Bronx Bombers are back: Stanton leads resurgence
TORONTO – Giancarlo Stanton kept telling anyone who listened he just wanted to be himself.
There would be no extra pressure. No expectations. Just the same guy who hit 59 home runs last year for the Miami Marlins.
Well, he lied to us.
The dude came out in Yankees pinstripes and put on his Babe Ruth impersonation Thursday, hitting a home run in his first swing as a Yankee, hitting another in his last swing and mixing in a double between the two in New York’s season-opening 6-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre.
In all, Stanton went 3-for-5 with a double, two homers, four RBI and three runs.
Not even Hamilton had this kind of debut on Broadway.
“That was cool, man,” Stanton said of his first long ball. “I tried to be as calm as possible coming up, and the anticipation was big for me, I was able to settle down and stand in there.
“I understand it’s just a game. Even
though it was big-time opening day, and my first one as a Yankee, I was able to calm it down.”
The Bronx Bombers are back. And the man who led all of baseball with 59 homers last season, leading the Marlins in homers in each of the past seven years, proved he never went away.
“Wow!” said Aaron Judge, the 52home run man who preceded Stanton in Thursday’s lineup. “But that’s what he does, though. That’s what he did all spring. That’s what he did all last year with the Marlins. It’s fun to watch firsthand.
“My job is pretty simple now. Get on base for G.”
Stanton’s debut dinger was foreshadowed in batting practice, when he methodically drove the ball to right field. Over and over. Some were line drives. Some went into the seats. Others were simply ground balls.
But all were hit to right field, drawing smiles, and eventual laughter, from hitting coach Marcus Thames.
Stanton, now brimming with confidence, calmly walked to the batter’s box with one out and Brett Gardner on base. He watched J.A. Happ’s first pitch cross the plate at 92 mph, almost daring him to throw it again.
Happ did.
And paid the price.
Stanton dropped his bat, rounded the bases and skipped to the dugout, mobbed by teammates. Welcome to the Yankees. Stanton’s presence, hitting behind Judge when opposing lefties are on the mound, appeared to have a calming influence on the reigning rookie of the year winner, too.
Judge, who finished runner-up to Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve in the MVP race, reached base three times.
“I would say not try to be better than he was last year,” Stanton said, when asked what advice he’d give Judge. “Don’t try to compare numbers or com- pare where you were. Know you’re going to do well.”
That mentality seemed to work everywhere you looked.
Luis Severino, at 24 the Yankees’ youngest opening-day starter since Lefty Gomez in 1932, was sensational, pitching 52⁄ scoreless innings while al
3 lowing one hit and striking out seven batters.
Second baseman Neil Walker doubled in his Yankees debut.
And there was rookie manager Aaron Boone, appearing as relaxed as if he were coaching his son’s Little League game, pushing the right buttons.
“Aaron Boone deserved the right to be in that dugout,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. “He’s an ex- ceptional baseball person, and I believe a quality leader. I have no second guessing. Or concerns.
“He is everything he could be.”
It was just one game, of course, and will count no different than a Wednesday afternoon game in the dog days of summer, but if nothing else, the Yankees showed Thursday that they won’t be buried by expectations.
“Last year’s over,” Judge said. “You can’t take it with you. You’ve still got to prove yourself. There’s high expectations. We’ve got to go out there and play our game, do our thing. Nothing’s changing.
“With the team we’ve got, there’s no pressure. Just play our game.”
The Yankees, at least for one glorious afternoon north of the border, proved just that, despite having their youngest team since 1993, along with their lowest payroll in 25 years.
The Little Engine that Could? “I changed it,” Cashman said, “to the Big Engine that could.”