Mike Napoli was the hero of Saturday night’s Red Sox-Yankees game after breaking a 1-1 tie in the 9th with a solo home run to right field to give the Sox a lead in an eventual 2-1 victory.
Napoli was caught by FOX microphones saying “what an idiot!” repeatedly as he entered the Boston dugout following his home run. Napoli was saying that because he couldn’t believe Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka threw him a fastball instead of his deadly, signature splitter.
After throwing a first-pitch ball to Napoli, he got ahead 1-2 with a slider and splitter that fooled the Red Sox first baseman. He then threw a 1-2 fastball up and away that Napoli lined over the short porch in right at Yankee Stadium.
Napoli talked with FOX’s Ken Rosenthal about his comment that was caught on camera.
“Nothing toward him. I thought he was going to throw me a split in the dirt. He had been getting me out all night on it,” said Napoli.
You better believe that next time Tanaka faces Napoli, he’s just going to be feeding him a steady diet of splitters. No way he ever sees another fastball from Tanaka again.
