Chris Woodward thinks Yankee Stadium is a real one mother.
Rangers were on the receiving end of a home run from Gleyber Torres on Sunday afternoon, winning Mother’s Day Matinee 2-1 over Rangers.
GLEYBER TORRES WALKOFF HOME RUN! The Yankees win! pic.twitter.com/sDaYQVz9Qi
— Talkin Yanks (@TalkinYanks) May 8, 2022
The home run might not have been the most majestic explosion, but it went out of the park – as it would in many other places.
Texas manager Chris Woodward added some salt to his own wounds with some postgame comments, calling Yankee Stadium “a little ballpark” for Torres’ game-winner:
“We don’t need to think about it for long. We need to go out and play another game so our guys fight, they threw some really good weapons at us…we need to find a way to scrape one over there .”
Chris Woodward and his thoughts on game number 1️⃣@Rangers | #StraightUpTX |📺:BSSW pic.twitter.com/16SJ3CESri
— Bally Sports South West (@BallySportsSW) May 8, 2022
“Just a small stadium, it’s an easy exit in 99% of stadiums,” Woodward said after the game. “The wind wasn’t helping today, obviously. … It just happened to hit it at a little league ballpark in right field.”
It’s easy to point fingers at Yankee Stadium’s right porch and blame it for the home run, but the truth is a little more complex than that. Torres’ home run, in fact, wouldn’t have been an out in “99 percent of baseball stadiums” as Woodward put it.
Measurements show Torres’ blast, which measured 369 feet and 106.5 mph initially, would have been a home run at 26 of 30 major league parks:
Gleyber Torres vs. John King#DirBX
Home run 💣
Output Bike: 106.5 mph
Launch angle: 28 degrees
Project. distance: 369 feetIt would have been a home run at ballparks 26/30 MLB
TEX (1) @ NYY (2)
🔻 9th pic.twitter.com/nOhTfVxbe6— Is that dong? (@would_it_dong) May 8, 2022
To make things more interesting, in Game 2 of the Mother’s Day doubleheader, Gleyber Torres smashed a deep ball to right center field for a fly out. This would have disappeared in 24 of the 30 major league parks:
Gleyber Torres vs. Glenn Otto#DirBX
Leaflet 💢
Output Bike: 103.3 mph
Launch angle: 29 degrees
Project. distance: 395 feetIt would have been a home run at MLB’s 24/30 ballparks
TEX(0)@NYY(2)
🔻 4th pic.twitter.com/v00wzz8kKg— Is that dong? (@would_it_dong) May 8, 2022
Later in the game, Eli White would hit a home run that would be considered true porch work, just going over the wall, cutting off the Yankees’ lead:
Eli White vs. Jordan Montgomery#StraightUpTX
Home run 💣
Output Bike: 96.4 mph
Launch angle: 26 degrees
Project. distance: 342 feetIt would have been a home run in ballparks 2/30 MLB
TEX (1) @ NYY (2)
🔺 6th pic.twitter.com/Qo87kZduM3— Is that dong? (@would_it_dong) May 8, 2022
Eli White hits his first homer of the year, cutting the lead to 2-1. pic.twitter.com/f7r5ABYFsJ
— kennedi landry (@kennlandry) May 8, 2022
Following the Rangers’ 4-2 win over the Yankees in Game 2 of the doubleheader, Aaron Boone was asked if he had anything to say about Woodward’s comments.
“His calculation is wrong, 99% is impossible. There are only 30 parks,” Boone said.
Manager Aaron Boone breaks down today’s doubleheader and reflects on the performance of the Yankees bullpen. #YANKSonYES pic.twitter.com/DOzQK36Qjw
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) May 9, 2022
As it turns out, both teams can hit home runs to the porch court in right field at Yankee Stadium, as evidenced in both games. Maybe Woodward sees the fairness in it now.