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Frazier comes to Yanks after making name for himself across Hudson
Nineteen years later, Todd Frazier will be back on the Yankee Stadium infield. Only this time, he won’t be a visitor.
Frazier, the New Jersey native who won a Little League World Series in 1998 and stood next to Derek Jeter when his team was honored by the Yankees, has come home. And he can’t wait to try to lead his hometown team to the playoffs, to return to the postseason for the first time in four years himself, and be able to do so in front of friends and family who have followed him at a distance for so long.
“He’s just on a high right now,” his father Charlie told The Post in a phone interview Wednesday afternoon. “He finally got on a team that’s in contention, a team that’s trying to win instead of trying to rebuild.
“Nothing against the other teams, the Reds or the White Sox, [but] to have an opportunity these next couple of months to be in contention and be close to family, and playing for the Yankees, he’s pumped. He’s really pumped. I think this is going to give him a second-half energizing.”
Frazier, acquired from the White Sox along with relievers David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle on Tuesday night, was having a down year in Chicago. He was batting .207 with 16 homers and 44 RBIs in 81 games. But now the 31-year-old infielder, a Red Sox fan growing up because of his fondness for David Ortiz, finds himself in a playoff race, with a chance to return to the postseason for the first time since 2013.
“The thing he kept saying was, ‘It’s time to make the playoffs, it’s time to roll,’ ” his older brother Jeff said. “That’s what he’s always wanted. For it to be the Yankees, it’s an extra bonus.”
After all, he’s spent his entire life winning, from the 1998 Little League World Series with Toms River East to winning the Big East Tournament with Rutgers in 2007 and being drafted in the first round that year by the Reds.
“He was that guy that had that ‘it’ factor,” recalled Casey Gaynor, who played with him on the 1998 Little League World Series team and later at Rutgers. “We used to say, even at 10 years old, if Todd doesn’t make it to the major leagues, we don’t know who does.”
From there, his star never dimmed. He won two state championships for Toms River South High School, set records at Rutgers, and was a first-round pick (34th overall) of the Reds in the 2007 draft. He was called up by May 2011, and became a regular the following season. He was selected to the 2014 All-Star Game, and won the Home Run Derby for the home fans in Cincinnati the following year. He’s produced at least 17 home runs every year in the big leagues, and never notched an OPS lower than .721, developing into a powerhitting third baseman.
“He brings the attitude every day that he’s coming to win,” said Mets outfielder Jay Bruce, Frazier’s teammate with the Reds. “He wants to win, he expects to win, and he’s a guy you want on your side.”
His path to stardom began long before the 1998 Little League World Series. It was in his family’s backyard, where toughness and a competitive drive were instilled in him. Frazier was always playing sports with his two older brothers and their friends, despite being several years younger. Charlie had only
“Nothing against the other teams ... to have an opportunity these next couple of months to be in contention and be close to family, and playing for the Yankees, he’s pumped. ... I think this is going to give him a second-half energizing.” — Charlie Frazier, Todd’s father
one rule for his older sons, Jeff and Charlie Jr.: Todd had to play, even if he was often picked last in pickup basketball and baseball games.
“He never, ever gave up. Even at a young age, his mindset was ‘I want to keep playing until I’m better than my brothers,’ ” said Jeff, his elder by four years. “That fueled him. He kept driving and driving [himself ]. We’re a competitive family and we don’t like to lose. There would be fist fights, bats thrown, you name it.”
His two older brothers would play professional baseball, both of them drafted and spending a combined 15 years in the minor leagues, with Jeff getting a cup of coffee with the Tigers in 2010. But Todd would surpass them. Jeff ’s team reached the Little League World Series in 1995 and finished third in pool play, so Todd oneupped him with a world title. He broke Jeff ’s home-run records at Toms River South and at Rutgers. Jeff was there when Todd surpassed his mark at Rutgers.
“He was smiling, smirking at me, as he rounded third,” Jeff recalled. “He doesn’t hesitate to rub stuff in, I can tell you that.”
Around Toms River, everyone had Frazier Yankees fever. Jeff said he woke up to 123 text-messages, and he even purchased a Yan- kees hat, despite growing up a big Mets fan. He had switched sides, because of his little brother.
After all, Todd remains a fixture in the community, living in Toms River in the offseason. Toms River South baseball coach Ken Frank said Todd still will come back to offer advice. After a big victory this spring, he texted his old coach, “great win, coach. Tell the kids keep going.”
“How many guys do that?” Frank said.
Jeff predicted upwards of 500 family, friends and Toms River natives will be at the Stadium on Tuesday night as the town’s favorite son makes his home debut. Charlie, thinking ahead, was still having trouble wrapping his head around it, his son a Yankee. It’ll sink in at some point on Tuesday night, perhaps around first pitch, when he hears the infamous “roll call” for his youngest child.
“I’m just hoping he looks up at us, and gives us a glance, like ‘I made it, I’m here, playing for the hometown team instead of being out in the midwest,’ ” Charlie said. “There might be a few tears.
“It’s almost like he’s made a complete cycle and he’s back home again.”