The youngest Yankee to start in a postseason game since Mickey Mantle in 1952 did little to slow the comparisons to Yankees greats.
Just by watching, you would not have known George Lombard Jr. — all 21 years, 119 days of him — only became legally allowed to drink the champagne the Yankees soon hope to taste in June.
You would not have known Lombard was playing against Double-A competition as recently as late April.
You would not have known Lombard began his major league career with questions both about his defense and his mind — going through a surreal, six-game error streak that questioned his readiness.
Because in the 9-0 win over the Red Sox in Game 1 of the wild-card series in The Bronx, Lombard began his playoff career without betraying a nerve or even an awareness of the stakes.
All while making baseball historians reach for their record books about the youngest — and best — playoff debuts ever.
“It’s really cool,” Lombard said of being included with Mantle, who started his first playoff game at 19 years, 349 days in Yankees history. “It’s definitely an honor. I have to pinch myself every now and then.
“But we know what the goal is, and we know what we’re all trying to do as a group, so it’s easy to just focus on that.”
It was just one postseason game, but the poise Lombard showed at a sold-out Yankee Stadium reinforced why the club has thought so highly about a first-round pick whose calm-and-cool demeanor, if not game just yet, earns comparisons with Derek Jeter.
In his very first postseason at-bat, Lombard looped a single into shallow center just out of the reach of racing second baseman Nick Sogard. In his next, he chopped an infield single to the left side on a play former Yankees prospect Caleb Durbin could not make.
And after a fielder’s choice in the seventh, Lombard stroked a single to center in the eighth and came around to score his second run of the game.
So a player whose name already had evoked Mantle became the fifth player in franchise history to record at least three hits in his playoff debut, a feat most recently accomplished by Bernie Williams (who had three hits in Game 1 of the 1995 ALDS against the Mariners).
It was just one postseason game, but Lombard — spotless defensively — again showed the spotlight was not too large.
“The whole clubhouse — all the guys, the coaching staff — I think the comfort and the confidence comes from the preparation and the work we put in,” Lombard said. “So that’s the biggest thing: Just be prepared, put in the work and just let things handle themselves on the field.”
