Kyle Higashioka frames Domingo German's perfect game as all about the pitcher

ST. LOUIS — Kyle Higashioka very much resembles one of his close friends on the Yankees, Aaron Judge, when it comes to self-praise.

To hear it, you’ll have to wait an eternity.  

And so it was to the surprise of no one in the Yankees’ dugout that the person who caught Domingo German’s perfect game Wednesday night in Oakland showered the pitcher with praise afterward. But Higashioka practically recoiled at the suggestion that he might have had anything to do with it.

“Higgy,” Aaron Boone said Thursday, “does such a great job making it all about Domingo.”

But Boone, the son of a catcher — his father, Bob, played in the big leagues for 19 seasons — knows that's not the case. “Growing up in a catcher’s house,” Boone said, “I know how important the catcher is to making things work with the pitcher and  having a special night.”

Higashioka now has two such nights on his career resume, putting him on a fairly exclusive list.

Higashioka, who was behind the plate for Corey Kluber’s no-hitter on May 19, 2021, against the Rangers in Arlington, Texas, became the 13th catcher to have caught at least one no-hitter and one perfect game, according to Elias. Among those Higashioka joined on the list: Yogi Berra, Ivan Rodriguez, Buster Posey and Joe Girardi.

Informed Thursday morning by Newsday that he had joined that select company, Higashioka several times said how “incredibly lucky” he was just to be in both games, all but suggesting he had about as much to do with Kluber's and German’s historic nights as, say, the head groundskeeper.

Still, when pressed a bit, Higashioka acknowledged taking some satisfaction.

“I think every catcher will say one of our main . . . ,'' he said, pausing for a moment. “One of the best things we can possibly do is catch a no-hitter or perfect game. It’s kind of like a sense of pride; you helped the guy do something that’s just an incredible achievement.”

And that concluded the about-me — as much as it really wasn’t — portion of the Higashioka program. 

“But still, at the end of the day, it’s the pitcher’s achievement,” he said. “They’re the ones putting in the work on the mound, and they’re the ones that had the great stuff and they’re executing the pitches. So at the end of the day, it’s the pitcher’s achievement.”

Boone didn’t quite agree, nor did German.

“It means a lot to me,” German said through his interpreter of accomplishing what he did with Higashioka behind the plate. “Me and Higgy have been working together for quite some time now, going back to our days in Triple-A.”

Higashioka, a seventh-round draft pick of the Yankees in 2008, and German, brought into the organization in December 2014 as part of the deal with the Marlins that also netted Nathan Eovaldi and Garrett Jones, played together with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 2017.

“It’s very unique when you develop a relationship like that with your catcher,” German said. “Sometimes he doesn’t even have to give me a sign. Certain [body] movements will give him an idea of what we’re trying to do in a certain moment. It’s that relationship we’ve built over the years.”

Higashioka has long talked about how much he enjoys catching German, among the reasons he kept coming back to one word regarding Wednesday's game: lucky. Lucky to have the job he does as the longest-tenured player in the organization and lucky —  according to him, anyway — to simply be in the right place and right time for two landmark Yankees moments in the past three seasons.

“I mean, to be honest, I feel like I’m incredibly lucky to have been back there,” Higashioka said. “Like I’ve said before, there’s so much that has to go right [for a perfect game or no-hitter]. Even if you’re having the best pitching performance of your life, there’s still so much luck involved — every ball hit has to go to somebody, everything just has to fall into place. That’s why it’s so rare. For me to be back there [for two], I just consider myself incredibly lucky.”

Yankees rained out. Friday’s game, scheduled to start at 8:15 p.m. EDT, was postponed because of rain about 75 minutes later. It will be made up as part of a split doubleheader Saturday, with the first game slated to start at 2:15 p.m. EDT and the nightcap at 7:15 EDT. Luis Severino will pitch the first game, Boone said, and the Yankees will go the bullpen route in the second game. Gerrit Cole, initially scheduled to pitch Saturday’s game, will start Sunday against former teammate Jordan Montgomery.