A visibly frustrated Aaron Boone sat behind the podium for his postgame press conference following the New York Yankees’ 12-3 loss to the New York Mets, which completed a Subway Series season sweep for the latter club, and only compounded the recent struggles of the former.
And Boone, who at one point unleashed a couple of expletives and pounded his hand on the table, made it clear with both verbal and body language, how he feels about the Yankees’ recent play.
“Nobody has higher expectations than us in that frickin’ room,” Boone said. “We’re pissed off. We got to play better. This has gone on long enough. It’s very frustrating to go through.”
“But I also know we’re competing our asses off. We just got to make sure we continue to walk in with the right level of edge and willingness to compete because no one’s going to pull us out of this but us.”
The Yankees (60-44), held the majors’ best record at one point at 50-22, but have lost 22 of 32 games since. Only the Chicago White Sox, who own the worst record in MLB, have been worse during that stretch.
When asked if the extended struggles are more than just a “poor stretch”, Boone’s voice rose and he became more animated in his frustration.
“I’m not defining … we got to play better,” Boone said. “We have it right in front of us. We’re a really good team that has played sh***y of late. We need to be better.”
“I’m not going to define ‘stretch this or that.’ ” “We got to go win. And we’re right there. We’re watching other teams struggle around us. We know we got to be better. We’re pissed off in there. We got a lot of pride in there. We got a lot of expectation in there.”
Since taking over as Yankees manager in 2018, Boone has brought a Zen-like calm to the clubhouse. But the fact that the Yankees skipper dropped his usual demeanor and proverbially came out swinging in the postgame speaks volumes about just how taxing a period it’s been.
And yet, the Yankees remain just 1.5 games back of first place in the American League East, and are expected to be among the most active clubs at the July 30 trade deadline.
Boone remains confident in the Yankees but acknowledged that the club’s actions need to speak louder than its words.
“Nothing I can say matters,” Boone said. “You got to do it. I’m confident we will. I know we will pull out of this, but that’s all it is right now, is me saying it to you. So, we got to be better.”
The Yankees enter a pivotal slate of games, with three contests coming against the surging Boston Red Sox and another three against the Philadelphia Phillies, who own the majors’ best record.