The bullpen door opened at 9:41 p.m. and in jogged the most interesting segment of the Yankees season. There had been 41,243 people who’d paid their way in to this first meeting of the season between the Yankees and the defending-champion Royals; the portion that remained stood and provided the official referendum for this moment.
Label it highly favorable.
“I was happy to see the fans receive me the way they did,” Chapman said.
And that was before the 17 pitches he would soon throw, seven of them reaching triple-digits, four of them at 101 mph.