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Andrew Velazquez has no hard Yankees feelings

If Andrew Velazquez’s Cinderella story didn’t last long, it’ll have long legs. So said the man himself Friday morning, one borough over from where he grew up and, for a moment, electrified the most demanding fan base in sports.

“The opportunity to play in New York, my hometown, was amazing,” Velazquez, a native of The Bronx and graduate of Fordham Prep, told The Post as he attended the opening of the Wilson NYC Flagship store in SoHo. “A once-in-a-lifetime experience. And the way the game works, you never know. Just enjoyed my time here, but really good opportunity in Anaheim.”

The Angels claimed Velazquez off waivers on Nov. 5, as the Yankees jettisoned the shortstop to clear roster space. This marks the 27-year-old’s fifth time switching employers, so he is used to it, and he shook off a question about whether this departure felt worse because it was the Yankees.

“I try not to look at it that way because it was such a good experience,” Velazquez said. “I think it was good selfishly for me, but also just for the city. For people that I grew up with. Kids that are trying to become whatever they’re trying to become, in and out of baseball.”

Velazquez, whom the Yankees signed in January 2021 as a minor league free agent, played in 28 regular-season games with Aaron Boone’s bunch, putting together a .224/.235/.358 slash line with one homer, his first in the big leagues.

Velazquez, whom the Yankees signed in January 2021 as a minor-league free agent, played in 28 regular-season games with Aaron Boone’s bunch, putting together a .224/.235/.358 slash line with one homer, his first in the big leagues.

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Andrew Velazquez
The Yankees lost Andrew Velazquez to waivers.
for the NY POST

“I’ve been trying to knock that out for four years,” said a laughing Velazquez, who made his MLB debut in 2018 with the Rays.

His athleticism, as exemplified by a great defensive play that ended an August 18 victory over the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium, endeared him to the loyalists, and he started the Yankees’ lone playoff game, the American League wild-card loss to the Bosox, at shortstop.

New York Yankees shortstop Andrew Velazquez #71 hits a single
Andrew Velazquez’s short time with the Yankees included his first major league homer.
Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

Now, Velazquez will try to get going with the Angels, whose new bench coach, Ray Montgomery, was the Diamondbacks’ director of scouting when Arizona selected him out of high school in the seventh round of the 2012 draft. Angel Stadium, Velazquez said, is “one of my favorite stadiums, and it just became one of them recently when we went over there. I’d never been there before. It’s incredible. Beautiful stadium. The weather, I think that’s a big appeal out there, too. I’ve been kind of bouncing back and forth between there and New York.”

Andrew Velazquez
Velazquez played 28 games for the Yankees.
Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

He follows the ongoing labor talks closely enough, he said, to know not to book any spring-training housing, given the uncertainty: “I just hope that both sides come to an agreement. The union is doing their job and they’re going to do a good job like they have been. Hopefully sooner than later (it’ll be resolved). We want to play.”

As he engaged with the fans and spent extensive time with Wilson’s legendary “glove guru” Shigeaki Aso on Friday morning — the first time they had met, Velazquez said, although he has been with the company his entire career — the switch-hitter smiled when asked to reflect upon his brief Yankees stint.

That homer on Aug. 21, with his parents in the Stadium stands, “was definitely up there,” he acknowledged. Yet when asked to identify the highlight of his time in pinstripes, Velazquez said: “I think just putting the uniform on before the game, in the locker room. Taking the field. Little things like that. Warming up and seeing people I knew from my neighborhood screaming in the stands. That stuff, you can’t buy that stuff.”

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