Yankees announce Old-Timers’ Day; Jim Leyritz not happy

On Father’s Day, June 17, the Yankees will hold their 72nd annual Old-Timers’ Day. One former player not invited is Jim Leyritz, and he’s none too pleased about it.

It’s official, Jim Leyritz is going the way of Goose Gossage. You know, former fan-favorite turned taker of bitter pills that are quick to throw members of the Yankees brass under the bus.

Shortly after participants for the 72nd Old-Timers’ Day were announced, which includes newcomers Andy Pettitte, Jason Giambi, Nick Swisher and current manager Aaron Boone — Leyritz took to Twitter to unleash his displeasure for not being invited to the party.

The target of Leyritz’s fury was Yankees team president Randy Levine and senior VP of marketing Debbie Tymon. As reported on by Peter Botte of the NY Daily News:

"“Yes it’s a joke already,” Leyritz tweeted in response to another Twitter user on Thursday. “Randy Levine and Debbie Tymon have said I didn’t do enough in Yankee history to be invited. How many sliders did they hit? Lol.”"

Leyrtiz, who spent parts of nine seasons in pinstripes is referring to his clutch home run off Braves reliever Mark Wohlers in Game 4 of the 1996 World Series. The 54-year-old former catcher also took the time to like a number of tweets criticizing Levine, including one that exclaimed, “Randy Levine IS THE WORST.” 

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Whether or not you agree with Leyrtiz, bashing anything associated with the pinstripes isn’t going to get Leyrtiz what he wants, and that’s to once again take the field at Old Timers’ Day. As it stands, the career .264 hitter was invited to the 2016 Old Timers’ Day, which celebrated the 20th anniversary of that ’96 championship team.

The Yankees released a statement shortly after Leyritz’s claims came to light. Per the New York Post:

"“It’s disappointing that Jim has entered this arena the way that he has,” the team said in a statement. “This tweet is baseless and categorically false. Frankly, he should be thankful for his ties to this organization.”"

Perhaps the organization was illuding to Leyrtiz’s 2010 acquittal of a DUI manslaughter charge — or his 2007 criminal misdemeanor charge due to a car accident that killed a 30-year-old mother of two.

Next: Did Yankees miss the boat on Matt Harvey?

https://twitter.com/SInow/status/878708515430440960

Unsurprisingly, Leyritz eventually relented and sent out an email saying his tweet was meant to be a private conversation between him and a friend. Leyritz also stated that he would continue to represent the Yankees with “class and dignity,” the way George Steinbrenner taught him.

The 72nd Old-Timers’ Day will honor the ’78 and ’98 World Series-winning teams, in this, their 40th and 20th anniversaries, respectively.