Mark Teixeira The Comedian

Mark Teixeira with teammate Masahiro Tanaka. Mandatory Credit: thatsenuff.com

On the baseball field, players are serious and into the game. Off the field, we rarely get to know the player outside of a post game interview. Mark Teixeira on the other hand is showing everyone the hilarious personality that makes him so well liked by all of his teammates.

“Foul Territory” is a series of short video clips produced by YES Network, where Teixeira conducts an interview with one of his new teammates. Even YES Network’s very own Jack Curry received a one-on-one with the first baseman. The interviews are goofy and intentionally awkward, as Tex asks random questions ranging from how fans can berate Brian McCann after a bad game without him being on Twitter or Facebook, to challenging Jacoby Ellsbury to a race. Watching these videos is just hysterical as even his teammates can’t help but laugh as he becomes more and more absurd with each comment he makes.

Initially, this series was set up in Spring Training by Teixeira to welcome all the new players the Yankees added this offseason.

"“I wanted a way for the new guys to get broken in, in kind of a funny way—not necessarily hazing, because I’m hazing myself more than anything,” Teixeira told The Wall Street Journal."

So far, there have been four episodes; Brian McCann, Masahiro Tanaka, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Jack Curry. After watching all four, I am really hoping there is much more in store. Tex plays the awkward interviewer too well; he even talks to the camera man to figure out if he is doing ok or whether the camera is rolling. When Jacoby Ellsbury compliments his sport coat, Teixeira responds with, “Thanks, its new, my mom just bought it for me.” When he decides to no longer chase the game, I think Tex may have found a second career.

Check out one of Tex’s “Four Territory” episodes here: