Brett Gardner and opposite field power are two things that have never gone together in the 36-year-old's 13-year MLB career, but that was not the case on Monday.
The Yankees outfielder lined an 87 mph changeup from Jake Arrieta down the left field line and cleared the wall to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead in the third inning.
Phillies left fielder Andrew McCutchen, a former teammate of Gardner's, could not help but have a smirk on his face while Gardner himself kept looking over toward left field as he was rounding the bases.
Just how rare was this? It was Gardner's third career opposite-field home run, which left former teammate Phil Hughes with only one explanation – the balls are still juiced.
Gardy is my boy, but if he's going oppo the league has a baseball problem
— Phil Hughes (@PJHughes45) August 3, 2020Hughes' tweet apparently made its way through the Yankees clubhouse, and when Gardner returned to his locker he found it printed out on his chair.
— Phil Hughes (@PJHughes45) August 4, 2020"All in good fun," Gardner told reporters, via NJ.com, after the 6-3 Yankees win.
Gardner, who does not have social media, said he had no idea who it was that left the tweet on the chair but the outfielder with 126 career home runs – including a career-high 28 last season – seemed to get a kick out of it and reached out to his former teammate.
"I just texted him and gave him a hard time," Gardner said. "I just asked him where he was at. He's at the house, watching it on TV. But he was asking me how it is playing in front of no fans and a few other things. But one of my guys going all the way back to 2005-2006."
As for the culprit who printed out the tweet, Gardner said he won't get off easy.
"I've got some ideas," he said. "We'll do a little more analysis and get some fingerprints and confirm it. We've got quite a bit of baseball ahead of us and I've got quite a few pranks up my sleeve. So, we'll have some fun with it."
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