NEW YORK -- Jasson Domínguez had never set foot inside Yankee Stadium before Tuesday evening, but the Yankees' super-prospect knew all about the Bleacher Creatures. Expecting to hear his name chanted during the top of the first inning, he needed to come up with a unique way to acknowledge the inhabitants of his new home.
So when “The Martian” stood in center field and touched his index fingers together, then extended his right pointer skyward, his teammates laughed and applauded a pitch-perfect “phone home” introduction. Paying homage to the 1982 movie E.T., Domínguez later collected his first Bronx hit, an eighth-inning double in the Yankees’ 5-1 victory over the Tigers.
“It was incredible, just being here at the Stadium as a player,” Domínguez said through an interpreter. “It was a great experience. Overall, I was just very excited to be out there.”
Born 21 years after Steven Spielberg’s classic packed domestic theatres, Domínguez somewhat sheepishly admitted that he has never seen E.T. -- perhaps he’ll need to screen it on a future Yankees flight. Domínguez indicated that the extra-terrestrial suggestion came from Yankees interpreter Marlon Abreu.
“Is that what he did?” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I saw him raise his hand. I didn’t know what he did. I mentioned to him in batting practice, and then even an hour before the game, ‘You’d better have something good. They’re expecting something good now.’ So that’s cool.”
Dominguez’s Stadium debut followed a successful introduction in the Yanks’ three-game sweep of the Astros at Minute Maid Park, where he homered off Justin Verlander on his first big league swing on Friday, then cracked a go-ahead blast in Sunday’s series finale. As such, he was warmly received all night on Tuesday.
“I wasn’t expecting it,” Domínguez said. “It was kind of like a surprise, the way they were cheering. It felt great.”
With that double off Tigers reliever Brendan White, Domínguez has hit safely in his first four career games, joining Oscar Azocar (1990), Hideki Matsui (2003) and Estevan Florial (2020-21) as the only Yankees to do so in the E.T. era (since 1982).
“From my point of view, it’s the same baseball,” Domínguez said. “Of course, there are many differences. You have so many more fans in the stands and a lot of excitement. I think after the first couple of days, I’ve been able to bring down the excitement and enjoy it more.”