Yankees’ Joey Gallo Opens Up About the Dark Side of Sports in an Extraordinary Q&A

Also in Traina Thoughts: Good news for ‘Thursday Night Football,’ NFL player channels ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin; T.J. Watt turns on J.J. Watt and more.

1. I’m a person who believes that if you’re an athlete, it’s fair that you have to deal with a certain amount of crap from fans. That’s just part of the gig. People are going to boo you, people are going to tell you that you suck and people are going to criticize your performance. It’s just the nature of the beast.

Of course, social media has made all of this much worse because athletes can read everything people are saying about them if they so choose.

And even when fan criticism doesn’t cross a line, the totality of it all can be overwhelming for some athletes.

That seems to be the case for Yankees outfielder Joey Gallo, who opened up as we’ve rarely seen from an athlete, in a new interview with NJ.com.

Gallo has been a complete disaster for the Yankees since coming over from Texas last season. He’s batting .159 this season with 12 home runs, 24 RBIs. He has struck out 106 times in 233 at bats.

You can’t blame Yankees fans for being unhappy with that performance, but it’s also hard not to feel for Gallo after hearing how the awful season has affected him.

Gallo deserves credit for agreeing to a one-on-one interview at this time and NJ.com’s Randy Miller deserves credit for asking all the right questions and getting Gallo to share what this difficult time has been like for him.

This exchange from the Q&A was particularly stunning:

Randy Miller: What’s it been like for you when Yankees fans notice you on the streets? Are they rough on you away from the ballpark, too?

Joey Gallo: I don’t go out in the streets.

RM: That’s sad.

JG: Yeah. I really don’t want to show my face too much around here.

Gallo was just getting started about his experience. “I went through a lot of adversity, and I really had to question myself a lot,” he said. “My confidence suffered. I would say I hit rock bottom for the big leagues.”

The eight-year veteran revealed that Royals players tried to give him some encouragement when they were in New York for a series over the weekend. However, the kind words ended up backfiring.

“Kansas City guys reached out to me over the weekend,” said Gallo. “A bunch of guys. It makes me feel like a piece of s---, honestly. I remember playing here with the Rangers watching guys get booed off the field and thinking, ‘Holy s---! I feel bad for that guy.’ Now it’s me. I do appreciate people reaching out, but it makes me feel like I’m a problem.”

The trade deadline is Tuesday night at 6 p.m. ET. After reading that Q&A, everyone should be rooting for Gallo to get a fresh start with another team and for him to perform as he did during his time with the Rangers.

2. During last week’s SI Media Podcast, I asked Sports Business Journal‘s John Ourand what bars and restaurants will do when NFL Sunday Ticket goes to a streaming service.

We don’t have an official decision on that yet, but Ourand is reporting that Amazon has reached a deal with DirecTV to carry TNF in commercial establishments, which is great news for NFL fans who would actually like to go out on Thursday nights to watch the game.

Amazon is close to a deal to let DirecTV carry "NFL Thursday Night Football" to bars and restaurants this season.
SBJ Media is live: https://t.co/Ds099Oicmd

— John Ourand (@Ourand_Puck) August 1, 2022

3. Phenomenal execution here by 49ers offensive lineman Nick Zakelj on his Stone Cold Stunner on teammate Sam Schlueter.

4. Cardinals offensive lineman Kelvin Beachum Jr. was signing autographs at camp Monday, but Arizona fans seemed a little more interested in J.J. Watt.

Beachum hilariously addressed this in a tweet.

Couldn’t tell from the video who the fans wanted to see most…
Like for me
RT for @JJWatt

🤣🤣👀
🎥 @AZCardinals pic.twitter.com/C5stlphSio

— Kelvin Beachum Jr (@KelvinBeachumJr) August 2, 2022

While the fans were more into J.J., Beachum got support on his tweet from an unlikely source.

5. Back in March, I told you that new Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel should be your new favorite person in sports. Here's more proof of why.

You can see the disappointment in Mike McDaniel’s face when he finds out he’s missing Yeezy day 😂 https://t.co/kKZtyscEry pic.twitter.com/ObqFmHajr3

— Marcel Louis-Jacques (@Marcel_LJ) August 2, 2022

6. This week’s episode of the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast features two interviews.

First up is John Ourand from Sports Business Journal. Ourand talks about the Charles Barkley–LIV Golf story, the latest news on which streaming service will land NFL Sunday Ticket, what will happen to bars and restaurants when Sunday Ticket goes to streaming and how DirecTV will be affected by losing Sunday Ticket.

Following Ourand, Dave Meltzer from the Wrestling Observer joins the podcast to share his insight on Vince McMahon retiring from WWE. Why did McMahon retire now? Is there any chance McMahon will be back? What changes can fans expect with Paul Levesque, aka Triple H, in charge of the creative? Where does Vince’s son, Shane, stand right now? When will fans see changes to the TV product?

The podcast wraps up with the weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment with Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York. This week, Jimmy and Sal discuss the Radio Hall of Fame, the discontinuation of the Choco Taco ice cream treat, the most amount of money they’d pay for a concert and much more.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.

You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Today is the MLB trade deadline, so here is a compilation video of players getting traded in the middle of a game.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.