Yankees manager has fiery postgame press conference

Aaron Boone usually delivers the company line after losses, but the frustration has started to boil over as they continue to mount for the New York Yankees. And the fanbase’s patience has grown increasingly thin when Boone has made some excuses for his managerial decisions, even if the cupboards in the Bronx are a bit bare.

The Bronx Bombers started off with a resounding 45-19 record, but have played pretty terribly since then. Since June 1, the Yankees have played at five games under .500 pace and have limped through July with a 6-12 record.

As it stands on Thursday, the team would currently be locked into an American League Wild Card spot. But after getting swept by their crosstown rivals the Mets 4-0 in the Subway Series (where they were outscored 36-14), everyone appears to be out on the team as a legitimate playoff contender.

That is, everyone except the Yankees’ seventh-year manager. Of course, what is he supposed to say? But Boone didn’t pull many punches when given the chance to lament the team’s woes following a 12-3 loss to the Mets on Wednesday.

Boone has said that the Yankees are going through a poor stretch. But since June 7, their record mirrors that of some of the worst teams in Major League Baseball, like the Chicago White Sox and Colorado Rockies. That was rightfully pointed out to Boone by a Yankees beat writer Wednesday, who challenged the manager on what point it’s no longer a rough stretch but the team’s reality. And that led to quite an exchange.

While not wanting to define the word “stretch,” Boone reiterated the team’s need to improve.

“We gotta play better, OK? We have it right in front of us,” Boone said. “We’re a really good team that has played sh*tty of late. We need to be better. I’m not gonna define stretch, this or that. We gotta go win, right? And we’re right there. We’re watching other teams struggle around us. We know we gotta be better. We’re pissed off in there. We got a lot of pride in there. We got a lot of expectation in there.

“So, ‘stretch,’ ‘slump,’ ‘recent,’ I don’t give a sh*t. It’s we got to play better the rest of the way. And it’s right there. I’ve said it’s right in front of us — it is. It’s right in front of us, right? For as bad as it’s been, we’re also in a great position. We gotta go play baseball the way we’re capable of playing. It’s on all of us — starting with me in that room — to make sure we’re coming out with the right level of energy and getting after it.”

Speaking of energy, Boone has liked the way his team has responded. But moral victories inside a 12-3 loss likely won’t resonate within the Yankees’ faithful.

“Even one of the things I liked tonight was how hooked up we were in that dugout in the eighth and ninth inning when it wasn’t going well,” he said. “And the level of at-bats, and not giving in, even in the end. And the guys on the top step, pulling for one another as they take a good pitch or put a good swing on a ball. I was pleased to see that.

“We’re hooked up. We want to make it happen. We’re all frustrated, but I’m not worried about the compete level with these guys. I gotta make sure certain guys that have gone through a tough stretch or have not had the season to this point you’re having. Like, you gotta make sure you fight off that not feeling sorry for yourself or not (having) your head down. It’s like, ‘No, we’re in this. Let’s go.’ And there’s still plenty of time for not only us a club, of course, but plenty of time for individuals that are struggling.

“Man, you can turn it around like that and change the script like that. And you gotta keep that perspective as you go through it.”

[ SNY Yankees ]

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