As the saying goes, what goes around comes around. Guardians designated hitter Josh Naylor celebrated a solo home run against the New York Yankees with a rock-the-baby gesture and referring to pitcher Gerrit Cole as his “son” during Sunday’s Game 4 of the American League Division Series — a game his team ultimately lost. Two days later, the tables were turned.
Yankee Stadium erupted in the throwback “Who’s Your Daddy” chant when Naylor flew out in his first at-bat during Game 5.
Gleyber Torres finished off the insult by mimicking Naylor’s own motion as the second baseman finished off the last out of the game.
“It was disrespectful,” Torres said of Naylor after the game, according to Newsday’s Laura Albanese. “Not only to Cole but the whole team. We got a little revenge.”
The chant is nothing new for the Bronx faithful, but it hadn’t really been used in a while. It all started in 2004 when Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez referred to the Yankees as his “daddies” after he surrendered two runs in the seventh inning and saw his team blow a 4-3 lead to lose a late season game 6-4
“What can I say? I just tip my hat and call the Yankees my daddies,” Martinez famously told reporters after that game.
He was trying to be a good sport and give his opponents a compliment, but following that comment he had to hear fans yell “who’s your daddy” in unison every time he was on the mound at Yankee Stadium. Now it seems like Naylor has brought back the classic chant.
Tuesday’s game was a win-or-go home situation that saw the Yankees jump out to a 4-0 lead after the first two innings before closing things out with a 5-1 win. They’ll now scuttle over to Houston for the AL Championship Series against the Houston Astros, which is set to start Wednesday at 7:37 p.m. ET.
