Mets pitcher accuses Mark Teixeira of stealing signs, questions his manhood
The Subway Series nearly devolved into a brouhaha on Wednesday after a series of incidents centered around New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira.
Most notably, the New York Mets seemed to think Teixeira was stealing signs while standing on second, or at least that’s how relief pitcher Hansel Robles saw it.
[Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Baseball contest now]
After the conclusion of a rough three-run outing for Robles, he could be seen shouting some potentially harsh words in Teixeira’s direction. It was pretty obvious to all watching Robles felt Teixeira was stealing signs. Robles quickly confirmed that in the clubhouse.
Robles accused Teixeira of stealing signs. Said you should play baseball like a man.
— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) August 4, 2016
Robles’ exact words, according to the New York Post:
“I think he was trying to pick up signs. I got a little upset. That’s not the way you play baseball. You have to play baseball as a man,’’ Robles said. “I tried telling him when I came off the field, ‘Just play baseball tough. You don’t need to be picking up signs.’ ”
You know it’s serious when they throw the manhood business in there.
Here’s what Teixeira had to say of the incident:
“It was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen on a baseball field. I was literally just standing there and after about three or four pitches I noticed he was staring at me and saying stuff and it donned on me that I’m inside this guy’s head just by breathing, by doing nothing, and so I had some fun with it.”
Indeed, it’s pretty clear that Teixeira was renting space in the Mets pitchers heads all evening. That began with his opposite field three-run home run against Steven Matz in the second inning, which broke a tie and propelled the Yankees to their 9-5 win.
From there, tensions began to escalate. In fact, in Teixeira’s next at-bat, he was hit on the lower leg by a Matz pitch. Teixeira took clear exception to that location, firing a barrage of words that caused both dugouts and bullpens to empty. The incident didn’t go beyond those heated words, but seeds were planted for what followed.
As Teixeira gladly noted, he didn’t mind adding some of his own fuel to the fire. Based on these comments, we’re thinking this is something that could linger into Thursday’s series finale. Stay tuned.
More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:
– – – – – – –
Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
