German ‘thankful for the opportunity’ to pitch again
NEW YORK — Domingo German cannot change the past. The Yankees right-hander will always have the 81-game suspension for domestic violence that wiped out his 2020 season on his baseball record. He has to live with the consequences of his actions with his family and friends. The 28-year-old has had to step up and accept responsibility with the organization and face his teammates.
Now, he has to go out and prove that he appreciates the second chance he has been given. German will make his first appearance on a major league mound since Sept. 18, 2019 on Sunday.
“The opportunity, it means a lot for me, just the opportunity itself. I mean, it’s not easy to be a big leaguer and plenty of players have gone through something similar, then they’ve never had the opportunity to come back or find themselves on the Opening Day roster,” German said before Saturday’s game against the Blue Jays at the Stadium. “For me, I want to say I’m thankful for the opportunity. At the same time, I want to show that when you get a second chance you want to do things right. You want to be there for them. You want to be there for my teammates. We make mistakes and it’s also possible to learn from it and move forward.”
Thursday, when the teams were introduced for Opening Day, German’s introduction was met mostly with ambivalence. A smattering of cheers and a few boos from the crowd of 10,850, who were mostly just celebrating the fact they were allowed back in after the coronavirus pandemic locked the gates to fans in 2020.
Sunday will be the first time the focus of Yankees fans will be back on German. He is not worried about the reaction he will get.
“We had some fans in Tampa during our games and I felt welcome over there in Tampa during spring training. I felt their support,” German said through team interpreter Marlon Abreu. “The other day, we had some practice here and I heard the cheer from the crowd. It felt good and I could feel their support. Tomorrow is going to be exciting. I want to go out there and give the best I have. It’s really important for me to go out there and give it what I have and leave it out there.”