Domination at hands of Mets finally broke Yankees manager Aaron Boone
![The Yankees' free fall is finally starting to get to Aaron Boone The Yankees' free fall is finally starting to get to Aaron Boone](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_6000,h_3375,x_0,y_86/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/GettyImages/mmsport/229/01j3n209f0xw8cvhd2c5.jpg)
Losing isn't fun. That's something we can all agree on. Losing to your little brother, though? It doesn't get any worse than that. Just ask New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone, who may have finally reached his breaking point after Wednesday night's 12-3 pounding at the hands of the crosstown Mets.
Boone and his job status in the Bronx have been in varying DEFCON states since he was hired at the end of 2017. The Yanks have reached the playoffs every year of Boone's tenure, but for fans who became accustomed to a 'World Series or bust' attitude during the Derek Jeter/Mariano Rivera years, Boone's postseason failings have become impossible to ignore.
At 60-44, the Yankees are the current holders of the top Wild Card spot and just 1.5 games behind the Orioles for first place in the A.L. East, but considering that they once possessed the best record in baseball, the fact that they're now trending in the wrong direction in a fight for their playoff lives is alarming. Worse yet, it's starting to get to the normally unperturbable Boone, who had this to say after the nine-run drubbing that clinched a Mets Subway Series sweep for only the second time since the teams began playing back in 1997.
Aaron Boone: “We’re pissed off in there. We got a lot of pride in there. We have a lot of expectations. Stretch, slump, recent — I don’t give a shit. We got to play better the rest of the way.”
— Chris Kirschner (@ChrisKirschner) July 25, 2024
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Aaron Boone is mad as hell, and he's not gonna take it anymore
Yankees fans have wanted to see some fire from Boone after growing frustrated with what they've seen as a lack of accountability from him and his players. Maybe this is the beginning of that, but until the Yankees start playing better baseball, they'll just be hollow words from a manager who is starting to feel his seat growing hot.
The Yankees are 11-23 since June 13, the second-worst record in all of baseball in that time. Contrast that with the Mets, who are not only playing their best ball of the year, they're having more fun than anyone in the league while doing it. The Mets 29-15 record since the beginning of June is the best in MLB, and in that time they've embraced the Grimace era while seeing utility infielder Jose Iglesias rocket his way to pop stardom with his hit single OMG.
The Mets' extended run has propelled them into the second Wild Card position in the National League, and just 1.5 games behind their longtime tormentors, the Atlanta Braves, for the top spot. The Yankees are still 5.5 games better in the standings, but you wouldn't know it by the way each fanbase feels and each team is performing.
The Yankees' nosedive is reminiscent of what happened to the Philadelphia Eagles this past season. Philly started the season 10-1 and looked like Super Bowl favorites, then fell off a cliff down the stretch, losing five of six to close the regular season before bowing out meekly in the Wild Card round to the Tampa Bay Bucs.
Luckily for Boone and his pinstriped team, there are still 58 games to go in the regular season, which means there's plenty of time to get out of this rut. The Yankees will have the chance to right the ship when they begin a three-game series against the Red Sox at Fenway Park on Friday. Lose to their other little brother in lopsided fashion, though, and this season could quickly spiral out of control and take Boone down with it.
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