Wednesday literally was a dream come true for Andrew Velazquez, a 27-year-old journeyman who grew up in the Morris Park neighborhood of the Bronx, often coming to Yankee Stadium and dreaming one day he would play on the field:
He has finally gotten his chance with Gleyber Torres and Gio Urshela injured, and on Wednesday night, Velazquez gave the Yankees what they needed on both sides of the ball as they held on for a 5-2 win over the Red Sox that completed a series sweep.
With a large contingent of friends and family in the stadium, Velazquez went 2-for-4, his first hit an RBI single in the second that made it 2-1, and he later came around to score to make it 4-1. Six innings later, Velazquez made it 5-1, singling in Gary Sanchez with the Yankees’ final run.
“See the ball, hit the ball, try to maintain aggressiveness,” Velazquez, who is still hitting just .217 after the 2-for-4 night, said of his offensive approach. “Trying not to expand the zone, just trying not to do too much. My job isn’t to hit a homer necessarily, just put it in play and let something happen.”
He definitely made something happen in the ninth, ending the game and the sweep in spectacular fashion. After Aroldis Chapman struggled in his return from the IL, manager Aaron Boone turned to Lucas Luetge to try to get out of a two-on, two-out jam and protect the 5-2 lead with ex-Met Kevin Plawecki coming up representing the tying run.
Plawecki pulled a grounder into the hole, one that third baseman Rougned Odor made an unsuccessful diving attempt at. The ball looked like it would be an RBI single, but out of nowhere, Velazquez ranged over, made a sliding grab, hopped to his feet, and threw a one-hop strike to first base that Anthony Rizzo picked out of the dirt for the final out.
The Red Sox had the play reviewed to see if Plawecki was safe on the bang-bang play, but after two and a half minutes of review, the play stood, and the Yankees won.
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“I was just ready for anything there, anything on the ground,” Velazquez said. “I didn’t know if Rougie was going to make a play on it, so I just wanted to see what was going to happen there. And then when I got it, I said, ‘You know what? I’m gonna throw it as hard and as low as I can so that Rizzo can just pick it.’ If not, I would’ve thrown it in the family section in the second deck.”
"That was such a big play for both sides," Rizzo added. "You just see the replay over and over, keep trying to convince yourself that the call is right. It was definitely close. If that ball gets by me, the tying run is on second base, so I just played it into as long a hop as I could. It was a great play all around."
Two RBI and a run scored on the offensive side, the game-saving play on the defensive side…and in the clubhouse, Velazquez added another Yankee Stadium championship belt pic to his album, getting the Yankees’ belt for the game, and got to make a quick speech in front of his teammates.
“In that locker room, with those guys, I’ve dreamt of doing what I just did,” Velazquez said. “In real life, it was way better.”
“After the game, him just saying a couple words of him growing up here and dreaming of this and how much better it is in person, it’s special stuff,” added Rizzo.
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Velazquez had four RBI in the series, more than doubling his previous career total over three MLB seasons with Cleveland, Tampa Bay, and Baltimore, and he’s been one of those replacement Yankees who has come up to help an injury and COVID-ravaged squad and spurred a surge with his energy.
“He was having a really strong season in Triple-A, and he’s been great. We were excited to bring him up, as he endeared himself to our room in spring training,” Boone said. “He can really play short, but he has the defensive versatility to move around. You see the speed that he has, and he can swing the bat a little bit. He’s gotten some big hits for us here the last couple of days and played really well in helping us win games.”
“It’s what you dream about,” Velazquez added. “You come here and you want to be a part of something, not only doing good on the field but earning the respect of the guys in the locker room.”
To do it all in a Red Sox game made it even sweeter, as Velazquez noted that he wasn’t sure if he ever saw a Yankees-Boston game at the Stadium, saying “those tickets were usually too expensive for me.”
So, then, after a career night on the diamond he grew up dreaming of playing on, against the team’s biggest rival, what did the hero do? Go out on the town and celebrate? Head back to a swanky hotel and order some good room service?
Nope – Velazquez is crashing at home with his parents, a reminder both of where he came from and that tomorrow isn’t guaranteed.
“Way closer than staying in Manhattan,” Velazquez said, “and cheaper, too.”
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