It didn't matter where or how, but just the fact that it happened for Yankees slugger Edwin Encarnacion.
Encarnacion returned to the team's lineup just in time for the postseason and he's been an instant success for the Yankees. In their Game 1 win over the Twins, he had two doubles, then followed that up with another two-hit outing in Game 2's win.
Just having the opportunity to do that in pinstripes is all Encarnacion cared about when the Yankees traded for him, he said on Sunday.
"I was really happy when I was traded to the Yankees," he said. "A team that's always competing, so much history. Just to be part of the lineup, I wasn't thinking about where I was going to land in the lineup, but just being happy that I was being traded to a team that's highly competitive like the Yankees."
Encarnacion returned to the lineup in their ALDS series after suffering an oblique injury late in the season on Sept. 12. He missed the Yanks' final 15 games of the regular season and the team hoped he would return during their final few games for him to get back up to speed. He wasn't able to do that.
But Yankees skipper Aaron Boone still expressed confidence in Encarnacion by still inserting him into the team's starting lineup in their first two playoff outings. Boone already said New York will "probably" trot out the same grouping in Game 3 on Monday, including Encarnacion.
Boone said he had a desire to get Encarnacion in the lineup before Encarnacion was even officially a Yankee.
"I mean, very excited," Boone said recalling his feelings on acquiring Encarnacion via a June 15 trade with the Mariners. "I think a lot of people at the time were wondering if we were going to go get pitching, but as Cash [Yankees GM Brian Cashman] has said, this situation presented itself. To get a guy the caliber of Edwin to add to our team, I think everyone has seen, when he's been healthy and in our lineup, what a difference maker he is right in the middle."
Encarnacion and the Yankees are slated for an 8:40 p.m. first pitch from Target Field on Monday in Game 3 of their postseason matchup with the Twins.