"It's unclear" – An authoritative history of Yankees craziness in 20 GIFs

It was 2013, and it was the heyday of internet GIFfing. (This is how our previous GIF history post began.) Last time out we looked at reaction GIFs, which were the things we used to describe our emotions after words died and before emojis arrived. Now that we have the emoj', reaction GIFs are vaguely less relevant than they used to be, and so it's my contention the art form should turn to other things – capturing strange happenings, for instance. Which is, handily, something I used to do when my sole job here was creating GIFs. So, then, let's look at some choice cuts from back in the day – my twenty favorite crazy GIFs from the archive. There's some good content in here, so I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making those many years (two) ago...

#20 – Has Been Known to Like Clubbing

Original post here. Original text:

McCann, seen here performing a dance move that is illegal in sixteen states.

#19 – Agony

Original post here. Witnessed: Eduardo Nunez colliding with Freddy Garcia. What I like about this one is Garcia's half-baked attempt to get out of Nunez's way. On the weight of the evidence, it seems the chain of logic went as follows:

> I could get out of the way
> Wait, this is Eduardo Nunez here
> Shoulder barge it is

Word on the street is Freddy yelled "BOOM" as they were colliding. If you believe it – and you shouldn't – Nunez somehow didn't get injured here. It's unclear precisely how, but there you go.

#18 – The Triple

Original post here. To all three Orioles baserunners, I say: where are you going, dawg?

#17 – El Circo

Original post here. I don't think anybody really knows what happened in this instance – just that the ball squirted off the body of Mark Teixeira, somehow ended up in Robinson Cano's glove, and this ultimately resulted in an out. The bits in between are fuzzy and, I would argue, ultimately unknowable.

It's like the Big Bang of baseball plays. What came before the Big Bang and what caused the Big Bang? Eh. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

How did this play happen? Eh. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#16 – Appalled Mo

Original post here. 10/10 "I am so lost right now" face.

#15 – Who, Me?

Original post here. Here, Mr. Rodriguez denies all wrongdoing. Well, that clears it up then – we can all go home now.

#14 – Really Interested in This Game

Original post here. This kid's mom paid like $5000 to get him a goddamn World Series ticket and there he is wearing an alien mask. When mulling over the difficult "I could pay full attention to this historic event or I could be a jerk" life choice, kid sure did go all in on the jerk option.

#13 – That's Not Baseball, Andruw Jones

Original post here. Original text:

"The spirit of Babe Ruth sat on me," explained Jones after the game. "I just wish I knew why."

#12 – Convulsing Child

Original post here. Original text:

SOMEBODY GET THAT YOUNG MAN SOME MEDICAL ASSISTANCE

#11 – Now I Know Why You Don’t Have a Dance

Original post here. Stray observations:

• What is this
• What is that man wearing
• This is the cleanest club bathroom of all time

#10 – Has Been Known to Possess an 80 Sweat Tool

Original post here. Had it just been raining on your face, Bri?

#9 – A-Rod Spots a Criminal

Original post here.

#8 – Musclin'

Original post here. YEAH-YUH

#7 – The Best Pitcher in Baseball

Original post here.

#6 – Juicin'

Original post here.

hey how's it going guys i'm just here drinking my juice you should try some juice it's pretty good juice oh god cameras awkward

#5 – Brett Gardner: Gatorade Terrorist

Original post here. Original text:

Here we see Eduardo Nunez becoming the latest victim of Brett Gardner, a noted serial perpetrator of Gatorade terrorism. From the New York Post:

"He was a quiet guy," said Ellie Parker, a neighbor of Gardner’s who did not want to be identified.

"We talked a few times, and he always seemed like a kind man. I never thought he’d be capable of something like this."

Said James, a childhood friend of the villain: "I can’t believe he’d do something like this. I can’t believe it and I won’t believe it."

"Gardy’s a gamer!" yelled Yankees manager Joe Girardi through the media scrum before retreating to his office to repair the middle ring on his binder, which had been bent out of shape when Vernon Wells accidentally sat on it on the bench.

That was last Thursday, when Boone Logan came in relief in the sixth inning and stayed in until the ninth.

"The pages were all out of order," a flustered Girardi explained after the game. "I didn’t know who my pitchers were and nobody around me could remember."

Wells was reportedly docked a game’s pay for his folly.

#4 – Seriously Though

Original post here.

IT'S

JUST

SO

UNCLEAR

THAT SIDEBURN

#3 – A-Rod

Original post here. The question is not, "WHY DOES HE HAVE A WWE BELT IN HIS LOCKER?" which I'm guessing you were thinking upon seeing this GIF.

The question is, "why wouldn't he?"

#2 – Gracious A-Rod

Original post here.

The man responded "thank you" to a comment by a journalist.

"That was a big base hit by you in the ninth" is not intended to be a compliment. It's intended to be a leading statement, like a "this thing happened, please talk about it" type of thing.

This is incredible.

#1 – Old Woman Talks to No One Dot GIF

Original post here. Who are you talking to, lady? My favorite is the Moby-looking dude on the right who looks over at her for a second like "oh this person's saying something I should pay attention" and then realizes it's some crazy old person and is like "CRAP IGNORE IGNORE IGNORE."

The best. Much good. The greatest. This is an amazing moment, and of these GIFs it is the one that is dearest to my heart.

Bonus – 80 Tools Series: 80 Glove Tool

Original post here. It's not actually a Yankees moment so we'll make it a bonus, but this post would have been worse off without this display of unmitigated, unadulterated, maximally appalling incompetence.

Bonus – Raul Ibanez Makes a Catch

Original post here.