A clean-shaven Joey Gallo spoke to reporters for the first time as a Yankee on Friday, having to shave his face for the first time in 10 years after being acquired from the Rangers.
I literally had just gotten a haircut that day, and had the beard trim and everything, and three hours later they said ‘Hey, you got traded, you’re going to New York,’” Gallo laughed. “I was like ‘Oh man, guess I’m gonna have to shave this.’ I went home and did it myself.”
The trade wasn’t a shock to Gallo, who had been hearing the rumors leading into Wednesday night’s news that the lefty slugger was headed to the Yanks in an effort to balance the team’s righty-heavy lineup.
“I’ve been hearing for some time that it was a possibility,” Gallo said. “I grew up a huge Yankee fan, my family is from New York, so it was pretty surreal that I was going to the Yankees. It’s a great opportunity.”
Gallo’s lefty swing will certainly draw conversation toward Yankee Stadium’s notoriously short right field porch, but Gallo is more focused on the other side of the game when it comes to his new home ballpark.
“For me, Yankee Stadium is known to be a good park to hit in,” Gallo said. “I don’t really get too many balls dead down the right field line. Usually when I’m hitting for power I’m using the middle of the field, center and right center and what not. It’s exciting, even from a defensive standpoint,. Not having as much ground to cover as I did at Globe Life Field.”
Gallo said he was told by manager Aaron Boone that he will primarily play left field, but could start out playing some right field. He will also wear number 13, the first Yankee to do so since Alex Rodriguez retired in 2016.
“I walked in there, and yeah. I’m number 13. It’s exciting. I’ve been that number my whole life…growing up a huge Yankee fan, Derek Jeter was always the number I wanted to be, and I liked Alex Rodriguez as well. He was a player I tried to emulate…number two was always taken, so 13, probably from when I was 10 years old, has been my number.
Kind of found luck with that number.”
Gallo hopes his power swing, along with fellow newcomer Anthony Rizzo’s, will help bring the Yanks some better luck as they hope to pull themselves back into the divisional race, and provide a jolt to an underperforming lineup that already boasts some impressive power.
“That’s like an All-Star lineup. It’s insane, the players in that lineup. Playing against Stanton and Judge over the years, playing in old Texas, they hit some balls that I didn’t even want to watch how far they went, honestly, because it was insane. Even hitting in the cage with Stanton, it’s incredible how hard that guy hits the ball. I can hit the ball hard, but those guys are just like superhuman strength in the way they can hit. I’m excited to watch them and be a part of it as well.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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