Mike Napoli calls Masahiro Tanaka an idiot after home run (Video)
By Jack Crosby
Masahiro Tanaka has been everything the New York Yankees could have asked for and then some in his debut season in the Major Leagues. However, that doesn’t mean that he hasn’t shown that he is indeed human at times by making some mistakes; and on Saturday against the Boston Red Sox, he made one and Mike Napoli let him know about it.
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In the top of the ninth inning, Napoli hit a blast over the Yankee Stadium wall to but the Red Sox on top. Afterward, when he was done rounding the bases, you could clearly hear Napoli call Tanaka an “idiot” for deciding to throw him the fastball instead of the splitter on a 1-2 count.
It’s not the most notable act from the storied rivalry between these two squads, but it’s certainly worthy enough of being put on the list.
Napoli in Sox clubhouse on saying "What an idiot'' after his HR: "Nothing towards him. I thought he would throw me a splitter in the dirt.''
— John Harper (@NYNJHarper) June 29, 2014
It was also nice of Napoli to not shout it at Tanaka, although you would have to think that since he did call him an idiot nonetheless, some retaliation might be coming on Sunday night.