have been glancing at the Yankees’ dugout or first-base coach Travis Chapman to pick up a late sign on a pitch type or location, which is within the rules if technology is not being used," clarified the Post.
And to tie this all up in a bow, the Yankees are vying for lift in the standings and have been playing very well, taking two games in the series against the Rays and kicking off a strong beginning of another rough four game series against the Jays.
It is certainly not uncommon for two teams to have bad blood for one another. It is part of the competitive nature of the sport. And this toxicity has been building between these two teams for the last year or two. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has gestured his dislike for the Yankees time and time again, sometimes very distastefully. And Aaron Judge, certainly was not having it, voicing his distaste for the announcers calling him out for having "darting eyeballs" and possibly cheating.
“I got some choice words about that, but better just to keep that off the record,” Judge said Tuesday afternoon when asked about the insinuation that he was cheating. “Especially with the things that have happened in this game with cheating stuff and to get that thrown out, I’m not happy about it,” Judge said. “But people can say what they want. I still got a game to play, I got things I gotta do. I told you guys what happened and everybody else can make their own story about it,” reported The Post.
The tensions in Toronto are fierce and likely will not subside over the next two days or even through the rest of their games this season. But one thing is for sure—the Yankees are a team of champions. They have tradition, they have grit and they have one of the best players in the game today. That stand up guy is Aaron Judge and he is leading a group of fiercely competitive guys who play hard despite the odds. And you know what, I will take that everyday of the week. So take that Toronto- and your broadcasters can just shut it. And, oh, Judge broke your maple leaf in the outfield with a smashing homerun so take that too. Sorry not sorry.
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--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Senior Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof
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