Center fielder Harrison Bader came to the Yankees in the much-maligned deadline deal for Jordan Montgomery. Having now overcome a foot issue he was suffering at the time of the trade, the Bronxville native played the final 14 games of the season. Now, he takes a swing at some playoff Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby.
Q: What is your mindset as you’re about to start chasing a world championship with the New York Yankees?
A: I’m not an overly religious person. I just wasn’t raised to really kind of believe that things just are meant to be, and there’s some higher power that maybe is moving pieces around to make things happen for individual people. But I will tell you that in this trade that happened, and what you just mentioned, obviously being from New York, this truly is the very first time in my life where I have questioned my thought process in thinking maybe there is something that is a higher power that’s making this all happen. ’Cause I could not be more ready, I could not be more excited. … It just makes so much sense to me for it to not have all been planned out by someone or some thing. This is what I train for, this is what I dream about as a young kid. I’m at heart a still young kid just playing baseball living out my dream, my passion every single day. This is never work, this is a game. I’ve thought about this for a long time and just kind of feel it coming right on the corner. … I’ve been thinking about this moment my entire life. … But as excited as I am, it’s overcome with just focus and determination, and just a readiness to go out there and be dangerous and have nothing to lose.
Q: What was it like for you experiencing Aaron Judge’s 62nd home run?
A: It was absolutely electric. I’ve been very fortunate in my career thus far to be surrounded by so many tremendous baseball players. But not only baseball players from a talent perspective, but just amazing human beings, great teammates, great fathers, great friends. And now being in this locker room, being on this team and witnessing another one that I can definitely add to that list in Aaron Judge, it’s incredible. Just with how welcoming he’s been to me, how much he’s made me feel like a part of the team — and other guys have too, don’t get me wrong — but he’s definitely been a driving force there. He really has made me feel as though I’ve been watching his success all year. We see what goes on when they throw a ball, everybody in the stadium boos, home or away. God forbid he gets walked, the stadium is just filled with boos. If he hits a double down the line, people are happy, but they almost boo, too, and they’re just underwhelmed with it because all they want to see is a home run. The way he’s dealt with all those pressures, the way he’s just continued his process in taking his walks, not forcing it, it just really is incredible to watch, but that’s why he’s in that position. He’s absolutely built for the stage, he’s built for all the emotion involved with it. I couldn’t be happier for him, and I hope that I have many more seasons with him to enjoy much more of his successes.
Q: What is it like being a New York Yankee for you, and what is it like playing center field for the New York Yankees?
A: It’s definitely an honor, there’s no doubt. I don’t take anything lightly in this game. I’ve been around long enough at this level to see so many players fall off the edges, so I don’t take anything for granted, and I also know that nothing’s given in this game, so as much as I am incredibly grateful, I’m also proud of being here, and I’m proud to be able to say that I am in fact a New York Yankee. A lot of things can happen when you get traded, you can be dealt to some teams that are not nearly as winning or don’t have as many winning players as this organization does, so I view it truly as an honor. … I’m flattered, but when those very humbling and wholesome emotions leave, and I kind of get over that and I really do settle in, I couldn’t be more excited, and I couldn’t be thinking more that this is so intentional, and this happened for a reason. Taking the field every day with that level of emotion poured into trying to be the best baseball player I can be. … I don’t take a pitch off. I don’t waver in terms of my focus. … There’s just a level of energy on that field that I’ve truly never experienced. I really do feel like my career has pressed the reset button ’cause it’s a complete different league facing completely different pitchers. I’m just excited to dive back into the art of the game and seeing how far that takes me.
Q: Describe your on-field mentality.
A: My on-field mentality has always been about winning, regardless of the circumstances, regardless of how I might be feeling, regardless of the numbers I might be putting up at the time and whatnot. When I was presented to this locker room, the very first thing I told myself was I’m gonna control the narrative here. My narrative has always been I want to win, and the frustration and if there’s ever emotion that shows on the field good or bad, it’s always because I just want to win really badly.
Q: What drives you?
A: I want to be a champion, I want to win a World Series. And what drives me is that I know in order for a team to win a World Series they have to have everybody on the roster firing on the right cylinders, and they need everybody on the roster to be the best version of themselves for those 11 wins that it takes to win in the postseason. So what drives me is just that constant repetition of being the best version of myself on the field. You run into a bone edema and plantar fasciitis for the full season, there’s no excuse not to find a way to compete and battle to still be the best version of yourself to help the team win, and sometimes that comes in different forms, you know? It’s always about that motivating factor.
Q: What traits have allowed you to become a Gold Glove center fielder?
A: I think everything in this game is discipline, but especially on defense. It’s really easy to kind of go out there and go through the motions and let your at-bats kind of eat you up or think about other things while you’re playing defense. But the level of discipline it takes to be locked in every single pitch, to want the ball hit to you so you can make a play every single time, to make a throw, to make a catch, whatever it is. There are a lot of factors involved on defense that allow you to become a really good defender. … Having a hit tool is amazing, a lot of that is repetition and work, there’s no doubt. Growing up, you can either hit it or you can’t hit, and the guys kind of in the middle who have found themselves and turned themselves into really good hitters through incredibly hard work, there are only a few of those guys, but you can really only hit if you got it. But with defense you truly can become a really good defender. It just takes time and it takes discipline, it takes repetition, and there’s so many controllable factors on defense that I pride myself on being on top of and being aware of. A lot of those things really come down to a foot or two in a certain direction, whether it’s positioning or timing a dive right or throwing to the right base. I’m just happy that there’s more info that kind of shows how important defense is, because I was always taught, especially at the University of Florida, that pitching and defense wins championships.
Q: Do you have a favorite catch?
A: Honestly, all my diving catches are my children.
Q: What is the biggest adversity you’ve overcome?
A: This thing I had in my heel, I’ve never been so debilitated just purely as an athlete. I’ve never physically been in a position where I’ve never healed. Last year, I cracked five ribs diving for a ball in center field, but six weeks later, I was perfectly fine. This plantar fasciitis turning into a bone edema, it’s just been all year, non-stop with everything I do, not just baseball. Every step I take, every time I use the bathroom in my apartment, I’ve never in my life experienced this feeling of being inadequate … inadequate to the standard I hold myself, but also inadequate for my teammates because there’s just something that’s just holding me back. It’s never about an excuse, it’s just about learning to deal with it is the biggest thing. ’Cause it will go away, it will heal, but finding a way to battle through it, it was incredibly debilitating.
Q: What is the criticism that has bothered you the most?
A: Whenever people just rule out you in general, whenever they say you can’t hit right-handed pitching, or you can’t do this, you can’t do that, and they just kind of rule you out completely. The criticism that’s always bothered me comes from people who just over a tough skid or something they just completely rule you out and make you feel as though you’re kind of married to a past version of yourself you’re never gonna be able to graduate from. Anybody who’s ever ruled me out completely, that’s always bothered me, but also driven me forward.
Q: And you were ruled out because of your size in high school?
A: My head coach from University of Florida would categorize us as right, right and white — right-handed thrower, right-handed hitter and white, and that’s just not attractive to pro scouts in Major League Baseball and everything ’cause it’s such a basic level of like an athlete. I took that personally because I was like even if I am that, that’s what I was handed in life, but I’m gonna show and prove everybody that I can be effective, I can still be a winning player even though I’m 6-foot tall, 200 pounds, and throw righty and bat righty. Yeah, constantly ruled out but … here we are.
Q: Describe your former University of Florida teammate Pete Alonso.
A: The very first time I saw him, as a freshman, take a swing, I knew he was gonna be a big leaguer. I know what that looks like, I know what right-center power looks like, a good swing, a good load. And he had it from Day 1. He’s dangerous because he can obviously do damage on multiple pitches in different parts of the zone. He’s very disciplined in his approach. He knows what he’s doing, he knows what he’s looking for, and he’s got a very simple approach to produce good results. Then on top of which he’s consistent.
Q: From your Instagram: “To live in the past is to die in the present.”
A: When I hear that quote right now, what I think is if you don’t have the ability, especially in the game, to turn the page, so quickly, pitch to pitch, at-bat to at-bat and most certainly day to day, the opportunity that the present provides you, you just lose it. And the amazing thing about baseball is that you can go out there and strike out four times, for example, and come back the next day and go 4-for-4. The only difference is the ability to turn the page. Living in the past in baseball is just a waste of energy, it’s a waste of time, and it just truly rots and decays anything that the present, which is the most important state, can provide you with, because the present is where all the opportunity comes from. On the other side of that, living in the future presents anxiety and stuff, it hasn’t happened yet so there’s no sense in even thinking or worrying about it.
Q: “Hungry dogs run faster.”
A: (Laugh) It was 2019, when I got sent down for like the very first time in my major league career due to performance, or lack thereof performance. I was getting eaten alive by different ways of pitching and I didn’t do a good enough job of adjusting. What being sent down to Triple-A did for me is it reignited that hunger — and not so much hunger for results, just hunger for the process, and being able to take a step back and understand why you’re in this situation and how you got here, being able to turn the page, obviously make peace with it, but turn the page and say whatever happened has happened, but now I’m not gonna shy away from it, I’m actually gonna use it as my driving force moving forward. … I came back and actually finished that year relatively strong. This game is a constant game of adjustments, and if you get comfortable for a second, these guys up here are mo joke and they’ll absolutely take your lunch.
Q: “Don’t go with the flow. Be the flow.”
A: (Laugh) The only way to really truly be yourself is to just be your own self. I’ve found that it takes a lot of energy and expends a lot of energy trying to think or be somebody different than who you truly are, and the only way you’re gonna ever have success is by being your own self. If you just go along with the flow, you’re just kind of going through the motions and doing what people expect of you and this and that. But having the ability to kind of be your own flow and go on your own path and be OK with whatever the outcome might be, there’s a lot of peace and confidence in that.
Q: Do you miss the long hair?
A: Honestly no, I don’t. I’m over it. I think my short hair looks great, my mom thinks so, that’s all that matters (chuckle).
Q: Why was Torii Hunter your favorite player growing up?
A: As a kid I had access to YouTube, that was pretty much the main platform for being able to watch replays, and you could just search highlights and stuff like that. So I just would constantly search best center field catches, best center field diving catches, robbed home runs. The player that popped up all the time was Torii Hunter. I just really just fell in love with the way he went about it. I got to the University of Florida, and one of the coaches there, his name is Brad Weitzel, previously he was a scout for the Minnesota Twins, and he’d always tell me Torii Hunter stories. Basically he would just go through like buckets of balls non-stop. … I just fell in love with the story, it gave me hope as a young kid, knowing that anything I want in this game can be achieved through repetition and can be achieved through hard work.
Q: You were a Derek Jeter guy as a Yankees fan, right?
A: Yeah I was a Jeter fan ’cause I was from New York and Jeter was the Captain of the New York Yankees. I started off as a shortstop in Little League and then transitioned to the outfield a couple of years after that. When I think about my favorite player in this context, it’s more about who I wanted to really be and who I wanted to see myself as and kind of how I wanted to imagine myself on TV if I were watching myself, and that was always Torii Hunter.
Q: Do you remember when your father would purposely hit you with pitches so you wouldn’t be afraid?
A: I was just amazed that he could miss that badly. I just would get so frustrated and mad at him, but here we are years later, and that’s why I never jumped out of the way of the ball, unless it’s around my neck or face, but anything below the shoulder down, I wear it, I jog to first and I’ll take my base because I’m not afraid of contact, I’m not afraid of the ball.
Q: How good of a skier were you as a kid?
A: Better skier than I am baseball player, I’ll tell you that.
Q: Didn’t you get obliterated by somebody once?
A: (Laugh) Yeah, when I was very, very young. I got just absolutely blown up by a snowboarder. Yeah it was pretty bad. My dad caught a lot of heat from my mother about it.
Q: Three dinner guests?
A: Francis Bacon, Jackie Robinson, Brad Pitt.
Q: Favorite movie?
A: “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
Q: Favorite actor?
A: Leonardo DiCaprio.
Q: Favorite actress?
A: Meryl Streep.
Q: Favorite singer/entertainer?
A: Vampire Weekend.
Q: Favorite meal?
A: A bacon, egg and cheese on a blueberry bagel.
Q: Favorite New York pizza?
A: Best Pizza on First.
Q: Describe your first visit to the Monuments?
A: I was really young, at the old Stadium. I remember thinking initially they were tombstones. … I thought initially they were memorials to players, and some of ’em have passed away … then obviously when it was explained to me, I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Every player wants to be — I would hope to think so — you want to be in the Hall of Fame, you want to have your number retired, you want to have your jersey put up in the stadium. … You want some type of legacy or memorial for when you leave, right? That is the definition of a great career, right? … When you are no longer a player, like this organization, this team, this college, you played so well and did so good for them that they are choosing to remember you even though you’re not here. And that’s just really special in sports, because listen, when Derek Jeter, who was one of the greatest Yankees of all time, when he was gone, the Yankees still played baseball the next year. There was still an Opening Day the following season.
Q: How would you describe the mindset of the Yankees right now?
A: I don’t want to speak for anybody else, but I can tell you that regardless of our opponent, regardless of what city we go into, we’ll be ready. And that’s top to bottom — physically, mentally, some guys spiritually. We’ll be ready. Again, I don’t want to speak for anybody, but we don’t ask for any opponent, we don’t want one person, one team, one pitcher over the other. … Our mindset: It doesn’t matter. We’re so locked in on each other, pulling for each other, being a team top to bottom — we are so focused on one singular goal that it doesn’t matter what we got or who we’re facing in the other dugout, the other clubhouse. That’s a true team, that’s a true level of being dangerous, and yeah, it’s gonna be a helluva ride. … I know that we’re all ready for it.
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