Masahiro Tanaka’s tweet during Yankees-Astros makes us miss him even more

Rise and shine, Masahiro Tanaka!

It’s was mid-morning right in Japan on Tuesday, and the former New York Yankees right-hander was awake to watch the action.

It’s the first time the Bombers were doing battle with the Houston Astros since the 2019 ALCS. Tanaka remembers that season because he was the rotation’s ace in a year in which many felt the Yankees would win the World Series.

Though Tanaka blanked the Astros in Houston in Game 1 of that series, he got shelled in a Game 4 loss at Yankee Stadium. Nonetheless, he hasn’t forgotten about the cheating, the trash cans, the sign-stealing, all of it.

He tweeted during Tuesday night’s game when he saw a video of the security staff at Yankee Stadium confiscating an inflatable trash can from a fan.

That fan then received a nice big beer from another as he tried to reason with the security guard, who was walking away with his toy.

“I like the place where different fans give beer quickly to the fans who picked up the trash can,” Tanaka wrote. We don’t know what that means, but we love it! And we love that place too!

Masahiro Tanaka (we think?) showed support for Yankees fans on Tuesday.

Though the starting rotation has rebounded over the last week, early on it was apparent the Yankees needed Tanaka eating innings and delivering his efficient performances. And he sure liked to do that at Yankee Stadium! The place he likes!

Over 88 career starts in the Bronx, Tanaka owned a 3.42 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 535 strikeouts across 545.1 innings.

And if you miss his trademark splitter, you can see him rocking in back in his home country as a member of the Rakuten Golden Eagles. A couple starts ago, the veteran recorded his 100th career win in NBP.

It’s sad to say we don’t know if we’ll see Tanaka back with the Yankees or in MLB ever again, which is infuriating because the Astros certainly played a role in that by dispatching New York from the playoffs in 2019, prompting the front office to make changes after 2020.

At the very least, we’re glad Tanaka is remembering his time in the Bronx fondly, and expresses appreciation for that place where different fans give beer quickly to the fans who picked up the trash can.

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