Fans hold the Yankees to high expectations, which makes it all the more puzzling that earlier this week, Hal Steinbrenner said in a media appearance that he doesn’t understand why fans are so ornery right now.
Honestly, 41-34 and in third place and barely hanging on to a Wild Card spot is not what Yankees fans ever expect, whether that record has 70 more games or 70 less on it – and a bad weekend against the Rangers means the Bombers could be on the outside looking in come Monday.
There have also long been fans who believe Hal, along with Brian Cashman and the staff, are complacent, simply happy to get into the playoffs and take their chances – thoughts that amplified after some of the semantics in Hal’s statements.
Count Marc Malusis among those folks, because when Moose filled in his old midday slot for Tiki & Tierney on Friday, he took the Bombers to task.
“Do the Yankees internally still hold themselves up to that high bar? That's the issue that you have at hand,” Moose said. “When Hal Steinbrenner says the other day that he is confused why Yankee fans are upset by the very fact of the nature of where this team is right now? Well, that reeks of being tone deaf!”
Tone deaf, just like Buck Showalter when his response to the Mets getting swept in Atlanta was “we had leads in all three games.”
“Buck had to say he was proud of the team, the fact that they had leads in all three of those games…NO!” Moose ranted. “Against that team, when you have a scenario where you get swept down in Atlanta and you get embarrassed and you are once again drowning right before our very eyes, you can’t tell me in that scenario how proud you are of your team, because the fact that they led in all three of those games that has nothing to do with it.”
Related
It seems like accountability is lacking in both New York baseball franchises, albeit in different ways, and Moose believes there needs to be more – especially in the Bronx.
“The lack of accountability over the years has been the thing that has nauseated Yankees fans,” Moose said. “The reality is the Yankees haven’t won a World Series since 2009. It may bother Brian Cashman when the fans bring it up, because the Astros cheated in 2017…but he has to move on. The scenario with this team is that they want to be the Rays with money, and it has not worked. They have failed, and the lack of accountability is what has bothered Yankees fans most.”
Perhaps, Moose thinks, the bother starts with keeping Aaron Boone around?
“Aaron Boone is a good but not great manager. Does he give the Yankees a discernible advantage in that dugout? He does not,” Moose said. “Is he a guy that plays nice with others and protects his players? No doubt, and yes, we can live in the land of negativity here in New York – but when things are going poorly, that’s when you get more fans to react, so Yankees fans have every right to react and be upset with what’s going on and how this team has conducted its business.”
Moose then went into how the Yankees’ personnel moves have been more bust than boom in recent years, and in the end, he brought up the old faithful argument of Yankees fans: invoking The Boss.
“When you look at this Yankees scenario and listen to Hal Steinbrenner, it’s one and the same of what we’ve heard year in and year out,” Moose said. “People are bothered by the fact the he doesn’t understand why fans are upset because it’s only June? It’s because there is no more accountability with the Yankees like there were in the days of George Steinbrenner…those days are long gone. You thought 2017 was a sign of things to come, and they just haven't gotten better."
Follow Marc Malusis on Twitter: @MarcMalusis
Listen live to WFAN on the Audacy App or Online Stream
Follow WFAN on Social Media:
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch