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Houston Astros center fielder Taylor Trammell had his bat confiscated in the ninth inning of the team’s 8-4 loss to the New York Yankees on Thursday at Daikin Park.
Trammell, 27, ripped a double off Yankees closer David Bednar in the top of the ninth inning, and manager Aaron Boone asked the umpires to take a look at the bat.
Home plate umpire Adrian Johnson gathered the bat and all four umpires converged to discuss. Johnson also communicated with Major League Baseball’s replay office in New York before he handed the bat to an official, who took it away.
“It was just something that we noticed this series and asked the league about,” Boone told reporters after the game, via ESPN. “You’re not allowed to do anything to your bat. I’m not saying he was. I just … we noticed, and the league thought it maybe was illegal, too.”
“The discoloration was on the label, like. I don’t know if it was just natural or if it was sand … I don’t know. I don’t want to accuse Taylor. I’m not saying anything untoward or whatever.”
Trammell played five games for the Yankees last season, and 106 with the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
Trammell said he has a lot of “respect” for Boone but doesn’t “understand” why his bat was checked.
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“My time over there, I had a lot of respect for Boonie. He was straight-up with me,” Trammell told reporters postgame, via ESPN. “In that situation, I really don’t understand it. I don’t understand it.”
The Astros outfielder said he was told the Yankees thought his bat was “shaved down too much.”
“To be honest, I have no idea how you shave down a bat. I don’t know what it is,” Trammell said.
“My biggest problem is, I feel kind of defensive right now, more so (it is)testing my character of, like, I’m going to willingly do that. I’m kind of lost on that thing. I think if anybody knows me, knows that I’m never going to cheat any turns or anything like that. I have no idea. That’s baffling to me that it was even checked. They didn’t like it. Sorry.”
The Yankees held on for the win and clinched the series victory, as they won two of three games in the series. The Bronx Bombers (78-62) begin a pivotal series against the Toronto Blue Jays (81-59) on Friday at 7:05 p.m. ET.
The Blue Jays lead the Yankees by three games in the American League East.
The Astros (77-64) next play the Texas Rangers (72-69) on Friday at 8:05 p.m. ET.
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