With runners on first and third, Tampa Bay’s Aubrey Huff hit a sharp grounder to Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano, playing in only his second major league game. Cano’s easy double play grounder was tossed to Derek Jeter at short, more or less.
It passed by Jeter within 10 feet or so for an error. Two Devil Rays scored. Henn lasted just three more hitters before the score was 6-2 and he was pulled from the game.
After Sean left the field, Torre stopped him on the way to the clubhouse and the two sat and talked for a few minutes. Henn showered and then got ready for the biggest opponent of New York pitching prospects: The New York press.
“I told him to enjoy the experience,” Torre said. “It was a big break for him and I told him to just move on from here. No experience in the major leagues is a bad experience and I told him to learn from this. He gets a call from Double A one day ago and the next thing he knows he has his first loss in the majors. He’ll be back.”
Henn said that’s exactly what he took from his debut.
“He told me not to let it get into my head,” Henn said. “Next time my knees won’t be knocking. But it was still an exciting experience. I was hoping to go seven innings, but I’m just sorry that everyone drove so far to see me and I couldn’t even go three innings.”
Torre passed on one other bit of good news: A promotion to AAA Columbus, one rung further up the ladder, for a look at a better breed of batter in the International League.
“I’ll go to Columbus, do my best, and hope to get back,” Henn said. “It was a great learning experience.”
<<Back | 1 | 2 | 3 | Next>>
