Yankees Social Media Spotlight: Congrats to the Cole family!

One week down, 51 to go here in 2023. As we have done since the start of the pandemic, let’s start off our week by taking a stroll through social media to see what everybody’s favorite baseball team has been up to now that the holidays are behind us and spring training is starting to come into view on the horizon.

The Cole Train gains another passenger

Congratulations are in order to Yankees ace Gerrit Cole and his wife Amy, who just welcomed their second child, Everett, into the world. The couple shared the heartwarming news on Amy’s Instagram earlier this week.

He looks like a future Yankees ace already.

Nasty Nestor prepping for the World Baseball Classic

This March sees the return of the World Baseball Classic after a six-year hiatus. The international tournament, hosted by the World Baseball Softball Confederation and Major League Baseball, typically operates on a four-year cycle much like the Olympics, and should have been most recently played in 2021; the COVID-19 pandemic and MLB lockout, however, each pushed the tournament back by a year.

Yankees starter Nestor Cortes has pledged to pitch for Team USA this spring, and with both the start of spring training and the WBC in his sights, has already begun his throwing program.

Kid from Bronxville supports local basketball team

The players, of course, are not spending all of their time prepping for the season. Center fielder Harrison Bader has become a staple at Madison Square Garden, having attended games on December 7th (joined then by Cortes), December 21st, and most recently, on January 4th.

So far, the Knicks are 2-1 when the Horace Mann alumnus is at the Garden, so perhaps they should bring him courtside more often?

Masahiro Tanaka welcomes Kodai Senga to NY

Masahiro Tanaka had a celebrated career with the New York Yankees, becoming a fan favorite over his seven years in the Bronx. Back in December, Japanese pitcher Kodai Senga signed a five year contract with the New York Mets. Their different NYC allegiances, however, did not stop the former Yankee from sitting down for dinner with Senga while visiting New York City this week.

Obviously, this isn’t really a surprise — both players actually shared a dugout in 2021, as they were teammates on Team Japan during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Still, it’s nice to see Tanaka spending some time in New York. We miss you, pal.

Homer Bush is a FerryHawk

For the most part, Homer Bush’s playing career came before my time. In fact, my only strong memories of him come from the fact that he was one of the few minor leaguers in MVP Baseball 2004 and 2005 with an actual picture rather than a randomly generated face or an outline. He played in parts of seven seasons, won a World Series ring (1998) and ultimately retired due to hip injuries in 2005.

Over the past decade, he has carved out a nice coaching career for himself, spending time as the hitting coach for the Single-A Eugene Emeralds (2014), serving as the director of youth baseball programs for the Texas Rangers (2016), and most recently, managing the MLB Draft League’s Mahoning Valley Scrappers (2022). Now, he returns once more to the Big Apple, taking the reins for the Staten Island FerryHawks as their newest skipper.

Welcome home, Homer!