Yankees' Jose Trevino sheds tears of joy, sadness
Yankees' Jose Trevino hits an RBI ingle during the 11th inning of the team's baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday, May 24, 2022, in New York. The Yankees won 7-6 in 11 innings. Credit: Frank Franklin II
Jose Trevino woke up Tuesday morning and enjoyed a cup of coffee from his father’s favorite mug. His dad Joe had passed away in 2013, but it was his birthday, and there was a game later that night, when Trevino would be playing for his late father’s favorite team, the Yankees.
Always an emotional day, this May 24 was made even more special with Trevino wearing pinstripes. Little did he know what awaited him later in the Bronx, when Trevino would be whipsawed by memories of his dad, along with the unspeakable tragedy of a Texas elementary school shooting that occurred hundreds of miles away, but just 90 minutes from his home (he was born in Corpus Christi).
Trevino still was processing all of that when he stepped to the plate Tuesday night in the 11th inning. He already had homered in the third and delivered an RBI single in the seventh to tie the score at 5. But there was more work to be done, and so Trevino dug in against Orioles’ reliever Bryan Baker with the winning run at second base, and a familiar voice in his ear.
“He would always put me in these scenarios,” Trevino would say afterward of his dad. “Saying, you know, ninth inning, down one, we need a base hit here to win the game at Yankee Stadium.”
All that imagination, the visualizing of the big Bronx stage from faraway Texas, his father teeing up every magical moment. Only this time the dream was real, and with two strikes, Baker rifled an 89-mph cutter on the inside half of the plate. Trevino turned on the pitch and ripped it down the leftfield line, a clean single, and the Yankees dugout emptied in celebration of the 7-6 win.
After the jumping and the dancing and the hollering on the infield dirt, Trevino did the customary hero’s interview on the YES network. Amid all that happiness, Trevino couldn’t stop the tears streaming down his face.
Back in the clubhouse, after the strobe lights and disco balls from the Yankees’ post-victory romp had been turned off, Trevino explained why he was crying. But it was more than just one thing.
“I just want to start by saying my thoughts and prayers are with everybody in Uvalde, Texas tonight,” Trevino said. “Just thinking about them.”
As of late Tuesday night, 21 people were dead, including 19 children from that Uvalde elementary school, killed by an 18-year-old shooter. Trevino is a father now himself, so it was only natural he thought to offer those condolences first, amid the feelings for his dad already spilling over throughout the day.
But Trevino also had a baseball job to do that night, one that Joe had trained him for all his young life, and it seems that his dad has been with him every step of his career. Trevino’s first game-winning hit was for the Rangers on June 17, 2018 — Father’s Day — only a week after he became a dad himself. But Tuesday’s chance, to do it for the Yankees, was something the two had dreamed about forever.
“He never forced me to play baseball — never,” Trevino said. “But when I wanted to, he was always there. It’s just crazy that he would always put me in these scenarios, and this goes back to me getting traded over here. He always said, ‘I’m preparing you to be a Yankee — always.’”
When GM Brian Cashman wound up a catcher short at the end of spring training, he swung the deal for Trevino on April 2, thinking he’d be the backup to incumbent Kyle Higashioka. But Trevino flipped that script, taking control of the position as a quick favorite of the pitching staff that could also provide some occasional pop at the plate (he’s also reached base safely in 10 of his last 11 games).
“He’s meant so much to those guys in such a short time,” Aaron Boone said. “I’m just really happy for him. He’s been so instrumental in us being where we are at this point in the season, and tonight to see him really have a huge offensive night, I couldn’t be happier for him.”
Trevino’s three hits tied a career-high, and each one was pivotal for the Yankees, who snapped their first three-game losing streak of the season. The day as a whole had brought an avalanche of bad news down on the Yankees, with DJ LeMahieu (wrist discomfort) a late scratch from the lineup and Giancarlo Stanton being removed in the seventh due to calf soreness (an MRI is scheduled for Wednesday).
To say the Yankees badly needed a win was an understatement. That the decisive hit was delivering in thrilling fashion by Trevino was nothing short of a lifelong dream becoming reality on a chilly late May evening in the Bronx. Consider it a birthday present.
“It would have been awesome for him to be here,” Trevino said of his dad. “But I know he’s watching.”
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.
