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The New York Yankees did their best to push back against the criticizm that came in from Staten Island coach Bob Laterza which focused on Aaron Judge.
Laterza had claimed that the Yankees, and Judge in particular, did not give the team playing in the Little League World Series enough attention on Sunday.
The Yankees were in Williamsport for the Little League Classic to play the Tigers. Laterza is South Shore Little League coach and he spoke to silive.com about how Judge and the Yankees did not interact with his players much.
"How about turning around or wave to New York and the kids that think you're a hero,'' Laterza told the site before his Staten Island club was eliminated from the Little League World Series after suffering a 6-1 loss to Florida.
"They are the ones who pay your salary."
The claims are being disputed
Judge is known to regularly greet fans and comes across as a very friendly guy so many fans were a bit confused by the claims.
The coach also complained that only DJ LeMahieu, Tim Hill and "a few others" attended a prearranged session with the Yankees and Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes, Jasson Dominguez and Aaron Boone spent time with the team at Bowman Field later in the afternoon.
This made people at the Yankees very angry and a statement was released on Tuesday.
"Our entire roster spent the day in Williamsport connecting with as many Little Leaguers as they possibly could prior to our game, including the team from Staten Island,'' the statement read.
"We commend all of our players for devoting their complete attention to the hundreds of kids who literally walked step-by-step alongside them from the moment the Yankees landed in Williamsport through the entirety of the evening. Our players were unequivocally committed to making the experience what it was intended to be - a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for young baseball players and their families from around the world to have meaningful and genuine interaction with some of Major League Baseball's greatest players."