(Neil Miller/Sportsday Wire)
The Greg Bird Era is now in full force.
Almost a month after fouling a ball off his shin in Minnesota, it’s been revealed that Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira fractured that bone and is now out for the season.
Teixeira spoke about his immediate reaction when the injury took place at a Yankee Stadium press conference, “I felt when I got hit it was really as painful as I’ve felt on the field. It’s been really painful since day one.”
Up until the fracture was found, Teixeira had made an attempt to play, “I have a high tolerance of pain. I was trying to play every day. We were trying to figure out why it wasn’t healing. Today we did find out it was fractured.”
The 35 year-old first baseman, has been the Yankees MVP up to that point. in the Through the 111 games that he played, he belted 31 homers and knocked in 79 runs. He led the team with an on base percentage of .357 and a slugging percentage of .548.
Bird will now become the Yankees regular first baseman. The rookie is currently batting .241, but has hit five home runs and driven in 17 runs in 24 games.
“It’s been great seeing Birdie step up,” Teixeira said.
Ultimately though, Teixeira knows this could be his last post-season run in the Bronx. A free agent after next season and with Bird in the wings he may not get another chance. “I really can’t put into words how disappointed I am,” he said. “I really think this team [Yankees] has a chance to win the World Series.”
The absence of Teixeira in the lineup may lessen those chances greatly, especially with how well he played this season. The Yanks were in first place on the day he got injured in August, but are now 2 ½ games behind the Blue Jays. However, they still lead in the Wild Card.