The day finally arrived for Austin Romine. Really, today seemed like a tale of two days for him.
Word got out before the game that Romine was likely headed to Triple-A Scranton…which made it all the more surprising that he’d be playing to begin with tonight in Trenton. But there he was, batting third and serving as the team’s designated hitter.
Romine, who was always gracious with reporters during the two seasons he was here, was a bit short in his answers before the game and seemed down. I asked him about his reaction if I told him at the beginning of the season that we’d be having this conversation on September 1st about him still being here…
“To tell you the truth, I didn’t even really think about that,” he said. “I’m just trying to have a good year here.”
After the game, however, after being serenaded by a round of applause from his teammates in the clubhouse, he was much more willing to talk about what had finally become a reality. But at the same time, it was also a little bittersweet for him to leave a team he’d been with, for all intents and purposes, the last two seasons.
“I enjoyed playing with a lot of these guys on this ballclub,” Romine said.
“I’ve played with a lot of these guys for a long time, actually. But I’m definitely looking forward to getting back with the guys I played with last year and getting back on track.”
The personable 22-year-old said that he hadn’t been made aware of any plans to possibly summon him to the Bronx following his stint in Scranton.
“Right now, I’ve got (five) games there, and we’ll go from there,” he said.
“I don’t know what their position is for the playoffs or anything like that. They never say anything about (the big leagues). Anything’s possible. I didn’t think I was going to go to Scranton right now, and I’m going.”
Romine, who endured various injuries this season, said that he is physically fine to continue playing and hopes to get some time behind the plate over Scranton’s final five games.
Mike Ashmore, mashmore98 AT gmail.com
Mike Ashmore's Thunder Thoughts 
September 3, 2011 at 2:06 pm |
Glad he finally got the call. I was disappointed that I probably wasn’t going to get to see him one last time, but was pleasantly surprised when I saw him in the lineup. Romine’s been my favorite player on the Thunder for the last two years. Sadly, I doubt we’ll ever see him in a Yankee uniform due to their backlog of catchers, but I don’t expect to see him in Trenton ever again…
Will next season start the Sanchez-era in Trenton?
September 3, 2011 at 2:09 pm |
Doubtful at the beginning…