Proposing at a baseball stadium comes with a great deal of risk, but usually the fear of public rejection is related to a significant other rather than a player on the field.
New York infielder Gleyber Torres appeared to offer disapproval when a Yankees fan on Friday night proposed to a woman on the Yankee Stadium video board. It turns out, though, that his reaction was unrelated to the proposal, unlike what many in the crowd and at home initially believed. Instead, he said, he was joking with A's catcher Josh Phegley crouched behind him.
Gleyber is the best pic.twitter.com/JGtVz9qM1N
— Nick (@NG2_4) August 31, 2019
"Why do people take things out of context(?)" Torres wrote on Twitter after the game. "I was just having a simple conversation with the catcher."
It's typical for the video board operator to cut back to the batter's box after panning the crowd, but that staple in the ballpark experience led to confusion in this instance. Even the NBC Sports California A's TV broadcast, and a couple of beat writers, were fooled.
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"I have nothing against marriage because I'm happily married myself," Torres added in his tweet, which has since been deleted.
Another issue with the video board cutaway: It was unclear to fans whether the man received a "Yes" or "No." A friend of the couple emailed Sporting News on Saturday, though, to share that the woman indeed agreed to the marriage.
A friend of the proposal couple at Yankee Stadium last night emailed me to share the woman said yes.
— Dan Bernstein (@dan_bernstein_) August 31, 2019
Gleyber Torres, who said he was not shaking his head at the moment and has "nothing against marriage because I'm happily married myself" should be pleased.