TAMPA — How often have you seen a pitcher complete a simulated game by waving — and blowing kisses — to his family in the stands?
Your answer is never. It happened for the first time in baseball history Sunday morning at George M. Steinbrenner Field. And it was earned, and it was glorious.
Or, in the words of the moment’s star, Danny Farquhar, the entire nine minutes of action was “extraordinarily successful.”
“Huge for me,” the diminutive right-hander added.
The Yankees will hold their Grapefruit League home opener on Monday, playing host to the Blue Jays, and they’ll have plenty going on this spring, from the battle for first base to Troy Tulowitzki’s reacclimation to baseball to Gary Sanchez’s reboot to the typical pitching concerns.