Trevor Bauer and Robinson Canó add a twist to the Yankees’ ‘crazy’ trip to Mexico City| Top Vip News

Big leagues

By Greg Joyce

MEXICO CITY — A few hours before the Yankees and the Mexican Red Devils met in an exhibition game on Sunday, manager Aaron Boone had to answer why his club didn’t bring in all of its stars.

The Yankees had Giancarlo Stanton, Anthony Volpe, José Treviño and Oswaldo Cabrera, in addition to relievers Víctor González and Jonathan Loaisiga.

However, Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Alex Verdugo, the entire rotation and more stayed in Tampa for various reasons to finish spring training.

But a few hours later, even before the first pitch was thrown, the atmosphere inside the Alfredo Harp Helú Stadium elevated the game to another level.

The Red Devils’ 4-3 victory over the Yankees was a three-hour party filled with chants, trumpets, non-stop music and a lively crowd of 20,735 that eclipsed anything the Yankees could have experienced in the AL League. Pink grapefruit.

“The atmosphere was beyond anything I expected,” Volpe said after the game.

“It was amazing, man,” added Stanton, an avid traveler who was one of the proponents of playing in Mexico City after seeing a Bad Bunny concert at a soccer stadium, which had a “crazy” atmosphere. here two years. back.

The Yankees’ first games in Mexico since 1968, when a Mickey Mantle-led squad faced the Red Devils, came at a less than ideal time, just days before Opening Day, and most of their shaky roster was left behind. in Tampa to complete it. spring training.

But those who made the trip enjoyed the atmosphere, even if they felt the effects of playing at high altitude (although the baseballs did not fly after being kept in a humidor to compensate for the thin air).

“What a great experience,” Boone said. “So much energy and so much fun for all of us to experience baseball in this environment.”

“It didn’t feel like a spring training game,” Trevino said. “I felt like it was a game.”

Trevor Bauer, who has not pitched in MLB since serving a 194-game suspension for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy, started the game for the Red Devils and pitched three scoreless innings.

But it became what Boone called “The Robinson Canó Show,” when the former Yankees second baseman went 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and two RBIs with his new team.

Cano, 41, spent much of the Sunday before the game catching up with the Yankees staff (he mentioned a few times thinking about the “good old days”) and then caught the former teammate’s ceremonial first pitch and Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera.

Cano has not appeared in the majors since 2022, a year after he was suspended 162 games for a second violation of MLB’s performance-enhancing drug policy, when he split time between the Mets, Padres and Braves.

But the left-handed slugger had a simple reason why he continues to play.

“Because I love baseball,” he said. “People sometimes don’t understand that. It’s easy to tell someone, “Just go retire.” But I think as long as I can do it and I can play and be on the field, I can do it.”

As for Bauer, he said the opportunity to pitch against the Yankees influenced his decision to sign with the Red Devils, for whom he will spend at least the next month pitching.

He has offered to sign with an MLB team for the league minimum, but has yet to find anyone to accept him.

“I have no idea what the future holds,” said Bauer, who pitched last season in Japan. “I know I like to play baseball. I wanted to play. I love international baseball. I wouldn’t mind staying here; I wouldn’t mind playing in Japan. I would like to play in the big leagues again. … We’ll see.”