Bronx native Chazz Palminteri went off on pitcher Sonny Gray during an appearance on OutKick’s “The Craig Carton Show,” recalling a chilly personal run-in with the Boston Red Sox starter from his days with the New York Yankees.
“Here’s something I got to say: Sonny Gray, Sonny, you hear me, Sonny? Sonny Gray, that son of a b––h,” Palminteri said.
The actor described trying to strike up a connection with Gray, name to name.
“I went to meet with him when he was with the Yankees, and he was like, ‘Ah, you know… really?’ I said, ‘You don’t, Sonny? From one Sonny to another Sonny…’ I was doing the whole bit with my restaurants. He goes, ‘Well, I’m busy.’ I said, ‘Okay.'”
Palminteri cited Gray’s 6.98 home ERA while pitching for the Yankees as proof the right-hander struggles under pressure in pinstripes.
“Sonny Gray is the ace of the Boston staff. He’s pitching Game 2. Why is he not pitching Game 1? He’s the ace! You know why? He chokes. He can’t pitch. And you know what? We’re going to have to see him pitch in the Bronx. He cannot pitch in the Bronx. Never! He was a failed Yankee. Every other place he goes, huge success. In the Bronx, he chokes!”
Palminteri, who grew up in the Bronx and later told his own story in “A Bronx Tale,” also looked back on working with Robert De Niro, who directed the 1993 film and starred alongside him. Palminteri wrote the original story and developed it from his one-man stage show before De Niro brought it to the screen.
He recalled the moment it hit him that his career had changed for good.
“Think of somebody saying to you right now, ‘Hey, Craig, you know, I love your show. Listen, I think your life is really interesting. Robert De Niro wants to do your life story, and he wants to play your father.’ You would be like, ‘What the f––k?’ Right?”
Palminteri said he was so rattled after a scene with De Niro that he turned down an invitation to lunch with him without realizing what he was doing.
“I hit the elevator button. I’m going down the elevator, and I went, ‘I just acted with Robert De Niro!’ And I said no to him for lunch! I was like, ‘What the f…’ That’s when it hit me. And then I got off the elevator and I went, ‘All right, it’s all right. Come on, babe, you belong here. You waited your whole life for this.’ Then I was okay. He’s on Mount Rushmore. If you want to put four up there, he’s up there.”
Palminteri also weighed in on football, backing the New York Giants’ decision to sign backup quarterback J.J. McCarthy. He argued that early struggles don’t define a player, pointing to quarterbacks like Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield who bounced back after rocky starts.
“I’m telling you, the kid’s got a strong arm. Definitely better than, I hate this, Jameis Winston. I don’t like him because he’s got happy feet, and he’s afraid to get hit, and I could see it in his eyes. He makes these stupid throws where you just go, ‘God, he got away with that.'”
“I want a young arm, a young pair of legs in there. And I’m happy J.J.’s here. Look, the guy won the championship in high school, won the championship in college. He’s a winner. Maybe the fame got to him a little bit, but you know what? He’s been humbled. Bing! I think he’s gonna be good.”
