NEW YORK — Oswaldo Cabrera was in the living room area of the Yankees clubhouse waiting for his major league debut to begin. He was dressed in pinstripes wearing number 95. He would be the Yankees’ third baseman Wednesday night, their six-hole hitter.
The 23-year-old switch-hitter from Guarenas, Venezuela had no idea that he’d be part of one of the Yankees’ greatest wins in years, a hard-to-believe 8-7 thriller over the Tampa Bay Rays that ended with Josh Donaldson hitting a walk-off, midnight grand slam in the 10th inning.
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During his pre-game wait, one of the behind-the-scenes guys approached Cabrera and told him about the Bleacher Creatures’ Roll Call. He didn’t know anything about the famous group of fans that sit out behind right field and start chanting the names of the Yankees’ starters after the first pitch one by one until they get a response.
“The guy told me I have to do something,” Cabrera said.
When the game started four minutes late at 7:09 with Yankees starter Domingo German throwing a 93-mph sinker that Rays leadoff hitter Yandy Diaz fouled, the Roll Call began. The Creatures went around the outfield, then through the other infielders before breaking into “Ca-brer-a … Ca-brer-a … Ca-brer-a.”
Hearing his name, Cabrera looked their way, then improvised. He touched his mouth with his right hand, then reached his right arm back and in low motion made a move that somewhat resembled Kareem Abdul-Jabbar shooting a sky hook. Check out the video on Twitter.
Yankees fans loved it.
“He’s got some flair,” Yankees TV analyst Paul O’Neill said during the YES telecast.
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Cabrera was already having a blast, and in a few hours his day would be so much better and almost top the night before when he was told he was going to the big leagues for the first time.
He was never a big-bonus baby prospect. He signed with the Yankees for $100,000 in 2015 a year after they signed his older brother for 250 grand. The Yankees released outfielder Leobaldo Cabrera in 2018, but Oswaldo developed into a sleeper prospect. He really put himself on the Yankees’ radar last year when he was with Double-A Somerset for most of the season and won league MVP honors. He got off to a slow start in Triple-A this year at the plate and then spent almost two months on the injured list with a sore throwing shoulder, but he returned on July 4 and raked at a .330 clip in his next 25 games to earn a call-up. While with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, he started playing right and left field, which made him a five-position guy counting the three infield spots that he plays well — second base, his best spot, plus shortstop and third base.
Before Wednesday’s game, Cabrera smiled his way through a short interview with writers, and he didn’t need Spanish interpreter Marlon Abreu to translate his answers. His English is good. Cabrera talked about how exciting his Tuesday night had been. He was in St. Paul, Minn., with the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, who fell behind 9-0 and then rallied for a 10-9 win that was the biggest comeback in franchise history. And then during the clubhouse celebration, Cabrera was told the Yankees were calling him up.
“That was a perfect moment,” he said.
A night later, as Yogi Berra would say, it was déjà vu all over again.
Cabrera flew from Minnesota to New York for his big day, and he was excited that his parents were able to make it to the Bronx for his debut, too. They had been in Wichita, Kansas watching Leobaldo, now a Double-A player in the Minnesota Twins’ system.
“I’m going to try to do the same thing I was doing down there (in Triple-A),” Cabrera vowed during his pre-game interview. “Don’t do more than I can. That’s my expectation.”
Cabrera has some pop and he showed it on his first at-bat. Batting left against Rays righty Corey Kluber, he blasted a fly ball to deep right that was caught at the edge of the warning track.
“He almost homered,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I thought he got off a great swing. He got a good pitch to hit and just missed it.”
Cabrera didn’t do much in his next three at-bats, which ended with two strikeouts and a weak ground ball, but his 0-for-4 collar came during one of the most exciting Yankees’ comeback wins in many a year. The Yanks trailed 4-0 after 5 ½ innings, then chipped away to make it 4-2. After a 63-minute rain delay, the Yankees tied the game 4-4 in the seventh.
Cabrera soaked it all in.
And then this big comeback appeared to be for not when the Rays scored three in the 10th off Aroldis Chapman to pull ahead 7-4. The Yankees were close to losing for the 12th time in 14 games, but they’d pulled out a bunch of games during their best-in-the-majors first half, so they never gave up.
In the bottom of the 10th, ghost runner Aaron Judge went to second base and Gleyber Torres started a rally with a single that put runners on the corners. Then Anthony Rizzo walked on four pitches to load ’em up for Josh Donaldson.
With Donaldson at the plate, Cabrera headed to the on-deck circle, and there he was the closest Yankee witnessing the 13th walk-off grand slam in franchise history and fifth in extra innings.
“It was unbelievable to see a walk-off homer with three men on base,” Cabrera said. “That was incredible. I just feel like I’m living a dream.”
It was no dream. This was real life.
“This was an amazing day,” Cabrera said. “I didn’t get my (first) base-hit, but we won. This is the best day in my career after yesterday, my call up.”
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Randy Miller may be reached at [email protected].