Jasson Dominguez gets loudest ovation in his Yankee Stadium debut
Jasson Dominguez of the Yankees works out on the field before a game against the Tigers at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
“The Martian” came to Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night and brought “E.T.” with him.
Rookie Jasson Dominguez, in his Yankee Stadium debut, went 1-for-4 with a double and run scored in the Yankees’ 5-1 victory over the Tigers before a crowd of 31,553.
But it was the 20-year-old’s response to the Bleacher Creatures’ roll call in the first inning that had folks in the stadium and on the internet wondering exactly what Dominguez was trying to say.
Turns out he was just trying to phone home from his new baseball home.
Dominguez, who was playing center, was serenaded as the first player during the roll call. His teammates had told him he needed to prepare a response to the Yankees’ most rabid fans.
Dominguez played off his nickname. He turned to the right-centerfield bleachers, took off his glove, made a triangle with his index fingers and then pointed his right index finger at the sky, all the while flashing a wide smile.
Dominguez confirmed after the game that his move was an homage to the adorable “E.T., phone home” moment from the movie “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.”
Dominguez also confirmed that he has never seen the movie, which was released in 1982, 21 years before Dominguez was born. But someone suggested it and he went with it.
Some online folks thought the triangle might have been a reference to “Area 51,” the mysterious top-secret military base in Nevada that is supposed to house a triangle-shaped UFO captured — shhh, secretly! — by the U.S. government.
The hashtag “#Area161” (a reference to 161st Street, where the Stadium is located) was posted on the Yankees’ official account on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Giancarlo Stanton hit a tie-breaking two-run home run in the sixth — his 400th career homer — and Gerrit Cole continued his probable AL Cy Young season by allowing one run in six innings to improve to 13-4.
The Yankees, who have won four in a row and seven of eight, got back to .500 at 69-69 for the first time since they were 60-60 on Aug. 15.
Dominguez was hitless in his first three at-bats before he stroked a double to right-center off righthander Brendan White in the eighth. The song “Intergalactic” by the Beastie Boys played over the stadium loudspeakers.
Dominguez later scored when Gleyber Torres lined a two-run double to left.
Dominguez got the loudest ovation during pregame lineup introductions.
“I wasn’t expecting it,” he said through an interpreter. “It was kind of like a surprise in the way they were cheering. It felt great.”
In his first at-bat in the home pinstripes, the No. 3 hitter struck out on four pitches against Detroit righthander Alex Faedo.
In his second at-bat, Dominguez went after the first pitch and grounded into a 4-6 forceout.
In the sixth inning, with the game tied at 1, the switch-hitting Dominguez turned around against lefthander Joey Wentz and grounded into a 5-4 force.
Then came his first Yankee Stadium hit, the double to right-center.
“I thought they pitched him tough, really, his first few at-bats where he didn’t necessarily have great at-bats,” manager Aaron Boone said. “And then he was able to set us up in the final inning, get some tack-on runs.”
Said Cole: “He looks like a fantastic player. He’s got a lot of work to do . . . He’s going to be playing very well for us. He’s going to be playing bad at some point . . . I’m not an official scout. So far, I like what I see.”
Dominguez was assigned Josh Donaldson’s old corner locker in the Yankees clubhouse, next to Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Fellow rookie Austin Wells was given Harrison Bader’s old locker, between Kyle Higashioka and DJ LeMahieu.
On Friday night in Houston, Dominguez hit a home run in his first big-league at-bat off future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander. Dominguez went deep again in front of a national audience on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” and went 3-for-13 overall with four RBIs in his first three games.
Of his first home game, Dominguez said: “Incredible. Just being here, in this stadium, as a player, it’s such a great experience overall. Very excited to be out there.”
Notes & quotes: The Yankees held a moment of silence for George Rose, their executive adviser for Pacific Rim operations, who died on Sunday at the age of 57 . . . Former Yankees centerfielder Bernie Williams played the national anthem on his guitar.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
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