CLEVELAND — All at once, they came barreling out of the New York Yankees’ dugout. Luis Gil pumped his fist and nearly crossed into the infield. Jazz Chisholm Jr. strutted with both hands in the air. Austin Wells, a bat in hand, let out a cathartic scream.
Giancarlo Stanton had struck again. The powerful designated hitter hit a three-run home run, giving the Yankees a four-run lead in the sixth inning of an eventual 8-6 win over the Cleveland Guardians in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series at Progressive Field on Friday night.
The moment was an obvious cause for celebration. It pushed the Yankees that much closer to taking a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, with a chance Saturday to punch their ticket to the World Series for the first time since 2009. It also added to the growing legend of Stanton, whose track record of showing up in October has earned him a new nickname among fans on social media: “Playoff G.”
“He did it again,” manager Aaron Boone thought to himself as the ball left the bat.
But the moment wasn’t the only reason Yankees players nearly threw a party the moment Stanton’s 404-foot blast off elite reliever Cade Smith sailed over the fence, even if it was Stanton’s astounding fourth home run this postseason and the 15th of his playoff career.
For seven years, Stanton has been a quiet, steady pillar of the Yankees’ clubhouse. Of course, nobody questions the leadership of Aaron Judge, who became the 16th official captain in team history last season. And Gerrit Cole has for years been the de facto leader of the pitching staff.
For Stanton, there’s no title. There’s something perhaps deeper.
“Reverence,” Boone said.
In TV interviews and press conferences, Stanton can come across as dry and direct. He thinks before he speaks, and he keeps it short. He joined the Yankees in December 2017. Back then, Derek Jeter, the CEO of the Miami Marlins at the time, was looking to cut payroll. So he sought a suitor for Stanton, who reportedly used his no-trade clause to block deals to the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals, instead favoring the bright lights of the Bronx.
Since then, he’s mostly kept a low profile. Occasionally, he makes non-baseball headlines for who he’s dating or when he shows up courtside at New York Knicks games.
But inside the Yankees clubhouse, teammates say there’s a side of Stanton that’s selfless, obsessed with winning and leads by example, though he’ll speak up when it’s time.
“He’s our second captain,” left fielder Alex Verdugo said.
There goes that man. @Giancarlo818 🤯 pic.twitter.com/gngWQig9TS
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) October 19, 2024
Third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. has struggled throughout the playoffs this year. He’s started every game, but he’s hit just .129 (4-for-31) with 10 strikeouts and a home run. On Friday, he went hitless in four at-bats with three strikeouts.
Yet, everyday, Stanton has been in his ear, whether it’s been before or after games or during batting practice.
“Every day he’s come up to me and told me, ‘Hey, you’re going to get going. You’re not here for no reason. The same reason Judge is here, the same reason I’m here, the same reason (Juan) Soto is here — you’re here because we know you can do it,” Chisholm said.
Chisholm spent his first five seasons in Miami before getting traded to the Yankees before the deadline this year. Stanton played his first eight seasons with the Marlins. Chisholm said prior to joining the Yankees, he never felt he was surrounded by veteran leadership.
Judge and first baseman Anthony Rizzo may get press for leading the club, but Stanton has been “here for the guys more than anybody else,” Chisholm said.
Catcher Austin Wells hit a solo homer in Friday’s win, but he has also struggled in the playoffs (3-for-30). He said Stanton has been a constant presence for him “in the cages, around the shower, whenever we’re in the same spot.”
“He cares about winning maybe more than anyone in our clubhouse,” Wells said. “That’s something that might tell you more than any other words. ”
Stanton can take over pregame hitters’ meetings, Verdugo said.
“He has good things to say about approaches, pitching sequences, stuff like that,” Verdugo said. “He’s always there. If you want to talk to him, if you want to be with him, he’s not shy to talk.”
The 6-foot-6, 245-pound Stanton can seem intimidating at first, Verdugo admitted.
“He”ll take all the time in the world for anybody,” Verdugo said. “You just have to get past that (he) kind of looks intimidating or be like, ‘Hey, G what you got on this guy?’ And he’ll stop and he’ll break some stuff down, even if it’s not about baseball and it’s about life.”
For infielder DJ LeMahieu, Stanton’s kindness extended to before they were teammates. The pair share the same agent. LeMahieu said that while he was a free agent during the 2018-2019 offseason, he got a call from their agent, who told him that Stanton had suggested the possibility of restructuring his contract with the Yankees to “make sure you’re here.” LeMahieu was blown away.
“He cares a lot,” LeMahieu said. “He cares a lot about the team. He cares a lot about how he plays and how he prepares. … He does a lot around here and has everyone’s respect.”
Stanton, however, shrugs at the praise.
“I’m here for everybody,” he said. “Any bit of information, anything to discuss. It’s an interesting time where you need to have the conversations and know the weight of everything that goes into these games. But you don’t always have those (talks).”
Giancarlo Stanton on how it feels to be a win away from the World Series:
“It feels like nothing until we get it done. As far as I’m concerned, we haven’t done nothing.” pic.twitter.com/J04KBW3zLp
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) October 19, 2024
By just about anyone else’s standards, Stanton had a strong season when he debuted with the Yankees in 2018, hitting 38 home runs with 100 RBIs. But he was coming off winning the National League MVP and hitting 59 homers. As the Yankees finished second in the AL East, Boone sensed that to many fans, what Stanton did wasn’t “good enough in a lot of ways.”
That’s when Stanton figured out how to block out the bad that comes with playing in pinstripes, Boone said.
“He learned how to deal with all that noise and realized that as good as everyone I’ve seen, that it is just noise,” Boone said. “It’s all B.S. Whether I want to find out how great I am or how crappy I am, I can find it all, and it doesn’t mean anything.”
Judge was in his second season when Stanton joined the Yankees. The pair often play catch before games and share tips in the dugout between at-bats. Judge said Stanton leads in “many different ways.”
“He speaks up in our hitters’ meetings,” Judge said. “He leads by example, which you guys saw (Friday) night. He’s a special player. Anyone who — when they have a chance to pick where they want to go — says, ‘I want to come to New York. I want to be here in these environments, in these situations.’ That just speaks volumes to the type of character he has and the type of person he is.”
Cole said Stanton is a “pro’s pro” and that the example he sets reminds other players to be at their best.
“Every time you watch G go about his business,” Cole said, “there’s an opportunity to remind yourself, ‘Well, this is probably the right way to go about it.’”
As the Yankees go into ALCS Game 5, there might not be anyone with more eyes on him than Stanton — especially inside the clubhouse, where he’s been an under-the-radar leader for years.
“When he speaks,” Boone said, “people listen to him.”
(Photo: Mary DeCicco / MLB Photos via Getty Images)
