MLBVideoWeird But True

Before They Lost, The Yankees Forced A Tigers Pitcher To Remove His Band-Aid Slowly, Grossly

Before he got out of a seventh-inning, bases loaded jam against the New York Yankees on Thursday night, Detroit Tigers pitcher Joaquin Benoit was asked by home plate umpire Ted Barrett to remove a giant Band-Aid from his face. Yankees manager Joe Girardi had asked that the “distracting” Band-Aid be removed, and as you can see in the video below, Benoit needed a few tries before he could get it off.

To that, we said: ewwwwwwww.

“I’m not trying to play a mind game or anything, but it was a pretty big Band-Aid and it was somewhat distracting, I think, it’s hard not to look at,” Girardi said. “I’m sure he had a legitimate reason, and it’s not something I necessarily wanted to do, but to me it would have been distracting.”

According to Tigers manager Jim Leyland, Benoit had an ingrown hair that became infected and then swelled up.

Benoit, the Tigers, his ingrown hair, and his giant facial lump would go on to defeat the Yankees 3-2. They’ll play the Rangers in Game 1 of the ALCS on Saturday.