The New York Yankees have strongly rejected claims made by Bob Laterza, the coach of Staten Island’s South Shore Little League team, that the Bombers – and Aaron Judge in particular – didn’t give his players enough attention during their visit to Williamsport for the Little League Classic on Sunday.
Laterza, whose team was in Williamsport competing in the Little League World Series, told SILive.com that Judge didn’t acknowledge his players when they tried to get his attention from their seats during the Yankees’ game against the Detroit Tigers.
“How about turning around or wave to New York and the kids that think you’re a hero,” Laterza remarked before his team was eliminated from the tournament following a 6-1 loss to Florida. “They are the ones who pay your salary.”
The Yankees, however, pushed back against these accusations, particularly given Judge’s well-known habit of engaging with fans, especially kids, both at home and on the road.
According to Laterza, only a few Yankees, including DJ LeMahieu and Tim Hill, attended a prearranged session with the Staten Island team.
He added that Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes, Jasson Dominguez, and manager Aaron Boone spent time with the team later in the day at Bowman Field.
In a fiery statement, Yankees personnel expressed their dismay at the coach’s comments and provided their perspective on what transpired.
“Our entire roster spent the day in Williamsport connecting with as many Little Leaguers as they possibly could prior to our game, including the team from Staten Island,” the statement read.
“We commend all of our players for devoting their complete attention to the hundreds of kids who literally walked step-by-step alongside them from the moment the Yankees landed in Williamsport through the entirety of the evening.
“Our players were unequivocally committed to making the experience what it was intended to be – a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for young baseball players and their families from around the world to have meaningful and genuine interaction with some of Major League Baseball’s greatest players.”
The Yankees also defended Judge, describing him as “one of the great ambassadors of our sport.”
It’s impossible to argue with that statement. After all, you would have to travel the globe multiple times before you find a single person (other than Laterza) who has a bad word to say about Judge.
Judge is not only the perfect Yankee captain, but he is also a perfective representative of Major League Baseball.
“Neither the Yankees nor our players organized the schedule on Sunday,” the statement continued. “In fact, because Staten Island played on Sunday, our players went out of their way to spend time with them in the moments immediately before our game with the Tigers.”
Despite the public criticism from Laterza, the Yankees emphasized that they still plan to invite the Staten Island team to Yankee Stadium after the conclusion of the Little League World Series.
“We wish Staten Island success in winning the championship … Win or lose, we intend to invite them to Yankee Stadium. However, it would have been much better if Staten Island’s coach called us to understand the facts before bitterly reacting in such a public fashion.
“Reaching out to us would have been the prudent way to act and would have set a fine example for his young players. Aaron Judge always acts with kindness and respect. The coach could learn a lot from him,” the statement concluded.
Whether you think the Yankees went a little over the top or not, there’s no denying that statement was quite a mic drop.
Perhaps Laterza is a Mets fan. If that’s the case, you almost have to admire his tactics. They sure seemed to ruffle a few feathers.
Ironically, last night was a total nightmare for both the Yankees and the Staten Island boys … Not only was South Shore eliminated from the Little League World Series, the Bombers suffered one of their most embarassing losses of the season.
I know fans want DJ LeMahieu’s head to roll, but how in the world is Trent Grisham still on the team???
Regardless, we’ll see if Laterza and the Yankees can smooth things over when his team is inevitably honored in the Bronx.
What are your thoughts on the crazy (yet entertaining) story???