50.0°,
Partly Cloudy Putting on the pinstripes
East Rockaway native on Yankees Double-A team
When Reid Gorecki, 29, was called up from Triple-A Gwinnett to play for the Atlanta Braves last August, the East Rockaway native picked up a couple hits in his first Major League Baseball game — against his favorite team growing up, the New York Mets. He even singled against Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana.
Gorecki was sent back down to the minors at the end of the year, only to have his luck change during the offseason. The New York Yankees offered him a minor league contract, and after signing the deal on Jan. 11, Gorecki was invited to spring training camp in Tampa.
“It was a lot of fun,” Gorecki said of mixing it up with the likes of Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and the rest of the World Champions. “For me, it was more about getting to know the guys more than anything else. They’re all superstars and they were fantastic to be around.”
Gorecki failed to make the 25-man major league roster out of spring training and was told on March 21 he would be sent to the minors. But the following day brought some good news. Due to a rain-out earlier in spring training, the Yankees scheduled an intrasquad game for some of their pitchers — Andy Pettitte, Joba Chamberlain and Mariano River — to get some work in. They needed live batters to face, so manager Joe Girardi summoned Gorecki to return to camp and hit.
“That was just awesome,” Gorecki said of facing some of the Yankees first-ballot Hall of Fame pitchers. “I got to face just about all the guys that were in the big picture for the Yankees — Joba, Mo, Pettitte. I’ve never been more locked in in the box than that afternoon. They make you bring your A-game to the table.”
And Gorecki’s focus showed.
He went 6-for-10, getting two hits off Pettitte, a double off Chamberlain and a single off Rivera. Gorecki said he remembers every pitch, including the one he singled up the middle, against arguably the greatest closer of all time. “I wanted to see a few pitches,” he said of his at-bat against Rivera. “I wanted to see the cutter. I took one strike and on a 2-1 count, I put a nasty swing on the cutter. I fouled it off, then fouled one again, and then he left one over the plate.”
