Tex message to kids: Have fun, keep fighting
YOU SAW the two-out, walk-off grand slam by Mark Teixeira that lifted the Yankees to a stunning 5-3 win over the Red Sox on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium, saving the Yankees from playoff elimination in the grandest of ways.
This is what you didn’t see.
“After you hit a walkoff, we have a little thing,’’ Teixeira, who will retire after Sunday’s final Yankees game of the season, told The Post. “You have to do a speech.’’
That is what the Yankees do behind clubhouse doors. It’s a little tradition that can mean so much — especially to a young team, a team trying to find its way in the tough AL East, a division the Red Sox won Wednesday night with the Orioles’ 3-2 victory over the Blue Jays.
“You get a walk-off, you give a speech,’’ said Teixeira, 36, who has the wisdom of 14 major league seasons behind him and now 409 home runs.
“There’s been a couple of speeches this year,’’ Teixeira said. “I came in and just told them this is as much fun as I’ve ever had in playing the game. Don’t let this game get you down, because it will chew you up.
“Like it did to me this year,’’ Teixeira said, emotion rising in his voice. “I told them I’ve been having fun these last few months and we’ve got four games left, keep enjoying yourself, keep fighting and like we did tonight. That’s what this game is all about.’’
The Yankees learned a great lesson across the board Wednesday night.
A lesson born by Teixeira’s first career regularseason walk-off home run. It took 14 seasons, but it was worth it. (He also had a walk-off homer against the Twins in Game 2 of the 2009 ALDS.)
This marked the Yankees’ first walkoff grand slam since Alex Rodriguez blasted one in the bottom of the ninth against the Orioles on April 7, 2007.
“This is a great situation for these young guys to be in,’’ Teixeira said of the Yankees being on the outskirts of the playoff chase. They are in it, but they are really not in it because of the number of teams they have to jump over to make the second wild card, but it is still a form of must-win baseball.
“They’re still meaningful games,’’ Teixeira said of the psychological impact of these games. “When you come up and you are 20 games out, it’s almost, ‘Hey, what did I do today?’ This is, ‘What can I do to help the team?’ This is: ‘Hey there’s pressure, but not so much pressure.’
“And that’s where you have to live,’’ Teixeira said, offering a graduate course in MLB. “You have to live where the pressure keeps you sharp, but you still have to have fun.’’
Teixeira got the grand slam ball back because it landed in the Yankees’ bullpen.
“There’s a little Gatorade on it,’’ he said, a reference to the wild home plate celebration.
By hitting his grand slam off Joe Kelly’s 99-mph fastball down and in, right where left-handed hitters love it, the Yankees kept the Red Sox from celebrating on their field. The Red Sox, though, did celebrate in their clubhouse.
Joe Girardi mentioned the experience the young Yankees are getting during this time, experience that showed itself in a key Gary Sanchez walk to help set the stage for Teixeira’s heroics. A few days ago, Teixeira hit a big home run against the Blue Jays and offered a fine bat flip.
What does a win like this teach his team?
“You just never stop playing the game ,’’ Girardi said .“You never know. We had one hit through eight innings. It can happen fast. You take advantage of a couple walks and all of a sudden you got something going and you are right back in the game.’’
It’s never too late. Even when you are about to retire.
Yo u hit one out and you give a speech to your team mates. Lessons of the game are passed on to the next generation of Yankees.