It was jubilation in the Yankee locker room and on the field after Domingo German recorded the final out of the fourth perfect game in franchise history early Thursday morning.
As German cruised through nine perfect innings in Oakland, some were feeling the heat of history more than others, with catcher Kyle Higashioka certainly feeling it behind the plate.
“A lot,” Higashioka laughed when asked if he felt any pressure down the stretch of the 11-0 win. “Just took a couple extra seconds to push the button on each of those pitches, because you don’t want to mess it up. But he was fantastic tonight. He deserves all the credit...I always felt, of anyone, he has a really good chance to do something like this. For him to do it, it’s amazing.”
Back in the dugout, Aaron Boone was much more poised.
“I was actually OK,” Boone said. “It was just so fun to watch him do that and go to work. We’ve seen him flirt with outings like that over time…when he gets rolling like that, he’s just so fun to watch at his craft. He’s so good at commanding all of his pitches.”
For German, he was pitching for his uncle who passed away just two days earlier, but was able to allow himself to acknowledge the history he had just made, which had only been done in Major League Baseball just 23 times before.
“So exciting when you think about something very unique in baseball,” German said. “Not many people have an opportunity to pitch a perfect game. To accomplish something like this in my career is something I'm going to remember forever.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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