Gerrit Cole drew attention on Tuesday night for wagging his finger at the Seattle Mariners’ dugout, and now we know why he did it.
Cole’s New York Yankees beat the Mariners 3-1 as the ace went 7.1 innings, allowing four hits and striking out 11 for the win. Things got a little heated during the seventh inning of the game.
Cole was facing Mariners No. 9 hitter Jose Caballero with two outs in the top of the seventh and his Yankees leading 3-1. Annoyed with the way Caballero was taking his time in the batter’s box, Cole launched a 0-2 pitch way over the batter’s head. Cole then struck out Caballero on the following pitch.
The Mariners were apparently doing some chirping, with manager Scott Servais telling Cole not to do that again by wagging his finger. Cole responded with a similar gesture to mock the manager.
GERRIT COLE IS THE FUNNIEST PLAYER OF ALL TIME LMFAOOOOOO pic.twitter.com/be31WtJPxC
— YankeeWrld (@YankeeWRLD) June 21, 2023
At the time the incident occurred, cameras only caught Cole wagging his finger. It wasn’t until after the game that Cole was able to explain that he was doing it back in response to Servais doing it first.
“That’s the first time an opposing manager has wagged his finger at me,” Cole said after the game.
Jomboy Media did a breakdown on the situation, which gives more context to why Cole was so annoyed with Caballero by the time they faced each other a third time.
Gerrit Cole throws over the batter's head then wags his finger, a breakdown pic.twitter.com/Ghjc64WCih
— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) June 21, 2023
