Walker Buehler Reveals How Yankees ‘F—ed Up’ With Fat Joe Performance vs Dodgers
Former Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Walker Buehler revealed why the team wasn’t happy with Fat Joe’s performance before Game 3 of the World Series.
As the Fall Classic went bi-coastal, Buehler didn’t have the best warmups before the Dodgers’ first game in the Bronx for the series. The right-hander explained why in a recent appearance on The Just Baseball Show.
“First off, they treat you so good in New York. In the visiting clubhouse, you’re so comfortable, the food is unbelievable. It’s pro-pro there, which is really kind of a cool deal,” Buehler said. “But, and I don’t know how intentional this was, or who made this decision, but the game is at whatever — I think it was at 7:15 — and they got Fat Joe going out there.
“They turned off the entire stadium lights, including the bullpens, from 7:02 until 7:13. They did not turn the lights back on until the Yankees went onto the field. So there was eight or 10 minutes that I needed to throw about 12 more pitches. The catcher could not see the ball, so I didn’t get to throw a single ball.
“So what I ended up doing, is we have the Trackman out there, which is on a tripod. I fired six balls directly at the Trackman before that start. Normally what I do is all my windups, we do the anthem, I do my stretch. I got like three throws out of the stretch before that game, and six of them I just whizzed at the Trackman with (pitching coach Mark) Prior just throwing me a new ball every time. So there was like six balls sprayed all over the bullpen.
“I walked in, the lights are still off. The Yankees take the field while I’m walking in and I walk up to the umpire and I go, ‘They got to fix this s— for tomorrow.’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, I don’t know why they did that or how they can do that.’ I was like, ‘You guys need to tell somebody.’
“So we walk in to the dugout and everyone was like, ‘You good?’ Because I was pissed off. So I was like, ‘Yeah, they f—ed up,’ and then I just walked in and we had the game.”
Despite the unexpected mishap during warmups, the Dodgers went on to win their third straight game of the series. Buehler was dominant that start, throwing five shutout innings allowing just two hits while striking out five.
Two days later, he closed out the Yankees in the World Series in one of the most iconic moments in Dodgers history.
Photo Credit: Wendell Cruz-MLB
