Brett Gardner told Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports that he was spiked on his left hand when he beat out C.J. Wilson at first base on his rally-sparking head-first dive in the eighth inning of Game 1 last night.
“I don’t know what size he wears,” Gardner said, speaking of Wilson’s shoe, holding up his hand. “I’m just glad he’s a little guy. I was thinking I’m glad CC wasn’t the one who stepped on me. Eh, just a couple scratches. It’s all right.”
It’s been said a million times, so I won’t dwell on it too much here, but he could have been safe by a wide margin had he simply run through the base. After all, speed is Gardner’s best asset. Obviously, it’s pretty easy to say that from the seat of my desk, as opposed to the heat of the moment on the field of play. Still, Gardner admitted as much after the game, saying, “Everything’s going so fast” and “I don’t know what I’m thinking.”
It worked and the Yankees ended up winning the game, which I guess is all that matters today, but man, it could have been a lot worse.
