Two Yalies, two pitches, two outs

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On August 18, Craig Breslow ’02 and Ryan Lavarnway ’09 of the Boston Red Sox made a little history at Yankee Stadium. When Breslow came into the game as a relief pitcher in the eighth inning, with catcher Lavarnway behind the plate, the pair became the first Yalie pitcher-catcher duo in a major league baseball game since 1883.

The two, who both joined the Red Sox roster in August, are the only Elis currently playing in the major leagues. And the Bulldog chemistry worked: the Yankee batter hit into a double play after only two pitches, ending the inning. The Red Sox won 4–1, and as the team’s radio announcer Joe Castiglione said after the game, “somewhere, A. Bartlett Giamatti is smiling.”