Joe Torre addresses criticisms of Yankees' Aaron Boone after Mets sweep

Former New York Yankees pitcher David Wells recently seemed to criticize the alleged "buddy-buddy" relationships current Yankees manager Aaron Boone has with his players. Wells recalled how legendary skipper Joe Torre dealt with stars during the club's most recent dynastic run.

During a Thursday morning appearance on New York sports radio station WFAN, Torre addressed Boone's style coming off the Yankees' 12-3 home loss to the New York Mets on Wednesday night.

"You don’t know what happens behind closed doors," Torre explained, as shared by Ryan Chichester of Audacy. "You may be sitting there in your seat saying, 'You have to do something about this guy,' but you don’t know if he has done something. 'Boonie' doesn’t miss anything. He understands what’s necessary to go out on the field and not necessarily win, but get the effort on a regular basis."

Boone understandably became a target of unhappy Yankees fans amid the club's summer swoon that has continued past the All-Star break. The Bronx Bombers opened the second half of the season with a 6-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays but then lost four of five home contests ahead of a three-game series at the surging Boston Red Sox (54-47).

Some fans want Boone to take more aggressive approach following the type of performance the Yankees produced on Wednesday evening. Torre suggested it's important for a manager to know how to interact with different players at different times.

"They’re not all the same, so you can't really treat them all the same," Torre continued. "You have to treat them all fairly."

There remains no sign that Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner is thinking about dismissing Boone this summer even though a team that was 50-22 on June 15 began Thursday at 60-44 and one-and-a-half games back of the first-place Baltimore Orioles (60-41) in the American League East standings. With that said, Torre seems to understand why pockets of paying customers want Steinbrenner to make a massive change after the Mets completed a four-game season sweep of the Yankees.

"You have to gain perspective here by saying that it’s 162 games," Torre added. "Yeah, you hate to lose to the crosstown rivals. There’s a certain embarrassment to that…you’re the Yankees."

One wonders if Steinbrenner could at least consider changing the voice heard inside the clubhouse if the Yankees lose two or even three games in Boston this weekend.