It’s Sunday once more, and you know what that means — it’s time for our weekly social media roundup! It was a big week for the Bombers, who finished up a road trip with three games in Arlington, hosted the Savannah Bananas at Yankee Stadium, and came back home for a weekend of Star Wars themed festivities with the Baltimore Orioles. How has social media reacted to all these shenanigans? Let’s find out!
Yankee Yellow
As the Yankees were taking two out of three games against the Astros last weekend, the Savannah
Bananas were taking their show to the Bronx. Unlike last September’s Banana Ball weekend, this year’s show didn’t quite have as much craziness (at least, according to the Internet — I wasn’t there either time), although Monument Park honoree Tino Martinez did take an AB as a pinch-hitter. What more than made up for it, though in terms of social media was the sheer number of Bananas players who expressed their excitement for the chance to play at Yankee Stadium — including former Giants QB Russell Wilson — whose baseball rights are owned, as you may recall, by the Yankees!
The Bananas had a bit of fun with the fact that they were in New York, by having Derek Klena — who spent 14 years on Broadway — come in to pitch while singing “Phantom of the Opera.” Oh, the Genie from Aladdin showed up too.
Thank You, DJ
For the first time since the 2020 Major League Baseball season was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, former Yankees leadoff hitter DJ LeMahieu took to Instagram. This time, it was to reflect on and express his thanks for his years in pinstripes. While officially speaking, he has not retired (he is still owed some $12 million left in the final year of his contract), this seems like a goodbye to the game — a feeling reinforced by the number of former teammates who commented on the post: Aaron Judge, CC Sabathia, Dellin Betances, Harrison Bader, Austin Wells, and long-ago Rockies pal Nolan Arenado, to name a few. Age and injuries might have caught up to DJ toward the end of this time in pinstripes, but there’s no denying that man was indeed an MVP-caliber threat and worthy of the “LeMachine” nickname.
Prospect Promotions
The Yankees farm had two of my favorite moments this week, as George Lombard Jr. got promoted from Double-A Trenton to Triple-A Scranton, while Elmer Rodríguez got to make his MLB debut on Wednesday.
Game Belts
As happens when the Yankees win some ballgames, they passed the Game Belt around quite a bit this week. It really is fun to see the exchange progress from player to player, with the previous winner in the new photo, bestowing the honor on his teammate.
Dave’s Thoughts
As always, Yankees radio voice Dave Sims took to Instagram to react to the Yankees’ games this week.
Some Assorted Updates
In a rapid-fire of summary of this week’s post, we’ve got Carlos Rodón advertising this year’s Willow Gala, Camilo Doval getting some throwing in, and Roger Clemens remembering his 20-strikeout game (even if it was as a member of the Red Sox), and the latest episode of Behind the NY.
Question of the Day
This time around, the YES Network asked the Yankees which teammate would lose their hotel room key. Props to Cam Schlittler, who had the self-awareness to understand exactly why a whole bunch of teammates pegged him as the answer without a moment’s hesitancy.
