Henry Roldán
The heat of defeat is sometimes not the best of allies, and the Texas Rangers’ manager, Chris Woodward, can attest to that after some controversial statements made on Sunday.
Woodward, who played 12 years in the major leagues and is in his fourth season as a Rangers strategist, had to apologize to the Yankees and their fans after calling Yankee Stadium a “little league park” after a home run from Gleyber Torres that traveled 369 feet and left them on the ground.
Chris Woodward’s controversial words
“That’s an easy out in 99% of ballparks… He just happened to hit it in a Little League ballpark.”
Chris Woodward on Gleyber Torres’ home run.
The Venezuelan’s 106.5 MPH hit came in the ninth inning of the first game of a doubleheader scheduled for Sunday between the Yankees and Rangers, and according to MLB Statcast would be homered in 26 of the 30 stadiums that make up the Major Leagues.
After Woodward’s statements, the Yankees manager, Aaron Boone, was one of the first to ironically contradict them, pointing out that the mathematics of his Rangers’ counterpart were wrong, since there are 30 stadiums, and it is impossible for him to be out in the remaining 99%.
For his part, Chris Woodward did not take long to respond to his own comments and on Monday, prior to the last game of the series between the two teams, he made a sincere apology to the entire organization and fans.
“Probably bad words on my part. 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. I adore the city. The ballpark is probably one of my favorite places to come. 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.”
Chris Woodward and his apology for his remarks about Yankee Stadium
Woodward and the Rangers have not had a good start to the season despite a heavy investment during the preseason, so the pressure could be getting to the Texas manager for now.
