Naylor screams at hecklers after historic night, a breakdown
What Happened
In a thrilling ninth-inning comeback, Josh Naylor of the Cleveland Guardians delivers a game-tying grand slam against the Chicago White Sox. The Guardians are trailing by four runs with two outs in the bottom of the ninth when Naylor steps to the plate as the tying run. On the first pitch, a 99-mph fastball, Naylor crushes a no-doubt grand slam to tie the game, 4-4. Naylor's emotional reaction is evident as he rounds the bases, yelling and gesturing towards the heckling White Sox fans. "Fuck, get off me. I'm over it," Naylor screams, before shushing the crowd and declaring, "I'm that motherfucker." He tosses his helmet and celebrates enthusiastically with his teammates. The game goes to extra innings, and in the 11th inning, Naylor steps up again with two runners on base. He delivers a three-run home run, giving the Guardians a 7-4 lead. Naylor again points towards the hecklers, shouting, "That one was for you." He continues his animated display, screaming, "I want all the fucking smoke. You can't fucking beat me." Naylor's historic performance makes him the first player in MLB history to record 8+ RBIs in the 9th inning or later of a game. The Guardians go on to win 7-4, with Naylor's two clutch home runs and fiery attitude fueling the comeback. In a post-game interview, Naylor acknowledges that he was a bit "embarrassed" by his emotional outburst, but says his competitive nature got the better of him. "Without him and Nez there, my bad doesn't happen. So I got to give credit to him for starting that inning hot. And we just kept it rolling after that," Naylor says, deflecting praise to his teammates. Despite the initial outburst, Naylor's historic performance and ability to come through in the clutch for the Guardians will be long remembered by fans of both teams. His passion and competitiveness were on full display, and his willingness to stand up to the hecklers only further endeared him to the Cleveland faithful.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentThe White Sox are beating the Guardians by four runs, and they have two outs in the ninth inning.
One more out, and the game is over, but the tying run is at the plate,
and Josh, the human tornado nailer who doesn't use batting gloves, obviously, he's the tying run.
This one's brought to you by SeatGeek. You want to see games like this, go to SeatGeek and get yourself some tickets.
Look at this. He's about to have a historic night, and he's also about to lose his dang mind on some fans
who have been heckling him all night. So, the first pitch of the at-bat, 99 miles per hour.
See ya. Grand slam. Ties it up, and look at this look. Just, ugh. Fuck. Get off me. I'm over it.
He's not over it. He's a little upset. He scores. He says, shh. And just a warning, anyone watching this,
there's a lot more F-bombs coming up. Just shh. You guys shut up about it.
You know, shh. It's not over yet. It's just a tie game. All right? Be quiet.
Then he throws his, I'm that motherfucker. I'm that motherfucker. Tosses his helmet, high-fives galore,
just screaming at everybody, I'm that motherfucker. I'll be that motherfucker for all you motherfuckers.
I'm that motherfucker. Staring at the camera. Goddamn. Now, he's got to play defense. He's got to cool down.
He's got to chill out.
Game here. Going into extras. Last out of the inning. Bases loaded the other way.
Two outs, and he makes the scoop and the stretch. They get out of the inning,
which brings him back up with two on in the 11th inning and two outs, and he takes that cutter high for ball one.
And then the next pitch, bam. Another home run. A three-run shot.
The first player in MLB history to have...
He's going to have eight-plus RBIs in the ninth inning or later, or something like that,
and he immediately points at the guys heckling him and says, that one was for you.
And he's going to get fired up about it.
Meanwhile, pitcher, seen the ghost? You know? He's scared. What the hell?
Rounding the bases. Goddamn it. Fuck. Screaming.
Why'd you make me do this to you? Why'd you do it?
I want all the fucking smoke.
I want all the smoke. I'm that motherfucker. I'm that motherfucker.
And luckily, we have this fan who was recording on his cell phone.
He posted it to Twitter, and we have the audio and the video. Here you go.
I want all the fucking smoke. You can't fucking beat me.
I want all the fucking smoke. You can't beat me.
You can't fucking beat me.
You know, so that's just a guy who wants all the smoke.
Bring it on. You feed him. You make fun of him.
You trash talk Naylor. Watch out.
All that does is motivate him.
I wanted to show you the helmet toss.
So we get a big old toss here from two angles, and when it cuts,
look at that. It's in the box. Dude got it right in there.
You guys fed him. He's squaring up home runs.
He's squaring up helmets into helmet holes. It did fall out, though.
Too powerful, you know? But he hit that right on the head.
So Naylor's kind of crazy. He's a nut job.
Reyes is jumping and knocking him.
He's got to calm down. Think about it.
You guys, fuck. This kid is like, we fed him? What does he mean?
Fucking.
We fed him? Huh?
Now the game ends. High fives galore.
He looks at Jose Ramirez. He says, J-Ram, they fucking fed me.
You fuckers fed me.
You fed me.
So that was shit. Those fans, still staring at the fans as he goes through the high five line.
Staring at them. Clap. High five. High five.
Staring at them. Staring at them.
You guys did this.
The White Sox, they should be looking at you guys.
You guys did this.
You fed me.
So, I mean, this breakdown is brought to you by SeatGeek.
You go to SeatGeek. You use code JohnBoy.
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They'll let you know if it's a good deal or a bad deal.
And if you're a Guardians fan, maybe the best thing you can do is dress up as an opposing fan
and just kind of like, you know, lightly shit talk Naylor.
That seems to be the best way to motivate him.
But in all seriousness, Naylor's got a great reputation as a humble guy and a really good teammate.
So I want to show you his post-game interview after this when he collected himself.
And I think he said he's a little embarrassed about how he reacted.
But, hey, that is competitive nature.
And those fans, if they're shit-talking him to that extent, I say he's allowed to give it right back.
As weird as it sounds, not in the moment.
What does it mean to you tonight to be able to step up for your guys the way you were able to?
I mean, in all honesty, without him and Nez there, my bad doesn't happen.
So I got to give credit to him for starting that inning hot.
And we just kept it rolling after that.
That's all him.
So it wasn't me at all.
Grand Slam, how do you go up there and not swing as hard as you can?
Knowing that Hendricks is throwing 99 miles an hour, you take a nice, easy swing on that pitch.
I mean, I was just ready for kind of anything.
I know he's a heavy velocity guy.
He's a great pitcher.
And it was a good challenge, and I'm ready for all challenges.