Adam Wainwright says he grooved a pitch:
Adam Wainwright said, several times, that he grooved the pitch Jeter hit for a double. "He deserved it," Wainwright said. #ASG #yankees
— Patrick Borzi (@BorzMN) July 16, 2014
That’s disappointing. Fooling around (like Randy Johnson and Larry Walker) was fine when it was an exhibition. This is supposed to count. If the NL loses by one run, they can blame Wainwright for losing home field advantage.
The AL leads the NL 5-3 in the top of the eighth.
Update: Wainwright is walking back his comments on Fox.
Not good, Adam Wainwright. Not good. I hate WS home field advantage being determined by All-Star winner, but so long as it is the All-Star game is not a true exhibition game and is part of the championship season. It may have felt good for Adam Wainwright to groove one to Jeter, but it was a decidedly bad idea. I’d also venture that Jeter doesn’t think Wainwright really did him a favor either, though he’s too classy to ever say anything.
I am ok with him grooving a pitch, since the game is meaningful only in our mind even with HFA which benefits only 1 team unknown, but why say that’s what you did? Sort of defeats the purpose.
I don’t think Wainwright meant he deliberately threw a pitch Jeter would hit hard. I think he meant he threw them in the strike zone.
I loved the way Jeter handled it in the post-game, taking the unpleasant tension out of the situation.
James » Yes, that’s Jeter. I’ve always been impressed by the way he handles himself speaking publicly.