Gerrit Cole Answers Skeptics By Shining Under The Yankee Stadium Lights

Gerrit Cole produced plenty of good moments through the 99-win regular season but also did enough things wrong to provide skepticism among fans, especially on the social media portion of the internet.

Perhaps scarred by the AL-worst 33 homers allowed, including the nine to Boston and possibly fearful of a reprise of last night’s nightmarish appearance in the wild card game at Fenway Park, the apprehension was there along with this question:

Should Gerrit Cole start Game 1 of a postseason series?

It was not only a topic among fans but a private discussion by the Yankees in their postseason planning meetings, though it seemed like a brief conversation before Cole ultimately was tapped for the start.

On Tuesday, there were a few anxious moments such as the 2-0 fastball Steven Kwan hit into the right field seats, sending pitching coach Matt Blake for a quick consultation. The next few at-bats that followed were also a little apprehensive for some when Cole loaded the bases as part of throwing 60 pitches through three innings.

The early 60-pitch sequence ended with a nasty slider Andres Gimenez swung at for strike three, one pitch after not getting a call on a close offering. Then quick innings and Cole only allowed two more baserunners allowed while the Yankees took a lead.

“It was just a really awesome experience overall,” Cole said. “Just sometimes when you feel the crowd or the energy, it sometimes can become a little easier just to quiet things down because it’s so loud. I don’t know if that makes sense, but it does to me. I mean, just what a great atmosphere.”

A few hours later, Cole was the talk of the first of the of 11 wins the Yankees hope to get in their first championship since 2009 and it was more special for everyone involved since it was the moment he waited since being introduced at the standard lavish press conference on Dec. 18, 2019, the day he was accompanied by his famous childhood sign: “Yankee fan forever, Yankee fan today”.

That sign made its appearance in the 2001 World Series 18 years before he signed the record $324 million contract but for various reasons, the postseason under the lights in a packed house in the Bronx eluded Cole until Tuesday.

First there was the COVID-19 pandemic that led to the 60-game season. During the truncated season, a midseason slump kept the Yankees from hosting an home game in an empty stadium and they traveled to Cleveland where Cole dominated the opener. Then there were two games in the ALDS against Tampa Bay being played in San Diego and Cole did his part in Games 1 and 5 where the Yankees in a normal setup would be in Tropicana Field.

Last year as baseball trickled back towards normalcy, the Yankees sputtered through an inconsistent first half that likely cost them an AL East title. Eventually they found their footing but sputtered again in September and wound up not clinching the postseason until their final at-bat of the regular season and when they did it was merely for the trip to Boston where Cole could not get out of the third while pitching on a hamstring he tweaked during the Yankees’ seven-game losing streak a month earlier.

Cole was the runner-up in the Cy Young voting to Robbie Ray, who was last seen allowing a 438-foot homer to Yordan Alvarez in Houston as the Yankees lined up for their baseline introductions.

On Monday, Cole seemed locked in with his answers with short clipped answers at the podium, talking as if he would rather be in the high intensity setting of a bullpen session than in a big room with pictures of Yankee history on the side walls and offering his common detailed answers. It was there he relayed an exchange with catcher Brian McCann upon joining Houston:

“You know the postseason is a drug, right?” I said, “Yeah, it is. It is.” You just can’t get enough of it.”

If Cole pitches as well as Tuesday, he and the Yankees may get more than enough of the postseason. There’s still a long way to go but this was a good start and validation of Boone’s defense of Cole, who sometimes can appear flustered at circumstances.

“Really good season,” Boone said Monday. “Obviously because it’s Gerrit Cole and because he came here and signed a huge contract, the long term, and the ace of this staff, the New York Yankees staff, nothing will ever be necessarily good enough. But I think he’s had a very strong year.”

And for one night it was good enough just like his six scoreless starts, his two flirtations with no-hitters in June.

“Gerrit was really good,” Boone said. “He did a really good job of owning the moment and being unpredictable. And I thought his breaking ball was really on point.”