Quote:
In 1999, Steinbrenner erupted after Irabu failed to cover first base during an exhibition game, calling him a fat toad.
[
Times]
Quote:
"That's not a Yankee," the disgusted owner said of the beleaguered pitcher after a missed play during one spring-training game in April 1999.
"Irabu looks like a fat, pussy toad out there."
[
New York Post]
Quote:
Former Yankees pitcher Hideki Irabu, whom George Steinbrenner infamously labeled "a fat pus-sy toad," was found dead in his Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. home Thursday.
[Daily News]
Quote:
Rather, he always wore the label that late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner stuck on him after Irabu failed to cover first base during an exhibition game: "Fat ... toad."
[
AP]
Quote:
After an impressive debut with the Yankees that summer, he was a disappointment to the Yankees and himself during three seasons in the Bronx. Instead, he was forever tagged with a label from late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who called him a “fat ... toad” after Irabu failed to cover first base during an exhibition game.
[
AP via Washington Post]
Quote:
The volatile Yankees owner, who had criticized the beefy Irabu for being overweight, became enraged after the pitcher failed to cover first base on a ground ball during the exhibition game and called him a "fat ... toad."
[
Reuters]