Guardians DH Josh Naylor has given his hat to Yankees fans who have spent much of Game 5 taunting his “Rock the Baby” celebration.
The ALDS story between the Yankees and Guardians took a turn the moment Josh Naylor hit the ground running in Game 4 and ran the rules while pretending to hit a kid in his arms.
Some love the moment. Others criticized him because Cleveland was losing at the time. Gerrit Cole, the jug from which he was summoned, was dismissive of her.
As for Yankees fans, they took the celebration and ran with it, using it to mock Naylor and The Guardians throughout Match 5.
Josh Naylor loved playing in front of a hostile Yankees crowd
To his credit, Naylor took everything by leaps and bounds. When asked about the crowd chanting things like “Who is your father?” After Cleveland’s 5-1 loss, he praised the atmosphere.
“It was so sick. It was honestly like a dream come true as a kid; playing in an environment like this where they have strong fans, it’s just amazing,” Naylor said. “The fact that I went through this whole stadium, it was sick.”
It is very normal for athletes to do bad sports with regard to things, especially after a heavy loss. It’s as refreshing to hear Naylor take it as he can give it.
He seems to embrace the idea of fine ribbing as part of his sport.
“If anything, it’s kind of motivating me. It’s fun to play under pressure. It’s fun to play when everyone is against you and when the world is against you. It’s so much fun,” said Naylor, per ESPN.
“That’s why you play this game at the highest level or try to reach the highest level: to play against opponents like the Yankees or against the Astros or whatever. They all have great fandoms and they all want their home team to win, and it’s great to play in that kind of spotlight and in This pressure.”
Naylor will have to wait until next year to feel that way again.
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