A first for Russell Wilson, and after strikeout, he’s not down
Yankees pinch hitter Russell Wilson, a Seattle Seahawks quarterback, warms up on deck before batting during the fifth inning of a spring training game against the Braves, Friday, March 2, 2018, in Tampa, Fla. Credit: AP / Lynne Sladky
TAMPA, Fla.
A baseball purist might argue that something is desperately wrong with the sport when Russell Wilson, the Seahawks’ All-Pro quarterback, now has more spring training at-bats than unemployed free agents Mike Moustakas and Carlos Gonzalez do.
The number, for those keeping score, is one. Leading off the fifth inning in the Yankees’ 5-4 victory over the Braves on Friday at Steinbrenner Field, Wilson struck out.
That also puts Wilson ahead of Adam Lind, who showed up before the game, a duffel bag packed with bats slung over his shoulder, after Brian Cashman rescued him from “Camp Jobless” down I-75 in Bradenton.
None of this is Wilson’s fault, of course. He’s just living his Yankees dream, moonlighting in pinstripes, and in talking to him Friday about the week-long experience, you couldn’t help but absorb his enthusiasm, which is kind of what Cashman was shooting for by bringing him into camp.
Because we’ve spent time across the state, hanging with the Mets’ Heisman Trophy winner, it’s hard not to draw some comparisons between the two quarterbacks — one currently piloting an NFL team, the other past tense. The difference with Tim Tebow, however, is that we’re counting him as a prospect now after Sandy Alderson’s bold proclamation about how he someday could play in the majors (wink, wink).
In the head-to-head competition, Tebow had the edge Friday with his sharp single off the Nationals’ Erick Fedde over at First Data Field. Wilson didn’t fare as well, but he made sure to get his hacks in against Braves reliever Max Fried, going down on five pitches. He loved every second of it, as did the crowd, which greeted him with a standing ovation and phone cameras raised for the occasion.
“I was up for the challenge,” Wilson said. “I was ready to roll.”
Wilson took a monster swing at a first-pitch fastball, fouling it straight back, and then got his knees buckled when Fried followed with a slow, looping curve — something Wilson said he wasn’t expecting. But this isn’t fantasy camp for the guys in the other uniforms. This is their actual job, how they plan on paying the mortgage and feeding their families. And dispatching Wilson as quickly as possible probably is fairly important to a pitcher in a major-league uniform.
After the big bender, Fried didn’t mess around, rifling three straight fastballs to Wilson, who swung through the last 93-mph pitch to close out his Yankees dream for 2018.
Maybe it was a bit of a buzz kill for those in the seats — and those hoping for a viral video moment — but to Wilson, that was the dessert to an overall positive week in pinstripes.
And the moment was even wasn’t supposed to happen. Coming in, the Yankees didn’t intend to get Wilson into a Grapefruit League game. But after the Seahawks signed off on the plan Thursday night, he got the green light to pinch hit for Aaron Judge in the fifth. Scouts in attendance were surprised at Wilson’s ability to see pitches — his last at-bat in any game was 2011, against Chasen Shreve in a minor-league game — but the takeaway for him was just getting the chance.
“I wasn’t coming here to fool around,” Wilson said. “The best thing for me is I went up there with no fear. I went up there in attack mode. I’ll always remember when they announced my name.”
The Seahawks know what Wilson is about, so they knew he would bring the same intensity to his spring training regimen that he does to his preparation for the NFL schedule. That meant showing up at Steinbrenner Field every morning at 7 to work out before joining the team for drills as well as the hitting groups with Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Gary Sanchez.
Wilson also went out to dinner with a group of players Thursday night, when they all discussed what goes into preparing for a championship run, as the Yankees want to be doing in the coming season.
“A lot of it was about trusting what you know,” Wilson said. “There has to be an obsession with doing things right every day. Winning is a habit.”
The Yankees hope that message sticks around long after he leaves for his day job.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
