Anthony Volpe has the No. 11 thanks, partly, to the efforts of Anthony Rizzo and Aaron Decide.
It was the Yankee slugger and former first baseman who thought the quantity suited the younger infielder when he first made the roster out of spring coaching in 2023, he revealed within the first episode of the brand new season of “The Story of My Number,” set to air on Could 14 on YES Community inside The Gotham Sports activities App.
“When I got called up out of spring training, my head was all over the place, the last thing I was thinking of was what number I was going to be,” Volpe says within the episode, which The Put up bought a sneak peek of. “Riz and Judgey pulled me over and they were like, ‘Where’s your head at? What are you thinking?’”
Volpe, nonetheless making an attempt to gather his bearings, wasn’t certain how the method labored to pick out a quantity and even what was nonetheless obtainable.
That’s when Decide and Rizzo expressed to the then-rookie that the No. 11 could be a sensible choice for him.
The quantity had been utilized by Brett Gardner throughout his 14-year MLB profession — all with the Yankees — and Rizzo had felt that the best factor to do was to verify the outfielder was alright with it.
“I think the most important thing was I got to call Brett Gardner up on the phone and just ask him really for his blessing and then thank him,” Volpe says. “Which is what I wished to do trigger I used to be a younger participant simply making my means into the large leagues and I had the good thing about superb veterans that took me beneath their wing. Confirmed me the ropes and actually was simply there for me.
“I wanted to thank him for treating Judgey and all the guys that treated me so well, he was the one that treated them well and taught them how to treat the young players.”
“The Story of My Number” returns for a second season, hosted by Gracie Cashman, the daughter of Yankees normal supervisor Brian Cashman.
Different episodes will embody interviews with Dwight Gooden, Paul O’Neill, Vince Carter, David Cone and Dellin Betances.
