WHEN HARRISON BADER When he discovers that his childhood dream has come true, his first reaction is surprise: disappointment.
St. Louis, where he has spent the past five and a half seasons as a member of the College of Cardinals, has become home. The team took Bader out of Florida in 2015, and when he was called up in 2017, he became a fan favorite. When the Cardinals’ ownership and front office told him he was a core part of the roster and the team’s future, Bader planted roots in the community. He was named the King of St. Louis Mardi Gras. He befriends local politicians like Missouri senator Brian Williams and is working with him to bring a PGA golf event to St. Louis.
But on August 2 of this season, when his phone rang four minutes before the trading deadline with a call from Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak, Bader knew his time was up. in St. Louis is over.
“Say no, Mo,” Bader told Mozeliak.
The deal is to New York, 11 miles from where Bader grew up in Bronxville, New York. Bader idolized Derek Jeter and the Core Four, attending the Yankees’ 2009 playoffs — and when the team won the World Series trophy that year, he imagined he would one day do the same. When news of his new home leaked on Twitter, Bader’s phone was flooded with messages from friends he graduated from Horace Mann, a private school in the Bronx. With most of his high school friends, Bader expressed his excitement to be back playing for his hometown team.
But to his best friend, Nick Wiener, whom he met in second grade, he expressed his disappointment.
“I understand why they did that,” Bader told Wiener. “But I will make them see this is a bad decision.”
There are other complicating factors. Before playing a game in the TV series, Bader faced skepticism from the very fans he once rooted with, who wondered why the front office was trading pitchers. left-handed. Jordan Montgomery for Bader, then on IL with plantar fasciitis and walking boots.
It didn’t help that the Yankees struggled after the sale either, recording a 10-18 record in August, hitting .221 / .297 / .354 during that period and seeing the lead of the them in division reduced from 15.5 games to four. Montgomery developed early for St.
In the meantime, all Bader can do is wait to recover – and show up to play when it’s almost counted out, reduce the interval, and come October.
He passed. Since his debut on September 20, Bader has been on a winning streak against skeptical Yankees fans, flashing the Golden Glove defense in the center area. In a tough fight ALDS go to Decisive Game 5 on Monday Night in the BronxBader defeated solo explosions in Game 1 and Game 3 against Cleveland Defenders before beating two runs in Game 4, joining Bernie Williams and Mickey Mantle as the only Yankee center hitters to have three home runs in a single season. It was also his first three home runs as a Yankee.
“Coming to New York,” Bader said, “I felt like I hit the reset button.”
The REAL HARRISON BADER love his long hair. He originally developed his mane in 2018, inspired by players he watched in the NHL who could see the flow from underneath their helmets. He likes hair that makes him recognizable. He likes it when he does dive plays out in the yard, it wags around his hat like Superman’s cape. The fans loved it too, with a Twitter account dedicated to its signature padlock.
But playing for the Yankees means adhering to the franchise’s notorious grooming policy, which bans all male players, coaches and executives from showing beards beyond a mustache and growing hair below their necks. shirt.
For Bader, it’s iconic. Pressing the reset button means cutting his hair.
Bader said: “Not even thinking about it. “It’s great, so happy to have done it. I’ve had a great time on and off the pitch in St. Louis, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything, but according to many way, this is the symbol of turning the page.”
But even after the haircut, it took weeks for Bader to really process how his life had changed. He sold his home in St. Louis; His mother came and helped clean up his life to move north. He entered the Yankee club for the first time, but Bader still didn’t fully feel the weight of it all until he finally healed from his injury and returned to the field on September 20, a day Aaron Judge hit his 60th game of the season and the Yankees came back from four runs down in the ninth inning against Pittsburgh Pirates.
“I don’t think he really handled it until he started batting practice and put on his Yankee uniform,” says Wiener. “He didn’t fully process until he got out there and made his debut.”
Post-season success is like validation for Bader, proof of why he deserves to wear the t-shirt, why the Yankees think it’s wise to trade him despite the injury. While Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told Bader he expected the midfielder to be an influential New York player, Bader knew fans had questions and they weren’t the only ones. Montgomery was hugely popular at the Yankees, and Bader knew it would take time for him to win over his new teammates, especially since he couldn’t join them on the field right away.
But Bader knows that focusing on things beyond his control will only hinder his ability to succeed on the court.
“You focus on the next thing, the next opportunity,” says Bader. “Then, you get rid of all your other worries.”
IT IS HARD remember Bader in the guild hall. He often dresses like another 20-year-old New Yorker strolling the streets of SoHo, wearing brightly-patterned t-shirts and hyped sneakers like the Nike Ben & Jerry Chunky Dunkys collaboration, which was created resold on the secondary market for $5,000. Bader’s new teammates describe him as an extrovert, someone who always says hi to those around him.
Yankees’ trump card Gerrit Cole noticed Bader’s presence immediately when he joined the team.
“He’s really electric,” Cole said. “An electric player, a touch player. Like, there’s moxie, baseball awareness. Chasing the ball while defending. Lots of good things to say about that guy.”
When he joined the Yankees, he also went on a mission to get to know quarterback Aaron Judge. While the two need to get used to each other in order to communicate while roaming for balloons, Bader also admires the way Judge performs himself on and off the field.
“Dude, not in a weird way, but I want to get close to him and do what he does,” Bader told Wiener. “I’m spending every minute I can with that man.”
While Bader approached the fiery game in St. Louis, he saw Judge’s mature and calm demeanor and wanted to apply it to himself.
“I wanted to surround myself with him and his energy,” Bader said last week. “We moved as a unit out there and he was part of that. It was a conscious decision, like, we’re going to work side by side so let’s talk. Let’s see. where we are and just being the best version of us for this team.”
He’s also settled back into life in New York, returning to his high school routine of eating bacon, eggs, and cheese on a blueberry bagel in the morning, grabbing a slice from his favorite pizzeria (Best Pizza, on First) and attending a high school friend’s wedding, something he wouldn’t be able to do if he were still in St. Louis. He returns to local favorites like the Caridad Express, a Dominican restaurant in the Bronx that he goes to with his off-season training partner, Andy Camilo.
Usually on the pitch, however, Bader tries to show as little emotion as possible, hoping that suppressing his emotions will help motivate him to play better. But when he first ran home as a Yankee over the left fence in Game 1 of ALDS, Bader couldn’t help but revel in the moment, which he spent time picturing to prepare. be for yourself.
“You don’t want to devalue anything that can happen later in the game, but it’s really tough when people are cheering,” Bader said. “It was a great moment. I enjoyed it so much, and again, as soon as it’s over, it’ll be right back.”
Bader said the strategy stems from his time at the University of Florida, where coach Brad Weitzel preached the “be a baseball player” mindset, telling his players that baseball doesn’t have any emotion, regardless of the situation. , no matter how many fans are in the stands.
“It’s completely emotionless,” Bader said. “So I try to act that way.”
Bader knows it’s easy to get distracted when you want to be the hero, hit the big-time home, pass in a big moment – especially when playing for your childhood team. Keep his mind off of all that keeps Bader on the field – and help him out of it too, especially in August, when he was a newbie unable to help his team win.
“The reality of the situation is that I’m not ready to play,” Bader said. “If I was forced to compete, if I were to pursue that exact emotion, it wouldn’t be a version of myself that would work for myself and my teammates. Coping with reality. It allows me to keep working.”
Even if the Yankees could be eliminated in Game 5, Bader is controlling those emotions once again. He doesn’t want to fulfill his childhood dream for too long.
“It’s a conscious decision every day to not be too high and not too low,” says Bader. “Everything is just the next opportunity. You have to be completely still and relaxed and emotionless when the next opportunity presents itself.”
For Bader and the Yankees, that’s the opportunity now.
