Mike Napoli’s ninth-inning homer on Saturday had an impact on the Yankees, but his reaction afterward evidently did not.
After he hit what turned out to be a game-winning home run off Masahiro Tanaka in the top of the ninth of Boston’s 2-1 victory, Fox cameras and microphones captured Napoli getting back to the dugout saying, “What an idiot” because Tanaka had thrown him a fastball on the outside corner, rather than one of the splitters or sliders that he’d struck him out with earlier in the game.
Tanaka, through his personal spokesman, said while he was “aware” of what Napoli said, he “didn’t mind because it happened in the dugout.”
That was the reaction of Tanaka’s teammates, as well, who refused to be riled up by Napoli’s comment.
“The only reason anyone knows about it is because the camera catches it,” David Robertson said. “It shouldn’t even be a story. It’s not like he meant anything bad by it. What’s in the dugout should be seen, not heard. I didn’t have a problem with it.”
Joe Girardi agreed.
“I kind of heard [about it] secondhand,” the manager said. “I don’t make much of it. It’s the heat of the moment. It doesn’t really change the complexion of the game. It doesn’t really change [Sunday’s] game.”
Girardi was also convinced Napoli, who didn’t speak before Sunday’s game, wasn’t being malicious.
“I haven’t seen anything in Mike Napoli where he’s a guy that shows people up or degrades people,” Girardi said. “I’ve never seen that in Mike Napoli. … Unfortunately, everything is seen now. I’ve never had a sense he’s a bad guy. He’s a guy that plays hard and loves to play the game.”
And a guy who has killed the Yankees since joining their rivals. With Saturday’s blast, Napoli has 10 homers and 24 RBIs over the last two years against the Yankees, more than he has against any other team.
Boston manager John Farrell also defended his player.
“The one thing we don’t ever want is our players to be unemotional,” Farrell said. “We’ve got the utmost respect for Tanaka and I know Mike Napoli does. So if his comments were based on an emotion in that moment, it wasn’t directed to be derogatory towards him. It was a reaction.”
Girardi isn’t especially concerned that there will be a lingering impact on Tanaka following the defeat.
“I think he’ll be fine,” Girardi said. “Bottom line, which I think gets lost, is he pitched a great game. I don’t want him to lose sight of that. If you score three runs, it’s not even talked about.”