(This story originally appeared in the August 2019 edition of Yankees Magazine.)
This must have been part of a masochistic streak, trying to get a real good sense of DJ LeMahieu, by far the most reticent and reluctant interview on the 2019 Yankees. But I actually had a ton of fun with this piece, and if I had to guess, I think LeMahieu even enjoyed a bit of the ping-pong match.
The story really began on my first day in spring training this year. Walking around the Yankees’ clubhouse in Tampa, I introduced myself to LeMahieu, one of the new guys, and tried to engage him in a “Quick Hits” interview — real lightning-round style questions that show a bit of personality, quirk, etc. He wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. He wasn’t rude, but he still answered “pass” about half the time. I walked away figuring I would never need to talk to him again.
But then LeMahieu turned into the Yankees’ best hitter, and found himself at the All-Star Game. And I kept trying to get to know him as best I could, and he kept demurring. Again, he wouldn’t blow me off, and he wouldn’t bristle or scowl. He just had very little to say. He’s a private guy, intense, but you can tell that he’s genuinely nice and probably pretty interesting.
In Cleveland during All-Star Week, I plopped myself down in front of him about four different times. Each time, he seemed to find the whole experience progressively funnier. It was a media circus, so it’s not like it was 1-on-1, but I still got in more questions in those settings than I did in pursuing the line of questioning for a few weeks around the Yankees’ clubhouse.
In the end, I think the story does a good job showing who LeMahieu is and why we shouldn’t be surprised to see him doing this well. The best thing I can say about it is that I don’t think that you can tell when you’re reading it how hard I had to work to get the quotes.
https://www.mlb.com/news/dj-lemahieu-rises-to-the-top-with-yankees