For the second year in a row, the New York Yankees were sent packing in the ALDS and, for the second year in a row, a Dominican star took a parting shot at the Bronx Bombers.
After Tampa Bay took Game 3 of the series at Yankee Stadium, Rays all-star third baseman couldn’t help but rub it in to the Bronx crowd — while channeling Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the process.
During a post-game interview with ESPN, Caminero dropped a callback to the Blue Jays cornerstone from last year’s playoffs.
“Let the Yankees fans talk now,” Caminero said, translated from his native Spanish. “Let them watch the whole thing. Talk Now. What ya gonna say? Daaaaa Yankees lose!”
Caminero, who was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, also further taunted the home fans by mimicking a sweeping motion on the field after his team took all three games of the playoff series.
What did Vladdy say last year?
The final point of his interview echoed the taunt by Guerrero Jr. that went viral last year, when the Blue Jays eliminated the Yankees in their American League Divisional Series en route to a World Series appearance.
After the Blue Jays won Game 4 to wrap up the series in New York last year, the Blue Jays first baseman revelled in poking some fun while joining fellow Dominican star and Yankee hater, David Ortiz, in a jeering duet.
In a live interview on FOX, Guerrero and Ortiz — the man known as Big Papi with the Boston Red Sox — the pair teamed up for some uproarious trolling.
A play on former longtime Yankees broadcaster John Sterling’s signature on-air call, a drawn-out “THEEEEE Yankees win!” – usually repeated at least a couple of times following the final out of a Bronx Bombers triumph – Guerrero and Ortiz joined in their mocking version of the iconic call.
“DAAAAAA Yankees lose!” the pair shouted together, with Ortiz from the FOX studio and Guerrero from the champagne-soaked Blue Jays clubhouse in the Bronx.
What’s next for the Rays?
Caminero, who played all 162 games at third base for the Rays this year, has emerged as a superstar.
With 42 home runs and 101 RBIs this season, he should be a finalist for the American League MVP award this season – though Houston’s Yordan Alvarez is the overwhelming favourite.
In the Yankees series, Caminero went 3-for-10 with a double and was walked twice.
The Rays, who are the first seed in the AL, now await the result of the series between the Guardians and White Sox, which Chicago leads 2-1 heading into Thursday night’s Game 4.