A ‘special moment’ for dad
Gerrit Cole’s father, a die-hard Yankees fan, finally got to watch his son in pinstripes
Gerrit Cole and his father got robbed last year. Mark Cole grew up a Yankees fan and passed that passion onto his son. After signing with the Bombers in the winter of 2018, the Coles imagined what it would be like when the younger finally got to pitch in pinstripes in the Bronx.
The coronavirus pandemic made it a disappointing debut. While Cole got his one wish — broadcaster Suzyn Waldman to sing the national anthem — he didn’t get to have his dad there to watch. Like ballparks across the nation, Yankee Stadium was closed to fans.
Last Thursday, however, Mark Cole was in the house when his son opened the 2021 season in the Bronx.
“Hewaspretty emotional, so a special moment for him. He really likes the suite level. I guess there’s a lot of photographs of longtime Yankees franchise players and, some rare ones, some moments he remembered ,” Cole said before Monday’ s series opener against the Orioles. “So I think all in all it’s a pretty great day for him. Obviously, would have liked to cap it off with a win, but it was a long time in the making. So, a special day.”
For Cole, a California native who moved across the country and became a father during the pandemic, Thursday was a step back toward normal cy. Having his family, including his father and son, in the ballpark and being able to see them after the gamewasalmost familiar.
“I just felt kind of at ease, to be honest, after thegame,” Colesaid. “It waslikelife was normal for a few hours, andIhopeit continues to go that path, but it was like revisiting a routine that I hadn’t been a part of in quite some time, So it’ll be an Opening Day I remember for, for probably the rest of mycareer.”
And while he may want to forget the slider he threw to Teoscar Hernadez, which the Blue Jays right field er crushed for a home run, there are things to build on to his next start, which is Tuesday night. He allowed two earned runs and five hits Thursday, walking two and striking out eight.
“There were a few sequences where I would execute a pitch and then have kind of poor execution, or I couldn’t string a couple of different looks together, whether it be high fastball to the curveball or good slider to executed fastball,” Cole said of what he worked on since that start.
Hicks looking for his rhythm: Aaron Hicks has had a slow start to the season at the plate. He had one infield single in 12 at-bats in the weekend series, which the Yankees dropped to the Blue Jays. He worked two walks and struck out seven times. Monday afternoon, the center fielder was out on the field taking early batting practice, working with hitting coaches Marcus Thames and PJ Pillittere.
Yankees7,Orioles0: GiancarloStanton hit a grand slam over the visitors’ bullpen that landed in the left field bleachers 471 feet from home plate as New York handed Baltimore its first loss of the season. New York was ahead 1-0 on Aaron Judge’s fourth-inning homer when O’s starter J or geLópez (0-1) walked the bases loaded in the fifth and Shawn Armstrong forced in a run with a walk to Aaron Hicks. Stanton sent a 92 mph fastballs oaring onto a fan gathering area called Frank’ s Red Hot Terrace for his eighth career slam.