A day after calling Yankee Stadium a “Little League ballpark” following Gleyber Torres’ game-winning residence run over the right-field quick porch, Texas Rangers supervisor Chris Woodward mentioned he regretted his postgame remarks.
“Probably bad words on my part,” he mentioned Monday. “I gave it a layup for a lot of people. But listen, I meant no disrespect, obviously, to this place. And it’s obviously a world-class organization, ballpark. I talk about it as always being like one of my favorite places to come play, but I understand why Yankee fans will get upset about it. That’s why I love them.”
Torres’ ninth-inning drive off John King (1-1) traveled 369 toes and was hit at 106.5 mph, giving the Yankees a 2-1 win in a doubleheader opener.
“Small ballpark. That’s a easy out in 99% of ballparks,” Woodward mentioned Sunday. “Just happened to hit it in a Little League ballpark to right field.”
Torres’ shot would have been a house run in 26 of the 30 main league ballparks, in accordance with MLB Statcast.
“His math is wrong — 99%’s impossible,” Yankees supervisor Aaron Boone mentioned. “There’s only 30 parks.”
New York took a swipe at Woodward when Giancarlo Stanton hit a 461-foot residence run to left within the second sport, a 4-2 Texas win.
“We are going to guess this is a home run in 30/30 major league ballparks,” the Yankees tweeted.
Torres’ seven walk-off hits since 2018 are probably the most within the majors in that span. That was his second game-ending homer.
“Both teams play in the same ballpark. It’s the same dimension,” Torres mentioned. “I feel good to hit a walk-off homer in the Little League ballpark.”
Woodward, in his fourth season because the Rangers’ supervisor, is accustomed to New York from his time as an infielder with the Mets in 2005 and ’06. He laughed a bit bit on the Yankees tweet.
(*5*) Woodward mentioned. “They’ve got a short right field. They always have. Honestly, it was back to the old park. And that’s kind of what makes this place unique in a lot of ways. And hats off to Gleyber. Man, he hit that ball hard.”