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After Sunday night’s Major League Baseball Little League Classic involving the New York Yankees, South Shore Little League manager Bob Laterza made some severely negative comments about the team’s star Aaron Judge.
Laterza, whose Little League World Series team hails from Staten Island, claimed Judge big-timed them, meeting with other LLWS players and ignoring the New York kids while he was in the on deck circle during the actual MLB game.
“How about turning around or wave to New York and the kids that think you’re a hero?” said Laterza. “They are the ones who pay your salary. They were disappointed. Maybe he’ll want to make up for it and come and see them.”
Laterza’s team did get to meet with DJ LeMahieu and Tim Hill, as well as interact with Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes, Jasson Dominguez, manager Aaron Boone and former Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher, but apparently that wasn’t good enough.
On Wednesday, the New York Yankees fired back.
Meeting your hero. Memory of a lifetime. 🥹 #LittleLeagueClassic pic.twitter.com/Mrp1CZ0USL
— MLB (@MLB) August 18, 2024
“Our entire roster spent the day in Williamsport connecting with as many Little Leaguers as they possibly could prior to our game, including the team from Staten Island,” the Yankees said in a statement.
“We commend all of our players for devoting their complete attention to the hundreds of kids who literally walked step-by-step alongside them from the moment the Yankees landed in Williamsport through the entirety of the evening. Our players were unequivocally committed to making the experience what it was intended to be – a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for young baseball players and their families from around the world to have meaningful and genuine interaction with some of Major League Baseball’s greatest players.”
The Yankees then really began to stick the knife in Laterza and his claims.
“Neither the Yankees nor our players organized the schedule on Sunday,” the statement continued. “In fact, because Staten Island played on Sunday our players went out of their way to spend time with them in the moments immediately before our game with the Tigers.”
In closing, the Yankees wished the Staten Island Little League team “success in winning the championship.”
“Win or lose, we intend to invite them to Yankee Stadium,” the team added. “However, it would have been much better if Staten Island’s Coach called us to understand the facts before bitterly reacting in such a public fashion. Reaching out to us would have been the prudent way to act and would have set a fine example for his young players. Aaron Judge always acts with kindness and respect.
“The coach could learn a lot from him.”
Ouch.